ABSTRACT. Round Table Abstract

Race, gender, class and dis/ability are aspects of experience typically reflected upon when considering community and political membership, and they often function as flex points in the making of decolonial dialogue. Intergenerationality, a temporally-determined factor, is increasingly arising as a key concern for intersectional understandings in sound and movement studies (Anderson & Willingham 2019, David, Yeung & Vu 2018). This has become ever more important as newer challenges and opportunities - such as precarity, differentiated IT use, changing pedagogies and radically shifting global geopolitics with uneven impact - have come into play as we approach the mid-21st century. Bearing in mind multiple intersection points in the assemblage (and disassemblage) of deeply personal scholarly, practice-based and community experiences, as a panel we ask the following questions: How do people from different generations individually act on uneven experiences of unstable labour opportunities, 'postwoke' dialogues, new technologies - and performative resonances? What are the tools and strategies we can use for collaboration, cross-generational activism and the resistance of imposed hierarchies? Where and how do people of different ages - sustaining their physical bodies at different rates and different ways - encounter sound and movement-based recalibrations of decolonial experiences? Where do affective memories, and re-understandings of differently interpreted histories, nostalgias, 'lessons learnt' alongside aspirations/hopes converge and come apart? What are the paths of succession, transmission and stewardship in the makings and disruptions of intergenerationally accumulated hierarchies of power and scholarly/performer ‘legacies’, particularly in the securing of precarious employment?

Presentation 1 Intergenerational and Horizontal Collaboration in Research and Performance: Decentring the Authority of the Academic in Knowledge Production

Towards the end of the twentieth century, tropes of dialogue and collaboration in fieldwork methods, ethnographic writing, and artistic research emerged as ways to disrupt the power and authority of the academic in ethnographic research, and decentre the processes of knowledge production. But, asymmetries of partnerships and hierarchical dichotomies continue to persist in collaborative research particularly between (i) older and more established principal researchers who write and conceptualize versus younger field researchers who conduct research on the ground, and (ii) principal researchers who conduct research versus communities of practice who are elders and who own the knowledge. How do we navigate these power imbalances in collaborative research? What approaches can researchers take that can lead to more equitable partnerships in the production and transmission of knowledge as well as to action that brings about positive change among the research participants? How can we overcome the challenges when we encourage younger field researchers and older research bearers to represent themselves in the production of knowledge? Fundamental in achieving horizontal collaboration is the willingness of the principal researcher to blur the hierarchical dichotomies and to share control over the research framework, writing, and performance direction. In this presentation, I share the collective intergenerational experiences in the horizontal collaborative artistic research project on revitalizing the endangered glove puppet theatre in Penang, Malaysia.

Presentation 2 Navigating Intergenerational Conversations, both “in the Field” and “in the Academy”

Since 2020, I have been involved in several intergenerational conversations in two contrasting but intersecting domains: within the discipline of ethnomusicology and within the world of queer nightlife community-organizing. For the former, I have played various roles as a mid-career mentor / community organizer to graduate students and early career researchers during periods of intra-disciplinary conflict (e.g.,: SEM 2020, IASPM 2022–23, SEM 2023). For the latter, I have been a long-time member of one of the queer nightlife collectives in Berlin (Room4Resistance.net), through which I am currently launching a collaborative research project with other members of Berlin’s queer nightlife communities—a project that has already encountered marked intergenerational contrasts in queer nightlife since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.. My contribution to this roundtable will include reflections on the intergenerational conversations and collaborations across these two domains, with particular focus on the tools, techniques, challenges, and strategies that I have learned to deploy as I navigate these complex cultural-political fields.

Presentation 3 This is a co presentation with two authors Exploring the Intersection of New Technologies and Intergenerational Dynamics in Music Education in Nigeria

The entire world woke up to a strange deadly infection that forced a lockdown on every form of physical contact. This deadly phenomenon was the COVID-19 Pandemic which caused a serious pandemonium to the entire world yet, has established a new normal in our educational system and the way of doing things in our societies at large. Due to the COVID-19 restriction policies established by both Federal and State Governments to help control the spread of the disease in Nigeria, most schools in the City of Port Harcourt, Rivers State were forced to shut down physical learning and established online learning. This swift change, established the use of information technology (IT). On this ground, it became extremely unavoidable for teachers/learners to use modern information technology gargets. This dialogue set to explore the changes brought about by reason of the new normal emanating from the post pandemic era in the operation of online teaching/learning, meetings and conferencing. Specifically, we draw on our current research on the increased use of technology and the emergence of the University of Port Harcourt as the EU Erasmus choice of leading Technology Hub in Nigeria. We critically investigate the age and gender dichotomy of the lecturers in the educational system, perusing their acceptability, compliance and effectiveness in the use of modern teaching/learning technology. Our discussion will interface with student’s involvement in key areas, highlighting the challenges of learning and performing music online leveraging on the availability of internet connection and the sustainability of the same in the university. We will trace histories of the effects of similar innovations that are moribund to proffer suggestions for sustainability, succession and transmission.

Presentation 4 Intergenerationality, institutionalisation, and music education in north Indian (Hindustani) classical music

This paper explores research methodologies and dilemmas as a researcher exploring the varied North Indian (Hindustani) classical music education spaces representing different eras, periods, and/or generations it emerged or evolved in. These spaces which define the contemporary Indian music education, include – the guru-shishya (master-disciple) or ustad-shagird (master-apprentice) method; large-scale music institutions and music departments; and the new, private, small- and medium-scale schools. Hindustani classical music has traditionally been an oral one, transmitted from one generation to another through guru-shishya (master-disciple) or ustad-shagird (master-apprentice) method. Music schools and institutions in India do not go beyond the last 150 years, developing amidst colonial encounters. On the other hand, the new private, small- and medium-scale schools, though a pre-1991 phenomenon in India, have diversified immensely in number and the kind of courses offered in Indian music since the post-1991 period of liberalisation, privatisation, and globalisation in the country. The contemporary Indian music education scene presents complex scenarios where the internet has impacted even the traditional spaces of music education – wherein some guru-s and ustad-s, traditionally known to be reluctant in adapting newer methods of teaching pedagogy, are adopting online teaching. In such a scenario, this paper explores the challenges of oscillating between these different spaces, that represent different eras or generations, in an ethnographic research as an insider, a higher-caste and middle-class individual, a woman, and/or the one who has learnt classical music but not in a traditional guru-shishya method.

Presentation 5 Intergenerational and intersectional challenges in performance practice and scholarship

In this round-table, I intend to pose questions on the place of intersectional marginalities - where notions of social justice are unequally weighted in learning, research and appreciation/consumption in music and dance practices. I begin by asking first whether the nomenclatures of Gen Alpha, Zoomer, Millennial, Gen X and Boomer are helpful in the first place - why, or why not? I also interrogate issues around 'Gen Z' folk (who, in some interpretations, may take ‘equality' as a matter of standard practice) but parse 'hard fought but still-not-won' battles such as feminist movements and anti-racist campaigns (undertaken by earlier generations) as ‘old debates’. I ask how useful conversations can still be had around differently lived/ claimed political ground, and investigate the place of intergenerational/ inherited/ rejected trauma and guilt/reparations/nostalgia in the making of music and dance pasts, presents and futures? I will draw upon my teaching-and-learning experiences with former professors, current students (including mature students), and colleagues (of all ages and experiences) in course of negotiating fieldwork and learning in musical/ sound studies.

ABSTRACT. In this presentation, four panelists will present papers in which the malleable nature of indigenous music and dance forms are featured and analyzed. Malleability here refers to the capacity to change so as to fit new uses or situations, to be flexible, to be adaptable. In the field of metal working, malleability describes the process of hammering, pressing or extending a metal into a new shape without cracking or breaking it. The first presentation applies this principle to Fulbe dance and music styles from northern Benin in a nomadic life pattern where dance movements express cultural identity of nobility and freedom, often in response to imperial domination and colonization. The second panelist focuses on a northern Siberian improvised poetic genre of round dance called ohuokai, practiced for many years among the Sakha people, but discouraged or repressed during the Soviet years and today demonstrating a resiliency and revitalization during the post-Soviet years. The third panelist describes an indigenous genre of praise music composed for village chiefs in Côte d’Ivoire, exploring its transformation into early worship music for a mass movement emerging from the preaching ministry of a 20th century Liberian prophet-evangelist, William Wade Harris. The fourth panelist discusses the unique fusion which is emerging in the Mangabeu music and dance form among the Mə̀dʉ̂mbὰ community of Cameroon, where the timeless wisdom of tradition and the innovative spirit of modernity come together.

Fulbe dance practices as protest and liberation

African music and dance practices are not only for amusement or entertainment, but they are also forms of protest and liberation. In this work, I will consider a case study of the Benin Fulbe Korakuube dance styles. To be sure, dance and music are indissociable in the African cultures. Fulbe people are a nomadic people group spread across several countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Because of their nomadic lifestyle and culture, the Fulbe meet obstacles and hostilities ranging from wildlife to spirit powers, tribal and racial. Some of their dance movements, therefore, are a response to domination and colonization. Propulsive rhythms, state of ecstasy, and intense body movements are a way to express their cultural identity of nobility and freedom. Most Fulbe who attended Western education consider their cultural dances practices as lascivious and archaic. This mental shift must be deconstructed for a humane reconstruction.

Socio-anthropological knowledge, past data and a minimal literature review constitute the methods used in this exercise. My experience on the field are assets for enriching this paper. As a former dancer, I can relate to some of the dance practices under consideration. The overall work reveals that African dance is also an art that must be legitimized. It becomes obvious that the art of dancing helps Africans to communicate some profound embodied truths of indigeneity that seek to liberate or free Africans from cultural oppression under the Euro-America-centric social habitus of racial supremacy. Fulbe dance practices represent African cultures well as they demonstrate the authenticity of the African dance. The Fulbe people should not be ashamed of their cultural heritage. Rather, it is an opportunity for them to reclaim their spot in the global sphere and proactively stop the new forms of coloniality and imperialism.

Siberian round dance ohuokai: Indigenous resilience, embodied research, and global recognition

One of the pedagogical challenges in teaching the topic of ethnoarts in academic and workshop settings is the need to help participants gain a nuanced understanding of indigenous art forms that includes analytical, embodied, and ethnographic insights. Individual courses often emphasize one or another of the analytical approach, embodied knowledge, or ethnographic methods. This paper proposes pedagogical methods that combine all three for a deeper level of understanding. This integrated approach has been taught to over 1200 participants from more than 60 countries and in several languages, and the data from pre- and post-course feedback shows strong evidence of learning that incorporates all three kinds of insights.

The case study used for many venues for this course is an improvised poetical genre of round dance called ohuokai, a beloved artistic genre of the Sakha people of northern Siberia. The Sakha have sung and danced the ohuokai since before written historical records, and although its practice was discouraged and sometimes repressed during the Soviet years, it has demonstrated resilience and is experiencing revitalization during the post-Soviet years. In addition, folklorists living in the Sakha Republic are writing and presenting scholarly research on ohuokai (Crate 2006; Tatarinova 2015; Lukina 2018; Khaltanova 2021; IGI 2023). These works provide material for an international audience to learn about ohuokai through a unique combination of analysis, embodied experience, and ethnographic research. Finally, government efforts to bring appreciation for ohuokai to a global audience undergirds and supports the use of the Sakha ohuokai as an example of indigenous resilience, research, and recognition.

Deformed or preserved? The transformation of an indigenous genre of praise music in Côte d’Ivoire for use in Harrist Church worship (1913-1927)

A new religious movement was born in Côte d’Ivoire when a Liberian prophet-evangelist, William Wade Harris, swept along the West African coast and preached a message of repentance and conversion. In a short eighteen-month tour (1913-1915), Harris baptized an estimated 100-200,000 people from twelve ethnic groups in this newly-emerging French colony. The evangelist’s rapid passage through the region provided little time for any grounded formation of those baptized. The evangelist’s instruction was simple: Return to your home villages and worship the “one true God” through sermons, prayers, and songs.

When people inquired about what songs they were to sing, Harris asked them, “What are you singing now?” The Dida people – one of the twelve ethnic groups mass-baptized by the evangelist – had nearly forty categories of music and dance, love songs, work songs, songs for funerals, mating, the birth of twins, etc. Through a process of testing and discernment, the Dida eventually sang for Harris a genre of praise songs, generally directed by women composers to village chiefs in times of celebration to laud the chief’s protection of and provision for the villagers’ wellbeing. With the evangelist’s counsel and encouragement, this dogbro genre of music was deemed the best suited for adoption and transformation as the movement’s music for worship. This paper will examine the complexities of the evangelist’s counsel with regard to indigenous music and dance forms and the impact that this had on both the Dida people and the newly-formed churches that emerged in the wake of Harris’ lightning passage through coastal Côte d’Ivoire.

