International Library of African Music.

Contributed to

Music and spirit possession at a Shona bira
article 1975

Summary: The International Library of African Music (ILAM) is an organization dedicated to the preservation and study of African music. Seated in Grahamstown, South Africa, ILAM is attached to the Music Department at Rhodes University and coordinates its Ethnomusicology Programme which offers undergraduate and post-graduate degrees in Ethnomusicology that include training in performance of African music. ILAM, as the largest repository of indigenous African music, is particularly known for its study of the lamellophone mbira of Zimbabwe and Mozambique, as well as the Chopi people's Timbila, a variant of the marimba from southern Mozambique. Wikipedia
Inception: 1954 [1][3]; [1953,1954] [2]
Country: South Africa [1][2][3]
Location: Grahamstown [1]; Grahamstown (South Africa) [2]; Makhanda [3]
Website: http://ilam.ru.ac.za/ [3]
Organization Type: library [3]
Parent Organization: Rhodes University [1]

Sources: 1. Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (Germany); 2. Library of Congress; 3. Wikidata

Last updated Sep 5, 2025