Oral Performance and Digital Archiving: Preserving Traditional Performance Repertoires in Taraba State

This study examines the professional practice of oral performance documentation and digital archiving in Taraba State, North East Nigeria, focusing on efforts to preserve endangered traditional performance repertoires of communities including the Mumuye, Jenjo, and Chamba peoples. Taraba State is home to remarkable performance diversity, including ritual music drama, harvest festivals, and masked performance traditions, many of which face extinction due to urbanisation and generational disinterest. The research investigates how cultural organisations, university departments, and state agencies are deploying digital recording and archiving technologies to document and preserve these traditions. Data were gathered through interviews with archivists, cultural custodians, and performance scholars, as well as observation of documentation field projects conducted by the Taraba State Council for Arts and Culture. The study finds that digital archiving projects in Taraba State face significant constraints including equipment shortages, insufficient trained personnel, and limited access to archive management platforms. Community custodians are not always consulted in decisions about archiving methodologies, raising ethical questions about cultural ownership. The research concludes that ethical, community-centred digital archiving practice is essential for the legitimate preservation of oral performance heritage. Keywords: oral performance, digital archiving, cultural preservation, Taraba State, traditional repertoires.