Encounter between Tradition and Modernity: The Case of Mangabeu

In discussions surrounding modernity, there tends to be a prevailing inclination to cast aside elements of the old or traditional. However, within the rich tapestry of Cameroon’s cultural landscape, notably exemplified by musical genres like the Mangabeu among the Mə̀dʉ̂mbὰ community, we witness a unique fusion of past and present. These musical expressions serve as poignant reminders of the nation’s heritage while simultaneously embodying contemporary influences. The exploration of Mangabeu and its relationship with modernity reveals a profound insight: tradition and modernity are not diametrically opposed forces, but rather symbiotic entities. Rather than viewing them as conflicting ideologies, it is more fruitful to recognize their interdependence and strive for their harmonious coexistence.

Mangabeu as a traditional music and dance, deeply rooted in the cultural fabric of Cameroon, offers a lens through which to perceive the evolving dynamics of society. Its melodies resonate with echoes of the past, conveying narratives of ancestral wisdom and collective memory. Yet, within these traditional rhythms, there exists a fluidity that allows for the integration of modern elements, reflecting the ongoing evolution of cultural expression. By embracing both tradition and modernity, we pave the way for a nuanced understanding of our cultural heritage. Rather than seeking to discard the old in favor of the new, we can celebrate the rich tapestry of our collective identity, drawing inspiration from both the timeless wisdom of tradition and the innovative spirit of modernity. In doing so, we cultivate a cultural landscape that is dynamic, inclusive, and deeply rooted in the diverse experiences of our people.

ABSTRACT. This panel presents selected outcomes of the ongoing systematic research on Romani musicians and related musical practices in Slovenia, a country in which this marginalized minority so far haven’t received appropriate ethnomusicological attention. The current study is inspired by the work of scholars in several nearby countries such as Austria (Hemetek, Fennesz-Juhasz), Bulgaria (Peycheva, Dimov), Czechia (Jurkova, Gelbart), Kosovo (Pettan, Staiti), Hungary (Sarosi, Kovalcsik), and Romania (Radulescu, Costache). Preliminary research results confirm the presence of Romani musicians and importance of their involvement in musical practices in diverse contexts in Slovenia, past and present, but also obstacles resulting from the notions of otherness and marginalization related to this specific ethnic minority. Presenters of the papers within the panel address some of the situations which affect not only the activities of the musicians and community members, but also the research itself. These situations include: reactions of Romani musicians to unfavourable othering in the mainstream, majority-dominated musical scene (paper 1), reactions of the Roma to the appearance of non-Romani musicians in the Romani music scene (paper 2), and scarcity of data about Romani musicians from the past and the resulting methodological challenges (paper 3) The three presentations will be mutually related by the discussant with regard to the research project titled Romani Musicians in Slovenia: Social Status, Cultural Practices, Interactions. Presenters of the papers are researchers in this project and discussant serves as its Chair.

Paper 1: “I get the goosebumps when reminded”: How Romani Musicians React in the Situation of Being Othered in the Slovene Mainstream Musical Scene?

Presence and the creative impact of Romani musicians within the realm of etnoglasba (local world music) in Slovenia is well acknowledged. Their activities outside this specific framework, i.e. within the mainstream musical scene, are sometimes met with challenges that make the mentioned affirmative attitudes limited and questionable. This happens particularly in situations when Romani musicians get into position to establish themselves in the majority-dominated contexts, including those in representing the country internationally. Drawing from the concept “citizenship versus ethnicity” in institutional shaping of the “national culture” and its impact on Romani musicians, the paper examines the extents of affirmative action in addressing situations of exclusion and/or discrimination. Also, the issue of minorities as national representatives has been discussed within the symposium of the ICTMD Study Group on Music and Minorities in Sweden in 2022, and this presentation develops it further, using as a starting point two cases related to Romani musicians in Slovenia. One refers to the representative compilation of jazz in the country, and the other to the national competition for the selection of the country’s representative in the Eurovision Song Contest. Romani musicians perceived both situations as exclusion based on negative stereotypes associated with their ethnic belonging. Further, the paper focuses on the case of music band Langa to address the following research questions: How Slovenian Romani musicians deal with being “othered” and bypassed by the decision-makers in selection processes on the mainstream music scene? How do these processes take place and how are they rationalized by power holders and society at large? What can be and is being done from both actors for the improvement of the circumstances?

Paper 2: Navigating the Crossroads: Non-Romani Musicians and the Romani Music Scene in Slovenia

At a concert in a Romani settlement in south-eastern Slovenia in the early 1990s, a non-Romani music group took to the stage to perform Romani music. This unusual situation, considering the image of Romanies as music providers for the society at large, was among the first such cases in the country. Addressed in literature with regard to the issues of representation and appropriation (e.g. Silverman 2011), this situation inspired the author’s study of later involvement of Slovenian non-Romani musicians in interpreting music associated with the Roma. Situated at the juncture between East and West, Slovenia serves as a gateway to and from the Balkans, making it a vital locus of cultural transition. The establishment of an independent state in the early 1990s necessitated a redefinition of both majority and minority ethnic communities, including the Roma, within a new political and cultural context. Concurrently, Romani music began to permeate Slovenian households through performances by non-Romani artists, who emerged as significant carriers of such musical expressions. Amidst growing awareness of the significance of minority cultures within the national sphere, interest in researching the Roma and their culture burgeoned. Non-Romani musical groups and individuals have emerged as conduits bridging the Romani and non-Romani realms. Drawing upon field research, this presentation elucidates the ethnomusicological challenges inherent in studying the involvement of non-Romani musicians within the Romani music scene in Slovenia.It examines the origins, motivations, and achievements of non-Romani musicians, as well as their interactions and collaborations with Romani musicians and Romani communities.

Paper 3: Romani and Sinti Musicians in North Slovenia: Methodological Grappling with Scarcity, Silence, Absence, and Distortion in the Data

In my research on Romani and Sinti musicians from north Slovenia (i.e., Upper Savinja and Šaleška valleys), I encountered several methodological obstacles. For example, in the cases of three families of Romani and Sinti musicians families from a rural Upper Savinja Valley (Roj, Repič, Eremita), I am dealing mainly with deceased people, their absence from the archives, silence among their descendants, anecdotal evidence, folk fabulation, and limited material evidence of their existence (e.g. photo on a half-deserted gravestone). However, their traces are ubiquitous in the oral history accounts of local elderly people, and in the writings of a local amateur historian. These often appear in the form of fabrication and stereotyping, but there are also valuable factual and affective clues that can be discerned from this hazy thicket of second-hand narration. In the case of one Romani music group - ensemble of brothers Racz from the urban area of north Slovenia, the material enables partial reconstruction of their musical activities thanks to two live recordings, a music notebook, photographs, contracts, and accounts from their descendants and from employees of a hotel where the group had a music residency. This paper addresses methodological approaches to fragmented data, the tracing of infinitesimal clues, and the silence, absence, and distortion in the archival, written, oral, and ethnographic data (Ginzburg 1993; Hirschauer 2007; Stoler 2008; Bille, Hastrup, and Sørensen 2010; Hrobat Virloget 2017; Weller 2017), and the ways how to turn these methodological and socio-historical ruptures pertinent to the subjugated, marginalized, and silenced population into a productive scholarly endeavor (Ladwig et al. 2012; Kidron 2020) tracing the agency and affect of deceased Roma and Sinti musicians in rural and urban north Slovenia.

ABSTRACT. This panel discusses how traditional performing arts are being used to promote community revitalization and identity formation. As Thomas Turino emphasizes in Music as Social Life, “Music, dance, festivals, and other public expressive cultural practices are a primary way that people articulate the collective identities that are fundamental to forming and sustaining social groups, which are, in turn, basic to survival.'' However, how are these dance, festivals and other cultural practices transformed as the members of the social group itself, as well as the nature of the group change over time. In Japan, the actual conditions for performances and continuation methods of traditional activities have been challenged due to the change of lifestyle and weakening traditional customs in urban areas. Furthermore, the influx of population from rural areas to large cities such as Tokyo and Osaka, has caused both depopulation in rural areas, as well as a lack of personal connections with urban areas even with the population growth. In the midst of these changing social conditions, how can traditional performing arts not only survive but also contribute as a meaningful element within a modern society? To more effectively explore these themes, this organized panel session shows four different perspectives analyzing the following issues: education of regional identity, acquisition of cultural body, localized identity from nationwide classical performing art, and maintaining traditions through “intermediary”. Through these presentations, this panel will reveal various methods of meaningful incorporation of traditional practices within ever changing social groups while challenging the role of “tradition” today.

Presentation 1 Educating Regional History, Culture and Modernity Through Community Music: Hanawa-bayashi in Kazuno City and Mansaku-odori in Matsudo City

How can community engaged music deepen the education and familiarity of both regional and national traditional musical practices while also solving issues of local identities and economies? To answer this question, this presentation focuses on two case studies from Japan: 1. The success of Hanawa-bayashi festival in Kazuno City, Akita Prefecture and 2. the recent revival of Mansaku-odori and creation of a new musical tradition in Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture. The Hanawa-bayashi festival has been uniting community members, especially youth, through its continuing musical and practical evolution to find purpose and meaning for a constantly evolving society: incorporated influences from both the Edo (old Tokyo) and kamigata (Kyoto and Osaka) regions, since the 1700s. The continued success of this festival, its recognition as a UNESCO cultural property, and ties to economic expansion and traditional musical education will be analyzed through firsthand fieldwork, musical analysis, interviews, and performance within the festival itself. Matsudo City, positioned between the influential towns of Mito and Edo on a major route, has its own vast cultural history. However, local interest from residents today is strained at best. Presently, collaborations between Matsudo City’s traditional music makers are attempting to create new, community engaged musical traditions based on this town’s unique history. This includes bringing renewed interest in and education of its own traditional music and dance, Mansaku-odori. The results of these activities, in comparison to the Hanawa-bayashi model, will be analyzed as it takes place in real-time. This research aims to legitimize under-appreciated musics actively performed by community groups as not only a means of educating and revitalizing local histories, traditions, and cultures, but as theoretically compelling pieces of music that embed the historical movement of people and cultures within sound.

Presentation 2 Acquiring Cultural Body and Generating Modern Communities: A Case Study of Awa Odori Performing Arts in Japan

Awa Odori, originally a bon festival dance of Tokushima Prefecture, has generated a lot of attention in recent years due to being a performing art that has spread throughout Japan. However, why has Awa Odori, instead of the hundreds of other bon festival dances found throughout the Japanese islands, spread so widely, especially in the case of those locations considered both culturally and physically distant from Tokushima Prefecture? Previous research has pointed out various contributing factors, including the music and dance structure (simple for beginners, but profound for experts), tourism and staged performance, economic and administrative strategy for local promotion, and human relations among the performing troupes called ren. However, what is typically overlooked is the unique solidarity among those who are engaged in Awa Odori. This solidarity is bodily motivated and expressed through sensory enhancement, creating a unique performing arts-based community that isn’t connected through local ties, blood relationships, or the professional performing world. This research aims to analyze the sounding, behaviors and discourses of several ren performing troupes. Following the approach of “acoustemology” (by Steven Feld ), this presentation will reveal how the participants of ren performing troupes engage with their living place and space-time, to form their cultural bodies through the sound and movement of Awa Odori.

Presentation 3 Nurturing Children of the Region through Classical Performing Arts: A Case Study of “Hizen Shimabara Children's Kyogen” in Shimabara City

How can small cities facing population decline nurture children to have more pride in their community and history through learning nationally recognized traditional performing arts. This presentation focuses on the case of “Hizen Shimabara Children’s Kyogen Program,” started in 2004 in Shimabara City, a core city of the south-east region of Nagasaki Prefecture, that teaches kyogen performance in the face of continuous population decline. This annual program targets local children between the ages of 3 and 18 as learners, and it contributes for participants to have a sense of belonging to the region. However, different from other folk performing arts being unique to the region, kyogen is a classical performing art performed recognized and learned nationwide. The teacher of the program is also not an insider of the community, but a professional kyogen performer active throughout Japan. In this presentation, operation of the program and teaching methods of kyogen will be analyzed in order to clarify how a nationally recognized intangible cultural heritage can also provide a uniquely regional identity for communities outside of that specific professional performing world. Local identity is formed not only by the performing art itself, but also by the historical background of the region through the human relationship with the staff supporting the program.

Presentation 4 Considering the Role of “Intermediary” in the Transmission of Folk Performing Arts in Modern Society: Focusing on Cultural Officers and School Teachers in South Tohoku Regions.

This presentation focuses on cultural officers of local government and school teachers as “intermediary” connectors between the bearers of the traditions and residents of the region. There exist hundreds of folk performing arts groups in Japan, which have been transmitted over generations based on local small communities. However, many of them are now facing the serious problem of lacking successors caused by changes of lifestyle, outflow of young people and depopulation in the rural region, and newcomers' indifference in local culture in the urban area. In order to keep the tradition of the regions as a symbol of local identity, in addition to the efforts by the members of performing groups, the role of “intermediary” is gaining more attention. The question this research aims to answer is 1) How outsiders have become necessary in the process to revitalize the local tradition, 2) what are the necessary conditions to be an effective “intermediary”, and 3) what difficulties are these “intermediaries” facing. This will be done by analyzing case studies within the South Tohoku regions (Miyagi and Fukushima). While cultural offices are involved with the various performance groups of each jurisdiction area, it is the school teachers that directly connect together the local performance groups and children of the school region. By contrasting these “intermediaries,” this presentation will show the wider framework of transmission of local performing arts.

ABSTRACT. This thesis investigates the impact of modernity on the Muya Tibetans' Buddha Sunning Festival, with a particular focus on how modern influences redefine the boundaries between private and public spaces through the lens of soundscape metaphors. The research integrates a systematic literature review and highlights the characteristics of soundscape metaphors to examine the transformation of spatial constructs in religious festivities under modern pressures. The theoretical framework is applied to analyze the effects of globalization, technological advancement, and changes in social structures on the ritual soundscape. This study elucidates how modernity reshapes interactions and perceptions of private and public domains in various ways, subsequently affecting the cultural identity and social cohesion of the Muya Tibetans. The findings indicate that changes in soundscape metaphors during the festival are emblematic of broader shifts in cultural practices and spatial dynamics. These changes not only impact individual experiences but also reshape community structures, emphasizing the dynamic nature of tradition and identity amidst modern challenges. In summary, this thesis provides a deep exploration of the complexities of preserving cultural heritage under the widespread influence of modernization. It contributes to academic discussions on cultural adaptation, offering insights into how traditional communities like the Muya Tibetans navigate the intersection of cultural continuity and transformation. This work enhances our understanding of the adaptive strategies employed by traditional societies in engaging with global modernity.

ABSTRACT. Balinese composers of new music for gamelan are reshaping the idea of gamelan music itself through a series of innovations regarding sound possibilities, organology, musical forms, and behaviors. Scholars, who have posed attention to musik kontemporer from the beginning of the 21st century, have reported on the appearance of a few pioneers who were using live electronics with gamelan or music software as a compositional tool. During my research in Bali, carried out in two fieldwork periods between 2013 and 2020, an emerging generation of gamelan composers, educated in traditional music at the local conservatory, has begun to have a more integrated relationship with new technologies. Their creative practices and challenges regarding Balinese music conventions, ideas, and identity are also manifesting through the combined use of computers and gamelan on stage as instrumentation, as well as social media publications promoting digital gamelan works. Focusing on how musical traditions and innovations interact, this paper discusses how computer music and gamelan are used to realize the Balinese aesthetic of the ombak, the beating sound generated by the Balinese gamelan tuning system that flows from the Hindu Balinese philosophical concept of Rwa Bhineda, in Yan Priya Kumara Janardhana’s composition, Monk (2019).

ABSTRACT. Motivated by the growing importance of social media in contemporary culture and society, this talk focuses on the process of mediatization of Khmer ritual genres. Traditional genres are performed on TV and disseminated online via social media, live streaming and YouTube uploads by artists and TV channels with the aims of “refashioning” and extending old media. By mediatization, following some scholars of media studies, I mean a meta-framework which observes the dynamics underlying the social construction of reality as increasingly influenced by media, understood both as technologies and sense-making processes. Consequently, TV and the Internet do not simply reproduce or reflect music traditions but they play an important role in their shaping and reception. By examining performances on Facebook of a well-known wedding music (phleng kar) ensemble, this talk shows the role of social media in advertising traditional wedding music and ceremony, artists and ensembles mirroring new socio-cultural trends such as the role of women and artists as entrepreneurs, the professionalism of artists and musicians, the “marketization” of traditional wedding ceremonies and the political control exercised by the government over culture and the media system in contemporary Cambodia. These aspects show how wedding music artists embrace demands for national representation and promotion of individual creativity while being subject to current sociopolitical trends and audience-patrons’ interests.

ABSTRACT. The use of digital technologies during live music performances in Dar es Salaam is increasingly becoming a common practice in recent years. This paper examines the use of digital technologies in live performances of Muziki wa Injili in Dar es Salaam. Muziki wa Injili is the church music genre in Tanzania that uses musical elements from various popular music genres such as reggae, rumba, zouk, rap, taarab, soukous, and salsa (charanga). This paper highlights the increased use of digital technologies in live performances of Muziki wa Injili in Dar es Salaam and examines how this use shapes the live music performance and people’s experiences of the music. These technologies include both equipment and software. The music equipment is used including computers, digital mixing consoles, synthesizers, in-ear monitors, and MIDI control devices like MIDI Keyboards. And the most commonly used software such as Logic Pro, Ableton Live, Pro Tools, and Cubase. This paper presents the findings obtained from my ethnographic study conducted in Dar es Salaam by interviewing church musicians, sound engineers and church goers who attend the live performances of Muziki wa Injili and by observing these live performances.

ABSTRACT. This panel of four papers looks at two southern Chinese music traditions – Cantonese opera and Fujian nanyin/nanguan – and certain changes which had taken place in each one for various reasons, among them history, media crossover, and globalization. The first two papers discuss the incorporation of the Western violin into the instrumental ensemble accompanying the singing of Cantonese opera and how it was “Cantonized”, one in historical terms and the other in more specific and ethnomusicological terms. The third paper talks about Cantonese opera on film in a remake of a Hollywood musical and how it “displaced” the cabaret form in the original and embraced the logics of film narration. The metaphorical use of the terms “translation” and “displacement” in two of these papers in reference to a musical instrument and a musical form respectively underscores the transformations and hybridity in the resultant music and musical genre. The fourth paper on Fujian nanyin has two co-authors who interrogate whether and how the genre needs to be "reinvented" in order to find a way forward into the future and survive, while also keeping the traditional characteristics which make it what it is. Together, these four papers paint a picture of how two musical traditions in China’s economically vibrant south have been transformed and continue to undergo transformation.

How a Western Violin Might Have Helped Make Chinese Opera Cantonese

Since the 1920s, the violin has become one of the most vital instruments used by Chinese musicians for accompanying Cantonese opera songs. Over the last century, a unique set of skills had been developed for producing sound effects which match well with the vocal expression of Cantonese opera singers. One may say that in the hands of Cantonese musicians, the violin has been “Sinicized”, or more precisely, “Cantonized”, in order to express the regional musical “flavour”. However, if “regional musical flavour” is assumingly closely associated with regional dialect, it is worth noting that Cantonese was not fully applied to Chinese opera songs performed by Cantonese actors or singers until the 1920s-30s. It was also during the 1920s that pinghou (natural voice, ordinary voice) performed in Cantonese emerged, gradually replacing the high-pitched tune previously used for performing male roles. Also noteworthy is the decline in usage of such traditional instruments as erxian and zhutiqin in Cantonese opera accompaniment and the emergence of the violin (as well as the gaohu – a modified erhu) in their stead around the same time. These concurrent developments – instrumental, vocal, linguistic – in Cantonese opera in the 1920s and '30s, are not coincidental. The expressiveness of the four-stringed violin surpasses that of the two-stringed erxian in imitating human voices and must have contributed to the development of using the natural voice to sing opera songs in Cantonese. Considering the tone-melody relationship in Cantonese as well as the earlier history of Cantonese sung narratives, this paper attempts to situate the changes of the 1920s and '30s in a longer-term perspective to assess their significance.

A Case of “Musical Translation”: The Violin in the Cantonese Opera Instrumental Ensemble

Among European musical instruments, the violin seems to be the most adaptable, finding its way into the instrumental ensembles of many non-Western music traditions such as Carnatic music, Middle Eastern music, and Cantonese opera, to name a distinct few. In all three traditions, the human voice is the principal vector of music performance such that even instrumental music in each tradition is largely influenced by the features of vocal music. As the previous speaker in this panel mentions, in the music of Cantonese opera, “regional flavor” is closely tied to the intonation of the Cantonese Chinese dialect, the singing of which largely replaced the previous practice of singing in guanhua, an artificial stage language based on modified Mandarin Chinese, sometime in the 1920s-30s. This period also saw the decline in the use of two bamboo two-stringed fiddles with hard bows – the erxian and the zhutiqin – and their replacement by the violin and the gaohu (a modified erhu). However, despite the gaohu then becoming the lead instrument in the Cantonese opera music ensemble, the violin – which came to be called “fan-ling” by Cantonese musicians – was not displaced by it; instead, it has continued to be a prominent instrument in the Cantonese opera music ensemble to the present day alongside the gaohu.

Adopting and adapting a foreign instrument like the violin to a non-Western music tradition like Cantonese opera involve a kind of “musical translation” wherein the idiomatic techniques intrinsic to the violin are applied to performing music underlain by the rules of intonation and expressivity of the Cantonese language. This paper examines the techniques employed by contemporary players of the fan-ling and discusses why, for both aesthetic and practical reasons, Cantonese musicians find the violin effective for accompanying the singing of Cantonese opera.

“Title Song” and Interculturality: A Displacement of American Cabaret by Cantonese Opera in The Sorrowful Lute (1957)

With a cast featuring prominent Cantonese opera actor-singers Fong Yim Fun (1928– ) and Wong Chin Sui (1914–1993), The Sorrowful Lute (dir. Tso Kei, 1957) is a Cantonese film remake of Hollywood musical Love Me or Leave Me (dir. Charles Vidor, 1955), in which the displacement of American cabaret by Cantonese opera was intended for attracting moviegoers and Cantonese opera enthusiasts in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia (a.k.a. Nanyang, “the South Seas”). That said, a closer look at this displacement would reveal not only how Cantonese opera was treated as music that helped domesticate the original plot for the target audience, but also how Cantonese opera offered cultural and historical specifics that would mediate the logic and techniques of film narration. Accordingly, this paper will explicate such domestication and mediation by analyzing the two appearances of the “title song” (zhuti qu) in The Sorrowful Lute. It will examine the first appearance of the “title song” as an onscreen display of “verse customization” (duqu), before inquiring into the second appearance of the “title song” as a subtitled combination of a flashback montage sequence and a musicalized monologue.

Does Nanyin Require ‘Reinvention’?: An Evaluation of the Tradition as a ‘Living Fossil’ as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Nanyin (known in Taiwan as Nanguan), a vocal and instrumental genre with a history that dates back at least to the fourteenth century, has been a significant part of the Minnanese identity not in its homeland but it has also provided much solace and connection for Minnanese in Taiwan and Southeast Asia. With the onslaught of immense social and economic changes in the People’s Republic of China in the last few decades of the twentieth century, nanyin, like most traditional arts and music genres, has suffered the tremendous impact of globalisation. Despite efforts by the Cultural Bureau in Quanzhou and local scholars from the 1990s to preserve and promote the tradition, nanyin remained in a precarious state.

In 2009, the traditional nanyin music of the Minnan region in Fujian province was officially registered on the representative list of UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Given its antiquity, nanyin is oft-quoted as a “living fossil of Chinese traditional music” (“中国传统音乐的活化石”). Since its elevated position as a UNESCO ICH, Quanzhou municipal government’s cultural protection initiatives have kick-started interests in the genre not only in Minnan but also nationally and internationally. At the same time, younger musicians are experimenting with new techniques and ways of recreating the traditional sounds. With the increased renewed interests in nanyin, the balancing act of protecting a genre steeped in tradition with that of seeking a way forward to allow it to be continuously living and evolving is a valid concern. This paper aims to examine nanyin’s development in Quanzhou, looking at how traditional nanyin groups adapt to contemporary societal changes and the ways the younger generation “reinvent” and search for a new path in the continued transmission of a “living fossil”.

ABSTRACT. This roundtable discussion brings together youth figures in the Puyuma cultural landscape to explore the dynamic interplay between soundscapes and cultural identity within the context of land repatriation and Indigenous resurgence in Taiwan. Set against the backdrop of Patatalru, a hill in Taitung traditionally held by the Puyuma people, the conversation will delve into shifts in the auditory environment following the hill’s recent return to the community in 2020, after decades of military occupation since the 1940s.

Panelists include Lamulu Pakawyan, CEO of Daduway CCI Ltd., a cultural company that has extensively published on Puyuma culture; Alinadan Tatiyan (Chih-Chiang, Cheng) and Sulangalr Pakawyan (Chung-Wei, Hung) from nilrasedr kan mumu studio, who are deeply engaged in the revival of Puyuma craftmanship and also teach Puyuma culture to local elementary students; and Shura Taylor, a PhD student of Musicology who lives and conducts research in Puyuma. Together, they will discuss how Puyuma songs and changes in the soundscape have mirrored or influenced shifts in the Puyuma cultural identity over the past century, particularly through the lens of colonial impact and subsequent decolonization efforts.

The discussion aims to illuminate how the Puyuma community has experienced and influenced the evolving soundscape of Patatalru—from pre-military occupation through WWII to the present—and how these changes are interwoven with broader narratives of Indigenous autonomy, cultural resilience, and land reclamation. By examining how sound serves as both a marker of historical transition and a tool for cultural resurgence, the roundtable will highlight the active role of soundscapes in fostering a renewed sense of place and identity among the Puyuma people. Additionally, it will explore the roles of Puyuma youth in reasserting Indigeneity through sound and other cultural expressions, as well as broader implications for soundscapes in land repatriation processes within the Taiwanese Indigenous context.

ABSTRACT. This round table proposes the discussion of five research projects with three closely related conceptual axes: body, costume and gender: 1) “Gender, body, skin: women and politics in the current Uruguayan carnival” analyses the presence of women in leading theatrical roles in the Uruguayan murga, which causes the disappearance of male transvestism, without abandoning the grotesque as a rhetorical resource. 2) “Clothes make the man (and woman)” presents a journey around stage costumes starting from the Commedia dell'arte and showing its presence in the Uruguayan theater (including the “criollo” circus) through the analysis of the relationship between costumes and stereotyped characters, including some examples of the Uruguayan popular music of the 80s. 3) “A discussion on the construction of masculinity through the analysis of the performance of 'Cumbia Sound' in Chile during the 1990s” analyses the video-clip “How to be a Real Chico Sound” (Chirstopher Saravia), referring to the cumbia movement called “Sound”. Young men with long hair, sensual movements and erotic lyrics put on the table the question of how a staging can impact the image and concept of masculinity within a society. 4) “Negros, candombe y cuero in classic Argentinean cinema” addresses the way in which certain films (1933 - 1945) constructed a musical and visual representation of candombe and the Afro-descendant population. The paternalistic tone of several productions reinforces the myth of a whitened Argentinianness in the modernity of the twentieth century. 5) “Reinventions of Afro music in contemporary Chile: the body and gender performativity” examines two women’s cultural projects: Aluna Tambó, in the context of a resurgence of Afro-ariqueño identity, and Samba da Costa, samba de raíz in a multicultural context. It seeks to interrogate how their artistic practice articulates representations and reinterpretations of Afro identity and imaginary under the gaze of gender performativity discourses.

ABSTRACT. The Digital Analysis of Chant Transmission project (DACT) extends the study of the dissemination of plainchant from localized research focused mostly on Europe and the Middle Ages to global research tracing transmission to other continents through to the modern era. The plainchant repertory developed and changed in many ways over a thousand years of practice, as a result of religious reforms and (as it travelled) through the international trade and missionary activity that accompanied European colonisation, taking on new meaning and sometimes new languages while interacting with cultural, social, and political practices. The DACT director proposes to host a roundtable to talk about these myriad ways that plainchant has travelled and adapted to new environments. One presenter will focus on a number of early modern Spanish manuscripts that are in the collection of the University of Sydney, Australia, considering their traditional use within their liturgical communities in Spain. Another presenter will provide an overview of sources held in Canadian library collections, including European manuscripts and manuscript fragments, nineteenth-century printed sources in Latin developed for use in the Francophone areas of Canada, and nineteenth- and early twentieth-century sources in a number of Indigenous languages. Another presenter will discuss the 20-year project she has led on 134 liturgical manuscripts held at the Cathedral in Mexico City; some of the manuscripts originally came from Seville, while others created in Mexico. Finally, a presenter will discuss a number of stages and repertories of Chinese Catholic plainchant, including the first translation into Chinese of the Latin liturgy in 1670 by Fr. Ludovico Buglio and the musical activity of missionary Fr. Vincent Lebbe (1877-1940). Collectively, we will explore what chant repertories, manuscripts, books, manuscript fragments and recordings have meant to individuals or communities at different moments in the repertory or the artefact’s history.

ABSTRACT. Menstruation has been called “the last unmentionable taboo” (Houppert 1999). The aim of this roundtable is to usher menstruation into the realm of ethnomusicological and ethnochoreological inquiry. Scholars from other disciplines have studied the effects of menstruation on the singing voice (f.e. Brown and Hollien 1982, Wicklund et al 1998, Reed-Banks 2023), or the effect of music listening on menstrual and pre-menstrual symptoms (Viswanathan and Pinto 2015, Kirca and Kizilkaya 2022). In anthropology, menstruation as part of female life experiences in culture and society has been researched since the 1980s (f.e. Buckley and Gottlieb 1988, Britton 1996, Hoskins 2002). However, ethnomusicological and ethnochoreological writing has largely ignored menstruation and its intersections with the performing arts (two exceptions are Hoefnagels 2021 and Biswas 2021). The roundtable participants will address this lacuna in the field from four different perspectives: In India, the concept of pollution and purity often flows from ritual to performance space in dance. The first speaker’s presentation will focus on interviews of a mother-daughter duo on menstrual restrictions and dance as experienced and transmitted through generations of women dancers from Manipur, in particular the inherited notions of purity and pollution in relation to the performance in ritual and proscenium spaces. The second speaker addresses the difficult circumstances female musicians are facing under the current political system in Iran. Not only restrained by political pressure, they also may suffer a socially generated internalized shame which is created by the perception of being dirty and polluted, which even leads to the elimination of women from the public while they are menstruating and creates a general silence around the topic. In Bali, Hindu beliefs around being unclean while menstruating prohibit female performers from dancing and playing in sacred spaces in that phase of their menstruation cycle. The focus in the third speaker’s presentation is therefore on the strategies professional dancers have developed to circumnavigate such restraints, as well as their perception of existing rules of conduct based on social and religious norms. The fourth speaker will focus on the challenges of conducting ethnomusicological fieldwork as a menstruating person, citing her own experiences as a researcher in Burma/Myanmar. Burma is a Buddhist-majority country, and long-held Buddhist beliefs about menstruation and its dark power came to international attention with the “sarong revolution” of 2021. For an in-country researcher, more prosaic realities – such as the lack of garbage disposal – present further complications.

ABSTRACT. This study focuses on the interrelationships between tangible cultural heritage “Temple of Haven” Tiantan in Beijing, which was designated a World Heritage Site in 1998, and intangible cultural heritage “Imperial Ritual Music” Zhonghe Shaoyue, which was included on the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of China in 2021. Zhonghe Shaoyue was very specific music used for sacrifices, court meetings and banquets in the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368—1911), performed by royal musicians at the Divine Music Department Shenyueshu. Zhonghe Shaoyue adopts the scales of Gong, Zhi, Shang, Yu and Jiao. Every lyric must have a note. It preserves and continues the characteristics of pre-Qin Yayue. The tunes are gentle but solemn, majestic and rich. Zhonghe Shaoyue have lost the stage and space they used to rely on for survival, and the performance level of the performers is also unsustainable. Zhonghe Shaoyue is facing an existential crisis. Using surviving written reocrds and musical instruments, as well as oral history and soundwalk methods, this study aims to compare the soundscape of Tiantan and the orle of Zhonghe Shaoyue in terms of historical and contemporary contexts. Firstly, this paper analyzes the Zhonghe Shaoyue (the soundmark of the Tiantan), from the aspects of the performance locations, the composition of the ensemble, and the music system. Secondly, this paper attempts to outline the changes in musical instruments and ensembles and their relationship to different ritual performances conducted at various locations. Being the most iconic voice of the past, finally, this paper argues that the importance of Zhonghe Shaoyue in contemporary soundscape of Tiantan in assisting our reimaginations of this cultural space of the Ming and Qing dynasties China. It brings visitors closer to this significant architecture and its glorious past, while the function of Zhonghe Shaoyue has nevertheless been shifted from the sacred and ritualistic role in ancient China to enhancing entertainment and historical experiences.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates an applied ethnomusicology practice undertaken by several ethnomusicologists at a music conservatory in China—the establishment of “Yayue Research Center of China Conservatory of Music (hereinafter referred to as YRC)”. Specifically, "Yayue" is an ancient court music tradition that originated in the Zhou Dynasty of China in the 1st century BC. As the carrier of Confucian culture (“Li”culture), yayue exerts an influence on the Chinese people through norms, rituals and customs, etc., and has also spread to Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and other places and developed locally. At present, when yayue has been basically lost in China, these ethnomusicologists are trying to reconstruct this cultural tradition composed of ritual and music education in the conservatory. This study attempts to explore the source of the driving force behind this practice for contemporary Chinese scholars to shift from theory to practice through ethnographic investigation. The conclusion of this study is that the root cause of their sense of mission and drive to move from theoretical research to practical application and pursue "higher purpose"(T. Rice 2014:194) is rooted in their sense of national identity with China and their sense of social responsibility. In contemporary China, where the Western music education system is the mainstream, they recognize the value of the yayue tradition and hope to better inherit Chinese culture by revitalizing it.

ABSTRACT. From the 1950s to the 1970s, nightclubs and dance halls were crucial in constructing Taiwan's jazz scene and attracting numerous jazz musicians who dedicated their careers to these spaces. Among them was Cheng Wan-Tsung, a jazz musician who devoted his entire career to the aforementioned venues. In 2022, I collected a series of handwritten notations used by Cheng Wan-Tsung while he worked at the 統一大飯店 (Tong-Yi Grand Hotel) and various dance halls. However, the challenge was that these notations lacked systematic categorization and preservation. I reviewed two literary issues in Taiwan: handwritten copies and “Taiwanese Jazz.” I found that the research on handwritten copies focuses on traditional music, with no research on jazz. The “Taiwanese Jazz” research mainly focuses on historical and social contexts, not on notations. Moreover, I referred to the research on archival arrangement and description of Music Manuscripts and Scores, which assisted me in understanding how to arrange and categorize the disordered handwritten notations.

To Bridge this gap, my analysis focuses on the content and arrangement of Cheng Wan-Tsung’s notations, alongside describing his life history. I employed three approaches, which are literature collection, interview methods, and score analysis, for addressing four main issues: firstly, it explores how Cheng Wan-Tsung’s jazz career was constructed, that is, his “jazz life” was shaped in what context and background; secondly, to show what genres were represented in these scores; thirdly, What was Cheng Wan-Tsung’s band composition; and finally, how he arranged the songs. Given that the "Taiwanese Jazz" concept is growing in Taiwan, the article will contribute to filling the lack of information on the notations and comprehension of the “Taiwanese Jazz” concept in Taiwanese musical history.

ABSTRACT. In the West, from ancient Greece to the present day, countless musicians, artists, and philosophers have explored the relationship between music and emotion as a subject of music philosophy. In China, there are also many literature focusing on this. Among them, "On Sound without Sorrow and Joy" is one of the most important documents. It is a music essay written by Ji Kang (224-263, some say 223 262), a writer, musician, and thinker of State of Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. Although this essay is not long, it deeply reflects on the essence and meaning of music, the relationship between music and emotions, and the function of music.Ji Kang’s viewpoints were very different from those of its contemporaries. This essay has always been a focus of attention in the Chinese music academic community nowadays. Since 1979, over 600 papers have studied it, and several scholars have annotated and translated it into modern Chinese. My speech mainly includes three aspects: firstly, introducing the textual connotation of "On Sound without Sorrow and Joy"; The second is to review the research achievements of several representative scholars in China and abroad, presenting contemporary scholars' understanding and interpretation of this ancient literature; The third is to analyze the research perspective of "On Sound without Sorrow and Joy" and its enlightenment for current music research.

ABSTRACT. This performative presentation combines short excerpts of the multidisciplinary work “Get Me Off This F***ing Planet” created by Dr Romano, Dr Parkins-Craig, and Ms. Kalogeropoulou which will be contextualized by the theories that underpin the creative processes. Set to premier in 2025 the creators of the work draw from their cross-sectional expertise in instrumental, vocal music, and dance to explore our shared humanity within the context of the disturbing emerging trends in the current socio-political landscape both in Aotearoa and the wider world, and the looming tipping point in the fight against climate change. The work weaves together physical and musical storytelling, inspired by eco-somatics taking into consideration natural beauty and the potential joys of human relationships, ultimately cycling through the states of anger, grief, and joy to confront, commiserate and celebrate with its audience in asking: how do we cope with contemporary living in the midst of climate catastrophe and political upheaval? Emigrating from the United States, Australia, and Greece respectively, the creators of this collaborative piece have witnessed their countries on fire both politically and literally, while being keenly aware, now inhabiting Aotearoa, of sinking islands like Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Hence, the work is a response influenced by the fraught relationship between humanity and the environment both in the authors’ countries of origin, and in their current home Aotearoa.

ABSTRACT. In the 19th century, Armenian culture regarded the house as a sacred space where ritual dances and songs were performed. The “paratoun” (house of dance) served as a genuine environment for exchanging experiences and receiving dance training.While the younger generation primarily engaged in the festivities, elders played a crucial role in overseeing and guiding the rituals and dances, ensuring they were performed accurately and in the correct sequence. This oral tradition of passing down live-action dance from elders to youth was once common but has become rare in contemporary times, although remnants of it persist in certain regions. Today, there is a heightened focus on preserving folk dance and its transmission across generations, particularly in urban settings. Communities organize folk holidays and dance lessons in venues such as churchyards, schools, and institutes. These events follow similar models to the traditional “paratoun” gatherings, with experienced practitioners imparting their knowledge to others, thus ensuring the practical continuity of the dance form. In Yerevan, dance groups play a pivotal role in this mission, viewing the transmission of dance as a means of preserving cultural identity. Unlike in the past, these gatherings are not referred to as "paratoun" (house of dance) but are described using new terms such as "dance training," "event," or "traditional celebration." This shift reflects changing perceptions of the role and purpose of such gatherings in urban contexts. The article employs auto-ethnography and historical-comparative methods to explore the functional significance of “paratoun”, examining how it was perceived in natural environments compared to its contemporary urban context.

ABSTRACT. The general worldview is that in Sub-Saharan African cultures, singing is characterised by various singing styles with multipart and call and response styles being the commonest. Multipart singing is done either homophonically or polyphonically. In some cases, the singing is in responsorial form. The call and response style is a cyclic form of singing in which one person leads out with a certain phrase, and the other singers join with a response. This structure is repeated over and over again. In the process, the lead singers can create some improvised variations and also overlap a bit into the response. The style is also taken to be a dialogue between the one calling and those responding. The two styles are perceived as being democratic, communal and participatory in nature.

This workshop will involve participants in singing one song using multipart style and another one using call and response. Particular focus will be on polyphony, polyrhythm, repetition, responsorial style, improvisation, and hocketing. The song for the multipart style will be “Majaira kudya zvekutsvara” which translates to You are used to eat from neighbours. The song discourages laziness among villagers. Participants will be introduced to the timeline of the song before getting into five groups. Each group will sing its line to produce a polyphonic resultant sonic combination. To make the singing more exciting, participants will mimic what they sing. The song will be accompanied by mbira played by the facilitator. The second song is called “Huyai muone zvinoita mhondoro” which translates to Come and see what spiritual lions do. The song, which is in call and response style is a Shona shangara dance song from Zimbabwe that praises the spiritual lions, mhondoro. The facilitator will teach the participants the timeline of the song, and then demonstrate the lead and the response. The song will be accompanied by bass mbira whose deep sound symbolises the roaring sound of the spiritual lions.

ABSTRACT. Innovations and transformations in musical genres and traditions have often been foregrounded in creativity. Creativity underscores its liveliness, whether by a conscious undertaking or the intensity of its performance. In Ghana, literature on musical creativity has often focused on art music, leading to significant gaps in our understanding of creativity in other forms of expressive arts. This panel thus examines the creative essence of Ghanaian indigenous and hybrid traditions, exploring the influences and approaches that have shaped creativity and its continuous experimentation.

The first paper explores creativity in Jama performances among university students in Ghana, highlighting how this genre serves as a platform for spontaneous idea generation, improvisation, and collaborative creation. He argues that creativity is central to the transformation and vibrancy of Jama music. The second paper outlines the historical and musicological influence of Sikyi, a traditional Ghanaian music genre, and its strategic role in stylistic transformation. He addresses the perceived identity crisis in Ghanaian music by highlighting the enduring influence of traditional elements in contemporary music. The third paper explores the fusion of traditional choral elements with contemporary Hiplife rap, resulting in a new distinct genre that resonates with past and modern expressions. This phenomenon highlights the role of popular musicians in driving innovation within Ghana. The last paper discusses how homes have transitioned from places of rest to artistic creation and consumption hubs during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. He conceptualizes the "home studio" and explores the relationship between the domestic environment and music production, arguing that home studios reflect new forms of musical labor in Ghana. Our panel presents various approaches to ongoing experimentation in music production, capturing the essence of creativity amongst Ghanaian youth. As elaborated by Sowah, these approaches present stylistic tools for compositions and contribute to the growing space of music production and performance in Ghana.

1. Aspects of Creativity in Jama Performance Among University Students in Ghana This paper explores the creative expressions and innovations that characterize Jama performances among tertiary education students in Ghana. Jama, initially a recreational music-making activity among Ga communities along the coastline, has become a ubiquitous performance practice by the youth. Often characterized by communal singing and percussive accompaniment, it is the go-to music practice for students at all levels of education in the country. Drawing on ethnography conducted over the last three years with Jama ensembles at the University of Ghana, I examine the history of Jama and how it gained agency among students. In this paper, I argue that Jama performances among students engage a multifaceted construct of creativity that involves spontaneity of idea generation, extemporized improvisations, and collaborative music-making. Furthermore, I argue that creativity has not only transformed the Jama tradition but has been the critical element in maintaining its strength and resonance among Ghanaian youth in recent times. My study contributes to our understanding of creativity, music-making, and youth culture in Ghana, shedding light on the dynamic relationship between tradition and innovation.

2. Hybridity in Choral Highlife: From Choral Highlife to Choral Hiplife? Since its introduction by Western missionaries, the Ghanaian choral scene has evolved significantly, primarily driven by Ghanaian choral art composers. This evolution has resulted in the creation of Choral Highlife, a unique hybrid style that combines choral and highlife music elements. However, since 2010, secular Ghanaian artists have pioneered a new fusion, Choral Hiplife, which further blurs the lines between the sacred and secular in choral music. This paper explores the transitions of Choral Highlife music through its fusion with Ghanaian rap (Hiplife). Specifically, it examines how this creative process is conceptualized, how secular artists navigate their performances within sacred spaces, and how audiences perceive this new style. The paper argues that, unlike earlier developments in Ghanaian Choral and Choral Highlife music, Choral Hiplife is primarily driven by secular rap artists. The research is based on a musical ethnography of choral highlife performances.

3. Sikyi as catalyst for stylistic transformation in Ghanaian music This paper delves into the historical significance of sikyi, an Akan traditional youth dance, and how its rhythms have evolved to become a predominant representative of Ghanaian rhythmic identity. It serves as the foundation for stylistic transformation in musical genres in Ghana, spanning from traditional to popular and sacred to secular. Whether in jama as a timeline for chanting or in Ghanaian gospel as a rhythmic timekeeper for worshipping, sikyi functions in multiple ways. As a musicking timeline rhythm, it gained popularity following what K Gyasi termed "sikyi Highlife", a term that originated with a medley he released in 1974 and culminated into what many consider a Highlife sub-genre. It has since become a major definitive aesthetic of the genre, extending its influence to other primarily West African genres that draw from Highlife. I argue that the sikyi rhythm’s association with Ghana makes it one clear sign of Ghanaian rhythmic identity and a way to trace the country’s influence regionally and globally, especially in newer genres and among the sonic aesthetics of Afrobeats. This paper provides historical and musicological evidence of the rhythm’s popularization and its embodied use since Gyasi’s record. Through analyses of selected songs from the past five decades, I show the processes of alteration over the years and sikyi’s role in stylistic change. I highlight what I call its “subtle iterations of influence” to demonstrate how an element that is potentially elusive asserts prominence at the same time. I draw from music recordings, interviews, and years of active engagement with music from the West African region. This paper addresses some public discourse surrounding what many think to be an identity crisis in contemporary Ghanaian music, and highlights the state of traditional music’s influence in contemporary times.

4. Home in the Studio: Creative Processes of Music Production at Home in Ghana Owning home studios has increasingly become a common lifestyle among musicians (both professionals and amateurs), music aficionados, and music scholars in Ghana, particularly during the covid-19 and post-covid periods. The influx of these home studios has encouraged a current trail for how popular music is recorded and disseminated within the Ghanaian music industry in present times. In essence, home as the traditional setting for restfulness has increasingly become a hotspot for artistic and consumerist endeavors. Beyond the many writings on its historical developments, recording tactics, and affiliations to popular music, a critical inquiry into the term “home studio” focusing on the correlation between the two words "home" and “studio” have remained brief and cursory in ethnomusicological research. Thinking about this problem made me ask questions such as: what is home? What are the various levels of homeness in a home? How can home be situated in the studio? What interactions connect homeness to music production and how do home studio users operate within these domestic activities? Drawing on ethnographic approaches and theories of home and space/place, I examine some perceptions attached to "homeness" in selected home studios and how those homeness ideals intersect with the creative processes of music production. Considering how "home office" has changed the way we perceive home and office; I argue that home studios do not only exhibit homeness but also how home reflects new kinds of musical labor in the Ghanaian context.

ABSTRACT. Ethnomusicologists often grapple with the balance and disruption of various music traditions. Some disappear naturally, while factors like colonialism, globalization, capitalism, and religion intentionally suppress others. Consequently, sustainability has become an increasingly relevant concept in discussions about change, continuity, and survival in music studies (Schippers 2015). In ethnomusicology, sustainability typically targets two goals: sustaining music cultures and using music for ecological sustainability. Achieving these goals without musicians is impossible, yet the literature on music sustainability has often overlooked musicians' careers (Brew, 2023). This round table presents a corrective by exploring how musicians navigate their precarious careers and how their efforts contribute to sustaining music. The discussion will focus on Ghana, exploring the interplay of gender, music groups, and individual agencies and how they impact music, careers, and ecological sustainability. We look at various elements of Ghanaian music and musicians, including the pivotal role of women in the evolution of adenkum–– an indigenous music tradition that uses a gourd-shaped instrument for self-expression and education among Akan women. The Legon Palmwine Band's efforts in preserving the endangered palmwine music tradition through comprehensive documentation, public performances, and youth training will also be highlighted. Another key topic will be the career sustainability of female musicians, a facet of music sustainability that often goes unnoticed. The round table will examine the careers of female highlife musicians, shedding light on how they have managed to thrive in a male-dominated industry. Finally, we discuss the transformation of nnwonkoro, a female-performed Akan verbal art form. We explore how contemporary nnwonkoro musicians utilize cultural knowledge and digital technology to reimagine the music tradition for local and global audiences. This roundtable draws on the unique perspectives of contributors and attendees to highlight the importance of diverse voices in promoting sustainable practices through music.

ABSTRACT. This roundtable comprises four panelists, all of whom have played integral roles in the forthcoming publication of Phonographic Modernity: The Gramophone Industry and Music Genres in East and Southeast Asia (University of Illinois Press, 2024).

As the title suggests, this book represents the inaugural attempt to explore the development of the gramophone industry and its associated music genres within the historical milieu of East and Southeast Asia from a global vantage point. Spanning nine distinct locales including Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia/Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand, the book offers a panoramic view seldom encountered in traditional area studies programs, which conventionally treat East and Southeast Asia in isolation.

By juxtaposing these two regions, the book unveils a fresh perspective on the early recording industry, illuminating the transimperial operations of major labels alongside the multifaceted engagement of local societies, thereby delineating what is herein termed “phonographic modernity.” This conceptual framework encapsulates the intersection of mediality, materiality, and marketability of sound within colonial and postcolonial contexts, engaging with pivotal issues in both sound studies and postcolonial discourse.

Surveying over 100 labels and looking into more than 100 music genres, including numerous lesser-known local entities, the book introduces a plethora of dimensions that have hitherto received limited attention within international academia. With its robust theoretical underpinnings, expansive geographical coverage, and meticulous empirical research, this work constitutes a substantial contribution to the ongoing dialogue surrounding global music history and sound studies.

The panelists have authored the introduction and individual chapters focusing on Korea, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Indonesia. By convening scholars specializing in East and Southeast Asia, this roundtable aims to uncover commonalities across the two regions while also highlighting the distinctive attributes of each locale and region from a cross-referential perspective.

ABSTRACT. This is the first of two proposed 60-minute roundtables that we aim to follow each other for an integrated 120-minute session, following the successful model of the Ghana 2023 “Decolonising terminology” roundtables. The rationale for doing two 60-minute roundtables rather than one 120-minute one is to allow for more diversity of perspectives/backgrounds to enrich the discussion.

Relationships between music and language - particularly speech and song - have seen enduring scholarly interest. However, studies of such relationships have often been restricted to either quantitative, cross-cultural comparison or qualitative, within-culture ethnography, with limited integration between these perspectives. In this roundtable, we will attempt to bridge both perspectives by having presenters from around the globe present analyses of relationships between song, speech, and instrumental music recorded by ourselves and other speakers of our own languages (te reo Māori, Mbyá-Guaraní, Japanese, Amami, Finnish, Maasai, Luo, Yoruba, Igbo, English) and also present an analysis comparing these languages with each other and with a global sample representing over 50 languages (Ozaki et al., 2023). This will allow us concrete empirical examples with which to address broader theoretical issues such as decolonization, cross-cultural comparison, emic/etic distinctions, and ethical publishing practices from diverse viewpoints. Each presenter will give their own perspective on the challenges and opportunities involved in combining these quantitative/qualitative perspectives, and the audience will be invited to join into an extended discussion of the promises and pitfalls of cross-cultural collaborative comparative projects.

For procedural purposes, we have separated the 10 speakers and two chairs into two groups, based on whether our research approach is primarily comparative (1st) or ethnographic (2nd). However, the goal of the sessions is to combine both approaches and the main goal will be to keep individual presentations short and maximize dialogue across presenters and with the audience.

ABSTRACT. This is the second of two proposed 60-minute roundtables that aim to follow each other for an integrated 120-minute session, following the successful model of the Ghana 2023 “Decolonising terminology” roundtables. The rationale for doing two 60-minute roundtables rather than one 120-minute one is to allow for more diversity of perspectives/backgrounds to enrich the discussion.

Relationships between music and language - particularly speech and song - have seen enduring scholarly interest. However, studies of such relationships have often been restricted to either quantitative, cross-cultural comparison or qualitative, within-culture ethnography, with limited integration between these perspectives. In this roundtable, we will attempt to bridge both perspectives by having presenters from around the globe present analyses of relationships between song, speech, and instrumental music recorded by ourselves and other speakers of our own languages (te reo Māori, Mbyá-Guaraní, Japanese, Amami, Finnish, Maasai, Luo, Yoruba, Igbo, English) and also present an analysis comparing these languages with each other and with a global sample representing over 50 languages (Ozaki et al., 2023). This will allow us concrete empirical examples with which to address broader theoretical issues such as decolonization, cross-cultural comparison, emic/etic distinctions, and ethical publishing practices from diverse viewpoints. Each presenter will give their own perspective on the challenges and opportunities involved in combining these quantitative/qualitative perspectives, and the audience will be invited to join into an extended discussion of the promises and pitfalls of cross-cultural collaborative comparative projects.

ABSTRACT. The panel addresses music as intangible cultural heritage (ICH) in Finland by pointing to its multiple and often contradictory dimensions. Thus the goal is to challenge and diversify conventional and even stagnant notions of music as ICH, notably concerning the axiomatic association of ICH with folk or traditional music, however conceived. The panel comprises of four presentations where emphasis is laid on issues of ethnicity, intergenerational transmission and moral ambiguities as they surface in ICH practices and management.

Paper 1: Middle-class life and gangsta identities? Rap’s transgenerational cultural heritage in Finland

Finnish rap music has evolved from a small genre to a huge national influence in its 40 years. Different regions have their own, distinct characteristics, just like their global counterparts. Hip Hop has been institutionalized in museum exhibitions and has been played in the most watched TV-shows. Aspects of Hip Hop have been transfused into the white, middle-class lifestyle that many Finns live.

Recently, rap music in the Nordic countries has been gaining notoriety through its gangsta identities, especially among young men. Affected by youth unemployment, racism and inequality, disillusioned young rappers write lyrics about criminal activities and drug use among their peers. What were previously seen as safe, middle-class neighborhoods have changed through songs into a stage for gangsta-influenced music videos and social media content. Gangsta inspired styles and music have been a part of the performances of rap even in previous generations, but for the first time in the Nordics authorities have been growing concerned over them. This raises a question of power relations in Finnish popular music discussions and the processes of heritagization.Whose stories are worthy of the ‘cultural heritage’ label and do we consider difficult topics as part of current cultural heritage?

Paper 2: From generation to generation or to anyone interested? The (lack of) transmission of African music and dance traditions in diaspora communities in Finland

This paper explores the transmission of African traditions of music and dance in Finland from the viewpoint of cultural heritage. When approaching African traditions of music and dance in European contexts, people usually expect to find African diaspora communities that continue to practice the traditions of their ancestors in their new home countries and pass them on to their children, along the lines of the definition for ICH in the UNESCO 2003 Convention. While this may be true in some diaspora communities, observations of how African music and dance traditions are practiced and who practices them in Finland do not support this ideal image of diasporic cultural heritage. Rather, African traditions of music and dance are practiced in Finland by people of various ethnic and cultural backgrounds, including many white Finns, whereas a large part of the people of African descent show no particular interest in them. Furthermore, although music and dance are commonly featured in the celebrations of African diaspora communities in Finland, and acknowledged as part of their cultural heritage, these communities rarely have activities that would aim at transmitting their music and dance traditions to younger generations. As a result, African expert performers are more likely to share their expertise with white Finnish enthusiasts than with children and youth of African descent. Based on ongoing research, the paper discusses this apparent lack of interest in cultural transmission by African diaspora communities and the few efforts to provide education traditional music and dance to children of African descent.

Paper 3: A Fiddle for everyone? Municipal decision making and the UNESCO ICH process in Kaustinen, Finland

Kaustinen fiddle playing and related practices and expressions were inscribed to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2021. Kaustinen is a small municipality in Western Finland (population around 4100 people). This presentation is based on an analysis of the impacts of the UNESCO-process on the local scale by examining the municipality’s policy-making. For instance, in summer 2023, a local politician representing “The Finns” made an initiative that all babies born in Kaustinen should be given a violin donated by the municipality. Only six years earlier members of the same party criticized that the local Folk Art Centre was too expensive to maintain. The analysis focusses on the proceedings of the municipal decision-making before and after the inscription between the years 2016–2023: how the concept of intangible cultural heritage was used in the material; when it appeared in the discussions, by which political parties and in what contexts? A point of discussion is also how the politicians refer to the UNESCO status when they make decisions about culture and its funding. Arguably, speeches and initiatives related to intangible cultural heritage increased in the years of planning and achieving the inscription and likewise after it compared to time before the UNESCO process started. The notion of heritage thus became more important also for the local politicians when it was noticed on a national and global level.

Paper 4: The moral ambiguity of music heritage

Heritage has become a key part of cultural policy and creative industries. The notion is associated strongly with collective identity formation, while at the same time it has been pointed out that virtually anything can be framed and manipulated as heritage. Also, given the intimate association of heritage with cultural ownership, it connects readily to theorisations of the sacred. At issue are the obvious tensions between religious traditions and ideals of inclusivity, or, cultural diversity and human rights in general. In addition, the idea of a common cultural heritage is secondary to intellectual property rights. This is particularly evident in the case of more recent traditions whose practitioners can benefit from copyright compensations. Thus, it becomes possible to juxtapose different sacred domains, as it were, be they primarily religious, ethnic or economic in quality. Music provides a propitious demarcation for examining the multiple dimensions at stake, not least because of the universal tendencies to mystify and mythologise music as well as the recurrent moral panics surrounding it, notably in the form of fundamentalist religious censorship and concerns about aesthetic and by implication moral decadence of “youth music.” The presentation is mainly theoretical in orientation, yet building on examples drawn from the UNESCO ICH lists with the aid of keywords such as “religious”, “sacred”, “holy”, “prohibited” and “restricted.”

ABSTRACT. Dance education has been a recent addition to the Ontario Elementary curriculum that reflects the official Canadian classroom curriculum: A mix of many cultures including First Nations, English and French. The curricula, studied by a diverse student body within Canadian classrooms, becomes more varied, inclusive, and open to change via dance that addresses First Nations, Métis & Inuit (FNMI) arts integration. This integration helps educators to infuse Aboriginal content and perspectives by utilizing a philosophy which at times complements and employs Orff-Schulwerk pedagogy implicitly and naturally. To help create an enhanced understanding of dance education and the effects on students, this review serves several related purposes. The first purpose is to provide colleagues and educators with the awareness of dance as an important art form in the Ontario curriculum. Through awareness, the second purpose of providing educators with evidence of the positive social, emotional, and cognitive effects of dance education is accomplished herein. Providing educators with research on the benefits of dance education may inspire inexperienced dance teachers and improve reported apprehensive attitudes towards teaching dance in the classroom (Jackson, 2020). FNMI culture can be understood via language, rituals/ceremonies, spirituality, traditions, art, music, and dance. To bring this understanding to elementary students, teachers need to discuss how different cultures express themselves through dance and identify local cultures. Through FNMI study the fluid movements of traditional dance aid in the development of abstract thinking which fosters symbolic, metaphoric, and creative thought; essential for developing critical thinking skills (Ryan & Brown, 2012). Numerous research studies (Donnelly et al., 2016; Redondo-Flórez et al., 2022) have demonstrated the positive correlation between physical/arts education and academic performance.

ABSTRACT. This paper explores how embodied practices—specifically the integration of poetry, music, and movement in the Meykhana ritual—serve as transformative tools for spiritual and communal connection. Rooted in Sufi mysticism and Turkic shamanic traditions, Meykhana, a traditional Azerbaijani practice, integrates rhythmic chanting, improvised movement, and embodied participation to engage the body as a vital instrument of spiritual expression. This research, through an ethnographic and performative lens, examines how cultural and historical memory is transmitted and sustained through these embodied practices.

Utilizing the frameworks of "Living Stories" and "Moving Memories," the study emphasizes how movement transmits and transforms cultural memory. By participating in Meykhana, the researcher engages in experiential analysis, becoming both subject and observer. This approach bridges the gap between theory and practice, offering insights into identity formation, healing, and the evolving role of gender in ritual performance.

Positioned within broader discussions of ritual dance and performance studies, the research contributes to dance ethnography by demonstrating how ritual movements are lived, not just performed, as a form of embodied knowledge. It highlights the transformative power of Meykhana, emphasizing the deep connections between physical, emotional, and cultural experiences in fostering spiritual and communal cohesion.

ABSTRACT. Research on speech surrogates encompasses the process of how speech sounds in a language are communicated through other sources of sound, such as whistling and musical instruments, in a manner that is mutually intelligible to both the practitioner and the listener. In other words, how rhythm, timbre, and pitch can be transposed to represent the acoustic properties of sounds in a spoken language (Meyer 2015; Winter and McPherson 2022). In this paper, I propose that the didjeridu can be considered a speech surrogate as mouth sounds and rhythm words are central to didjeridu pedagogy. Gurruwiwi (2001), Mununggurr (2005), and Dikarrna (2006) demonstrate the didjeridu playing traditions of Arnhem Land through the use of a ‘didjeridu language’ or “didjspeak” (Koumoulas 2022). The syllables used to teach the didjeridu are directly linked to the language of instruction and contain the phonetic characteristics of their respective languages. In Yolŋu didjeridu playing traditions, didjspeak syllables are specific to their respective dialects. Additionally, phonotactics and phonological processes such as prosody and lenition are directly related to the gained proficiency level of didjeridu players in traditional circles. Finally, this paper will discuss my current research with the Ewamian Aboriginal People of Cape York where the didjeridu’s function in language revitalization will be examined. More specifically, introducing newly crafted didjspeak using Ewamian vocabulary as a tool for language acquisition. Through the examination of the didjeridu's inherent connection to language, I will attempt to answer the question if, in fact, language can be taught through the didjeridu.

ABSTRACT. In the context of a growing body of research on postcolonial (air)mobilities, the analysis of corporate branding efforts and online marketing campaigns of national airliners constitutes an exciting new field of research in which various approaches - ethnomusicology, anthropology, mobility studies, critical race studies, and media studies - collide. Building upon our previous work about TAP Air Portugal and the Australian regional airline Rex, in this presentation we aim to critically examine the instrumentalization of Indigenous music, dance and art in the marketing campaigns and corporate identity efforts of both Air New Zealand and Qantas. Regarding Air NZ, we refer their 2019 Cultural Diversity Award as well as the 2022 safety video evoking Maori culture. As for Qantas, we point to recent examples of aboriginal performances, Indigenous paint schemes and name-giving of planes, such as the Qantaslink A220 Uluru commemorative event at Ayers Rock in March 2024. Thus, we aim to understand to what extent both airlines have employed Indigenous cultural practices to come to terms with their country's pasts; engaged social media to digitally market this content; and ultimately, rebranded their corporate identity to steer popular perception globally. From what we see from other flag carriers around the world, there definitely seems to be a kind of momentum of Indigenous/colonial remembering vis-à-vis postcolonial justice/reparations. But to what extent do these semantic recodifications actually contribute to the decolonization of minds, culture, and society at large? As Frances Koya-Vakuata's texts on Fiji Airways demonstrate, corporate ownership/appropriation of Indigenous identity symbols can be problematic, and in this respect, both Air NZ and Qantas have faced similar complaints. With this comparative new research topic, we aim to dialogue with some of the themes that are central to this conference, focusing on the overlap that exists between minority rights, diversity management, and intercultural promotion.

ABSTRACT. This article delves into "Wild Man's Dance," a provocative musical piece composed by Erno Rappe and William Axt in 1923, originally crafted to accompany silent films of the era. The composition is examined through the lens of Jerome Cohen’s "Seven Theses on Monster Culture," providing a critical analysis of how the piece contributes to and reflects the broader narratives of colonialism prevalent in the early 20th century. By employing the tritone, often referred to as the "devil's interval," and integrating dissonant rhythms, Rappe and Axt’s work musically portrays the 'othered' communities, subtly invoking the historical monster trope as a metaphor for the colonized. This exploration is enriched by historical comparisons, drawing parallels with similar musical techniques used in the early modern period, where dissonance and unsettling musical intervals often characterized portrayals of the monstrous. The article further argues that "Wild Man's Dance" reflects specific colonial attitudes toward indigenous peoples of the Pacific and Atlantic regions. This theory is supported by the imagery on the cover of the piece's publication, which depicts a "native" in a style reminiscent of historical portrayals of othered communities. Through this analysis, the piece emerges as a complex commentary on identity, otherness, and the dynamics of power, resonating with Cohen's theses on how cultures construct monsters to embody, negotiate, and rationalize cultural anxieties and social boundaries.

ABSTRACT. In 2021, I conducted narrative interviews with three Aotearoa Indigenous metal bands: Shepherds Reign, Alien Weaponry and Pull Down the Sun. In our conversations, we discussed the bands’ histories, performances and reception, how they reproduce Indigenous knowledges and contribute to the decolonization of Aotearoa society.

Analysing our conversations through pepeha and whakamā epistemologies, many unique intersections of Aotearoa Indigeneity and metal culture became apparent. For example, Alien Weaponry’s unexpected artistic success skyrocketed them into Indigenous and global exemplary roles. In their music, they reclaim their Indigeneity in meaningful ways by addressing whakamā about Indigenous past, present and future – a unique position for metal bands originating from the geographic and symbolic Global South.

Our shared experiences as metalheads stimulated context-rich conversations where the artists felt comfortable to discuss lived experiences with coloniality and racism. This shared authority carried through in a collaborative writing process, in which I positioned my interpretive framework to their contextual practices and performances by building on Indigenous epistemologies.

This presentation connects closely to three conference themes. First, mātauranga Māori constitute its analytical framework, departing from Indigenous ways of knowing, being and making sense of oneself, each other and the world. Second, the importance of positioning at the intersection of Indigenous and metal culture is foregrounded by building on shared narrated experiences. From these, interviewees were able to construct themselves and the world around them, on we also reflected during writing – securing a pluriversal approach. Third and final, the intersection of Indigenous and metal culture is largely unexplored within the ICTMD. Yet its heterarchical method and use of Indigenous epistemologies and decolonial theory to approach an often-maligned genre, provides a significant contribution to the various music and dance studies at this conference.

ABSTRACT. In this paper, I propose to work on a self-curated YouTube playlist of popular North Indian (primarily Punjabi and Haryanvi) songs. This playlist comprises songs of migration, where singers sing about the undocumented transnational migration journeys. The lyrics talk about the precarity of these unpredictable journeys, the daring associated with them, and the hardships the migrants endure after relocation. The cinematography of these songs is often incongruent with the lyrics and, portrays the image of a migrant as a successful young man residing in the West, driving expensive cars, partying with female models, and waving US dollar checks. A few songs used the archival videos available on social media platforms, either of the migrants crossing the US-Mexico border or of a migrant’s everyday life in the US. I believe the simultaneous reading of both lyrics and cinematography will give us insight into the migration narratives portrayed in these songs; and how these narratives corroborate and contradict the narratives coming through other mediums such as reels, news reports, documentaries, and migrant testimonies. This investigation may unwrap some of the significant factors that make migration an attractive option for young people in the region, whether real or perceived. More intriguingly, why young men, from this seemingly peaceful and financially prosperous region with no war, political unrest, or climate crisis, are taking such dangerous routes, risking their lives and their whole family’s financial future to reach the USA? It will also be critical to look at how the young migrants engage with these songs of migration. Do these songs inspire them or are these songs of solace in a migrant’s life?

ABSTRACT. “The Sun is Up” is the translated title of an Armenian horovel song which in its original Karabach dialect sounds like “Irik‘nak tus a ekal”. Horovel is work song-type that relates to the process of cultivating soil with the aid of plow and supporting animals. In September 2023, more than one hundred thousand Armenians migrated from Karabakh to Armenia and settled in different cities and villages there. Since they had to leave their homes in Karabach and since they were forced to start new lives in new places, they were to overcome also moral and psychological decline which they obtained due to migration. Collecting Karabach Armenians’ music is an urgent task, since the music appeared in differing environment and might be transformed in definite time period. The fieldwork is continuously being conducted, and by now the collected materials allow noticing an interesting fact. Each native of folk songs not only sings “Irik‘nak tus a ekal”, but also perceives this song as identity. People sing this song with sheer excitement, and many even perform with tears. Our brief interviews with people demonstrate how typical this song is for them. This paper seeks to expound why this particular song plays such an important role for Karabach Armenians. The content of the song does not reflect on missing home or nostalgia; and from this viewpoint it is interesting to examine its influence. Along with the people’s attitude, I am focusing on the musical structure of the song and seeking to find an answer there as well. In both musical and verbal structure, this song resembles other horovel songs spread in different regions of Armenia. Functionally, it presents the real life, because through plowing and cultivating soil, people acquired food; and a song born during this process accumulates much emotional load connected to home.

ABSTRACT. Before my Ph.D. studies, I was a touring musician with cumbia bands. These bands would play the same songs and share the same name: La Sonora Dinamita (LSD). LSD was created in Colombia (1960). As part of the Cumbia—or Tropical Music— boom (1968-1974) and economic and political crisis, LSD’s sound and members migrated to North America, first to Mexico and later to Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, these musicians began to “reproduce” many bands with the same name. Since then, LSD’s cumbia has been part of the soundscape of Latinidad in California, and weddings and quinceañeras fiestas are unimaginable without the music of LSD. I want to explore how Latinidad and creating a sense of belonging (or unbelonging) happen with the help of sonic technologies such as LSD(s)’ sound. My main contention is that one becomes LatinX in the US. This label has two sides. First, it is a way of othering families with ancestry in Latin America; second, despite its discriminatory origin, it is a label that is embraced and has become a mechanism to create bonds but also affirms differences. This new feeling of belonging happens through the molding of affects through concrete objects such as music and dance. In this regard, I would like to explore how LSD(s)’ music has become a playlist that creates intimate affective spaces for the performance of Latinidad in Southern California and the US. The creation of these “social sonic spaces” has little to do with the “authenticity” of the band(s) but with what their sound evokes and (re)creates. This paper is in dialogue with the ideas of inauthenticity and unbelonging (Ramos 2023), how music and sound can create intimacy on the dance floor (Garcia Mispireta), and how ensembles engage with issues of authenticity (Bendix 1997).

ABSTRACT. This presentation examines a challenges and innovations of how music and dance (-like movements) of religious rites of Alevi people, who migrated from Turkey to Austria, are passed on to next generation. Music and dance practices in religious rituals have been formed under the influence of local culture and environment, and have been shared and inherited by people. When people move to other lands, their beliefs move with them across the land, however, traditional practices and transmission often become difficult when there are significant differences of environments between the destination and 'home'. Alevi in Austria is one such example. Alevi is a religious minority who have traditionally inhabited rural areas in central and eastern Turkey. Their own religious rituals (cem) consist of ritual procedures that are a combination of peasant life and Islamic customs, together with songs (deyiş) containing religious metaphors and dance-like body movements (semah) practiced with saz (long-necked lute). While deyiş and semah have characteristics close to those of Anatolian folk songs and folk dances, they are distinctly religious practices and an important part of their religious identity as 'Alevi'. Due to social and economic insecurity, Alevis migrated first from rural to urban areas within Turkey in the 1950s, and then from the 1960s onwards to Austria, Germany and other European countries. How do Alevis, who have formed a new community in Austria, transmit to the Austrian-born generation a religious metaphor of deyiş played by saz as telli kur'an (stringed Qurʾān), and meaning of semah movements, not only as music and dance, but as their own 'religious practice'? This presentation will focus on the formation of places for cultural transmission in Austria, and will address initiatives such as 'semah class', the use of deyiş at school education and 'children's cem’. Comparisons will also be made with sites of inheritance in urban Alevi communities in Turkey to examine how the movement of people affects religious musical practices, and how they respond to the effects in ingenious ways.

ABSTRACT. In 2017, the new Pingtan-style opera Xu Xiake debuted in Wuxi. Its creator integrated Pingtan with thirteen traditional genres, supported by modern sound, lighting, and staging. This combination of different genres, involving all kinds of scenes and stage settings, contradicts the performance mode of traditional Pingtan artists, who tended to “work on their own” and would finish relating their stories onstage through solos or duets.

This current phenomenon has historical origins in the early twentieth century. As more people from other provinces poured into Shanghai during this period, Pingtan artists started integrating their practices with other artistic forms to gain a broader market share. In the 1950s, affected by the “opera reform” initiated by the new government, Pingtan artists changed the musical structure, performance mode, and performance context of the form, including the replacement of the original Sanxian and Pipa accompaniment with a band and the transformation of artists from speaking to performing roles. All of these changes brought Pingtan in line with these governmental reforms and laid a foundation for the open and experimental attitudes shaping Pingtan today. This paper examines the turning point of Pingtan’s evolution in the 1950s by analyzing the changing relationship among traditional music, local operas, and political culture. By investigating the most radical period in Pingtan’s stylistic transformation, we can better understand how its artists have “selected, applied, and recreated” traditional Pingtan to create new dramatic forms.

ABSTRACT. Christian missionary work in the Solomon Islands began in the 19th century, with the Roman Catholic Church beginning its missionary work on Malaita Island in the early 20th century. Since then, Catholic missionary work has also covered 'Are'are, the southern region of Malaita Island. In a village where I spent most of my time during my fieldwork, all the people living there were Christians belonging to the Roman Catholic Church when I started my fieldwork in 2009. I have conducted anthropological research on an indigenous music band led by the people of the village. But in fact, the most dominant musical event in the daily life of the village is liturgical music, including chanting, which is an important part of the daily liturgy of the Christian people, rather than bamboo panpipe playing, which has a deep connection with traditional ancestor worship. However, indigenous and liturgical music are not mutually exclusive in people's practice. On the one hand, indigenous music is performed at various church events, and they have been modified in various ways to respond to such demands. On the other hand, Christians belonging to the Church in 'Are'are now attend daily liturgy mainly in 'Are'are language, with a book of hymns published by the local parish church in 1989 and now being reprinted. This situation has led to a reciprocal relationship between ancestral worship and the Christian faith, not just superficial correspondence, by sharing essential vocabulary used as translations. This research focuses on liturgical music in 'Are'are, its relationship to indigenous music, and the translation of prayer words and chants. In doing so, I explore the interrelationship between the two that cannot be captured by a simple division between old ancestral worship and new Christianity.

ABSTRACT. Language ideology is one of the basic concepts in linguistic anthropology, defined as “the cultural system of ideas about social and linguistic relationships together with their loading of moral and political interests” (Irvine 1989: 255). In this paper, I propose “song ideology” based on language ideology as an analytical concept to shed light on overt and covert power for the evaluation and treatment of singing performance, using folk songs from Japan and a Chinese ethnic minority. In Japan, folk songs have experienced modernization throughout the 20th century. This change resulted in folk songs losing the flexibility of lyrics and melodies and conforming to the standard song ideology established through school education and mass media. Kakeuta is an exceptional folk song that comprises the reciprocal improvisational interaction of lyrics. However, performers themselves also seem stuck in the aforementioned ideology; therefore, when they teach children, they end up teaching only the melody that gives rise to unsuccessful transmission. In China, the Buyi people of Guizhou Province have a traditional folk singing style: reciprocal singing. However, in the 2000s, young people deeply influenced by popular songs had difficulty not only singing but even listening to these songs, making it difficult for them to pass on traditional singing. In addition, in terms of cultural preservation, the fact that the lyrics can be freely changed has caused difficulties. Singing is considered across the world as a performing art in which melody and lyrics are fixed and emotions are expressed through music – this is a de facto standard song ideology. As the cases here demonstrate, this ideology can influence transmission practices and preservation policies, but only a few studies have focused on this issue. This concept offers a new point of inquiry into singing performance.

ABSTRACT. Language is the basis of any culture; it records almost all the content of culture. Without denying the presence of non-verbal forms of its manifestation, the volume of content in language is incomparably larger. In many oral music and dance traditions, it is in the linguistic form that fragments of musical theory and aesthetics are recorded. We distinguish several types of verbal levels of culture from which such information can be extracted. This is language proper, i.e. musical, poetical, dance terms, verbs of movement and sound production, etc. These are folklore works – such as texts of songs, legends, epics, and other genres. Finally, these are oral narratives – interviews with tradition bearers, and their statements. The paper intends to consider from this point of view the song traditions of indigenous Turkic-speaking peoples of South Siberia – the Altais, Shors, Khakasses, Tuvas, and Tofas. By analyzing the etymology of musical and poetic terms, such as kozhong, saryn, takhpakh, diangar etc. the author aims to show how they are related to poetic forms, to the aesthetic, stylistic, and performance features of songs. The social significance of songs is noticeable as a result of analyzing the texts of the songs themselves, and it is also reflected in epics and legends. Songs appear as the most mass genre, immanently connected with people’s earthly life. The presented materials will have important comparative value not only for Siberian but also for a large group of Western Islamised Turkic ethnic groups, as many terms, texts, and narratives are found far beyond the studied area. In general, the proposed approach can be useful for the study of any oral culture.

ABSTRACT. WHAT IS DANCE? Dance is an art that involves the pattern of human movement in response to Music. It is expressive and communicates something. In Africa, Music and dance are inseparable; they complement each other. Some Body movement always accompanies music. Dance is usually in a context; the song's words give us the dance context. The movements articulate the rhythm of the Music. The music provides a timeline on which the dance responds. There are two types of dances found in Africa: 1. Theatrical or Concert Dance 2. Occasional or Social Dance Theatrical dance is a specialized dance performed by a particular group. It is taught for the purpose of performance. People who aren’t part of the group cannot join in spontaneously. Occasional dances are those owned by the community. They allow people who are not part of the group to join spontaneously. WHAT DOES DANCE CONSIST OF IN THE AFRICAN CONTEXT Every dance has a basic distinct movement that gives it its identity. The movements are mainly dependent on several factors, such as: 1. Occasion/ Context of performance, for example, the cultural function of the music. When a baby is born, the dances are likely to have movements that imitate rocking a baby. Among the Akamba people of Kenya, their initiation dance movements imitate a lady's backside movements. They intend to educate the new adults about their new responsibility to produce new life. 2. The occupation of the people. The kind of economic activity of respective communities play a major role in determining the dance movements of the said community e.g the Luo people of Kenya shake their bodies to imitate a fish just pulled out of the water. Their economic activity is fishing. 3. The Environment in which the people live. 4. Gender is also a factor that may influence dance movements . In most cases Men and women each have a unique way of dancing. This is more defined by their natural way of being. Men

Movement involves: Parts of the Body emphasized in the dance - Several parts are moved simultaneously. Displacement – Moving from one position to another Formation – creating patterns within the dance by displacement. An example of a pattern would be a linear or circular one.

ABSTRACT. This article is based on the creative process of Guillaume Niedjo, a Beninese choreographer and dancer, Hounnon of Vodun, in the creation of the artistic performance Affôtè, experienced and developed both in the context of Vodun ritual ceremonies, conductedin the Hounkpamins, and within artistic training and creation labs, in Benin. The purpose of this article is to reflect about the elements that characterize the use of the trance state as an inspiration within the creative process, of a Vodun adept. This creative journey involves the transmission of knowledge from the practitioner’s mentors and ancestral roots to the manifestation of an innovative artistic creation. Understanding the principles and fundamen-tals that enable the construction/deconstruction of the corporeal configuration existing in the trance state is essential in the creation of the performance Affôtè. Methodologically, our approach involved fieldwork conducted in Benin, between 2018 and 2022. The methodology encompassed the observation of the artistic work and the administration of semi--structured interviews to the dancer, Vodun adepts, and Hounnous. This research was undertaken within the scope of a doctoral research study in Dance at the Faculty of Human Kinetics. As the primary and conclusive trend, it is emphasized that Guillaume Niedjo consistently reinterprets the Vodun culture he has learned and embodied. This reinterpretation involves the incorporation of ancestral behaviours (Schechner, 1985), adhering to the implicit rules and customs of his cultural background. Niedjo navigates the nuanced decision of allowing or refraining from using the trance state as a source of creative inspiration. In the performance Affôtè, he transposes and interprets the deconstruction of the trance state into a ceremonial context. This is achieved through a form of “making believe” or “pretending” (Zenícola, 2001), where he meticulously respects the established rules governing what can or cannot be exposed. These decisions are rooted in the artist’s self-reflection, both artistically and socioculturally, reflecting a conscientious consideration of the boundaries within the Vodun cultural framework.

ABSTRACT. The development of electronic music technology since the end of the 20th century has tended to be accompanied by the development of computer technology. Since the latter tends to change with the times, a particular technology will also have a particular temporality. But in the case of a composer, does electronic music composition “move” in tandem with technology? Can different technologies and sounds create a shared space in the intersection of time and technology? This study examines the game music of electronic music composer Soichi Terada and his music project Omodaka(沢瀉). In PSP game Ape Escape music released in 1999,which was composed by Soichi Terada, one of the most prominent sound is the Jungle rhythm which was popular in 1990s. In music section "Briefing", a sample of jungle drum occupies the entire midrange and bass regions of the piece. The electronic sound in the high frequency part is analyzed to be a kind of surreal sound after inverting and superimposing the sampled original sound of the triangle. The timbral qualities of the sound fit well with the game's hyper-technological setting, and it is possible to create a specific "space" for the game. In contrast, Terada's music project Omodaka since 2000s, was more "old" in technology, using synthesizers to emulate the 8-bit sounds of 1980s game sound. The contrast between the two creates an interplay of timbral space in a positive chronological order. But it is interesting that the plot/drama aspects of ape escape are somehow echoed in Omodaka' s live performance sessions. Folk song part is presented in video played on a monitor, while Terada himself decorates the monitor with a prop that resembles a skull pattern, interacts with the video across space by doing dancing and holding a microphone for it.

ABSTRACT. Music enhances cognitive, psychomotor and affective learning and facilitates growth in many areas of human development, such as motivation, social skills, time management, situational awareness, aesthetic appreciation, and character building. Indigenous music in particular, is a receptacle, a repository as well as a vessel of indigenous knowledge, playing a big role in social and economic development, and for posterity. Traditional folk music in particular brings out a people’s cultural distinctiveness. It also enhances group solidarity. There are still remnants of rich repertoire of traditional folk music in many countries of the world today. However, owing to the oral transmission of indigenous music in African cultures, the knowledge systems and skills embodied in these musics are fast disappearing. There is need to seek practical ways of preserving traditional folk music for ongoing use and for posterity. Technology is universally present, and has had a profound influence on literally every aspect of life, music included. In the twentieth century particularly, it has altered how music is transmitted, preserved, heard, performed, and composed. This paper interrogates the use of the various digital media technology in the processing and preservation of cultural music and discusses the role of the academy as a facilitator in the process. The research will focus on Kenya and will apply netnography to examine online cultures’ and communities’ presence and activity online.

ABSTRACT. The exploration of musical instruments invariably encompasses an examination of their sonic characteristics. While existing research on Indigenous musical instruments predominantly focuses on description, notation, and usage, there remains a notable scarcity in the application of audio signal analysis technology to these instruments. This study focused on the Tongan nose flute, known as the fangufangu. By employing sound signal analysis methods, I aimed to discover nuanced insights into this bamboo-crafted instrument. The frequently seen fangufangu is constructed from a whole section of bamboo with two joints at both ends, featuring five holes drilled on its upper surface and an additional hole opened at the middle of the beneath part. Similar nose flutes are also found in other Pacific regions, namely Samoa, Fiji, Uvea, Futuna, and others. Through meticulous investigation and acoustic analysis, compared with two acoustic-related instruments, I studied the intricate details of the fangufangu. Notably, its resemblance to the ocarina becomes apparent, particularly in the correlation between the number of opening finger holes and sound frequency. Additionally, parallels with frequently seen flute instruments emerge, particularly in the manipulation of register holes, resulting in fangufangu music that encompasses both fundamental notes and overblowing techniques. Alongside this, the sonic and spectral characteristics of this instrument were also investigated. These findings are reinforced by the analysis of two precious historical fangufangu recordings. Through the study of fangufangu, I advocate for the integration of interdisciplinary research methods into musicology and ethnomusicology, fostering novel perspectives and enriching the exploration of Indigenous music and its instruments.

ABSTRACT. Field recordings get their name because they are recorded ‘in the field’ instead of in a recording studio. The single term, however, obscures a wide range of technical expertise and scholarly attention (Anthony Seeger, 1991: 38). Thus, beyond being an objective audio text, field recording itself is also the behavior and practice of collecting, involving cognitive and perceptual processes. Previously, analysis of recordings has often been approached from a perspective that viewed them as static, predetermined objects, neglecting their associations with the individuals involved (either recorders or performers) or the culture of source communities. This approach overlooks the logical relationship between field recording as a technology of sound and the resulting audible recordings, ignoring the vitality that the recording itself may possess. This article focuses on analyzing different types of cross-cultural field recording cases from the last century, such as, among others, Berthold Laufer's Chinese wax cylinders, Zhang Xingrong's polyphony recordings of Hani people, Hugh Tracey's and John Blacking's recordings of African music. It reveals that under these often regarded "butterfly collector" practice in colonial discourse lies the varied cognitive and experiential approaches by different recorders to understand and interact with local communities and music cultures. Depending on their different purposes, recorders may adopt either an observational stance, seeking to present a panoramic soundscape, or an interventional one, aiming for an "expert-like" perception of insider’s auditory details. In this process, field recording transcends a mere collection of musical materials, becoming more of a technology of sound-making and a cultural practice of perception. As Marshall McLuhan pointed out, the recording device (media) becomes an extension of the ear (man). In a sense, field recording manifests itself as an embodiment of live cultural experiences.

ABSTRACT. The setting: students and staff tired from previous long days of preparation, running on minimal sleep; a microphone wired up to a speaker in a wheelbarrow, along with a few megaphones; myriad signs, banners, adornments, and sounds; a crowd of about 40,000 people; a programme that is not necessarily going to go to plan… Climate activist research has largely emphasised shifts in biodiversity, experiences of frontline communities, colonial science, and how further extinctions and threats to life can be limited. My paper focuses on climate art-activism: specifically, I will concentrate on tauiwi (non-Māori) Pasifika climate activist uses of music and performance in Aotearoa New Zealand, specifically focusing on disability, race, class, and gendersexuality-divergence. The roles, purposes, and consequences of music and performance used in Pasifika climate activist marches and demonstrations will be discussed. Ultimately, this paper poses questions about the impact of musical representation, for whom climate activism is done, and considerations for future work on these topics.

(Could be paired with "Tangaroa and Tagaloa: Indigenous Pacific popular music and climate activism")

ABSTRACT. Can the sacredness of the whale and that very sense of awe coming from their presence help shift human relations and bring forth ecocentric activism? In a historical treaty led forward by the Māori people and signed by leaders of New Zealand, Tahiti, Tonga, and the Cook Islands, as of year 2024 whales have legal personhood. This is a culmination of multigenerational work to grant legal rights to beings other than humans. Whereas whales have been an intrinsic part of First Nation’s communities along whales’ migratory paths, the rest of the world had, until the 1970s, been exposed to them only through commercial whaling. In my study, I center the widespread discovery of whale sonic production as the catalyst for the end of whaling worldwide in 1986 (with the exclusion of Norway and Japan). After briefly tracing the increasingly widespread knowledge of whale songs through history best-selling nature recording Songs of the Humpback Whale (1970), I show how whaling regulations and a progressive engagement with their songs went hand in hand. I then present brief case studies that highlight how whales continue to be protagonists in musical environmental activism today. For example, contemporary musicians such as Michaela Harrison and David Rothenberg record and improvise alongside whales live, while singer and songwriters such Maisey Rika and Mayuka Thaïs center whales’ ancestral cosmological presence in their songs, asking to pay attention to their voices as a call for change. Finally, I argue that whales emerge as peacemakers who require humans to shift their global capitalistic endeavors in favor for a more ecocentric way of life. At the same time, I show how musician’s entanglements with whales is an important form of environmental resistance and activism that ultimately has a role in shaping larger decisions about life on Earth.

ABSTRACT. The Pacific region is one of the areas in the world most severely impacted by climate change (Bafana, 2022); however, the countries comprising “the Pacific”, are amongst the lowest contributors to the global ecological crisis. This paper offers Indigenous Pacific voices around climate justice via popular songs that centre on aquatic relationalities. One of the underpinnings of these relationships is the understanding of the ocean as a deity and/or as kin. We look at: Te Vaka’s “Tagaloa” (1999), Tiki Taane’s “Tangaroa God of the Sea” (2007), Maisey Rika’s “Tangaroa Whakamautai” (2012), Olivia Foa‘i and Te Vaka’s “Tulou Tagaloa” (2016), and Alien Weaponry’s “Tangaroa” (2021). Reference will also be made to artists Stan Walker, Israel Kamakawiwo‘ole, and Herbs. Semantic cognates Tagaloa/Tangaroa are names of various oceanic deities in the Pacific, key figures in Polynesian creation narratives. These five songs come from a number of genres including drum and bass, heavy metal, and Pacific fusion. These songs may not be conventionally categorised as specifically activist music, yet we show that they carry Indigenous activist / protector politics via the incorporation of Indigenous values, stories, and ecological ties (Zemke & Lim-Bunnin, 2020). This paper argues that attention to the Pacific—and particularly Indigenous perspectives, experiences, and knowledge—is a crucial element in any discussion of global climate and environmental justice. (Sultana, 2022).

Could be paired with "Repertoire of a climate march"

ABSTRACT. Since the beginning of the Syrian refugee crisis in 2011, over 850 thousand Syrians have arrived in Germany. Whereas most of the newcomers are Muslim, a sizeable number of Christians from different denominations now live in Germany, around 15,000 of whom are Melkites. Contrary to the other Eastern Christian groups who continued their religious practices in their previously established churches in Germany, the Syrian Melkites were deprived of this opportunity partly because of their church’s affiliation with the Roman Catholic Church and the encouragement from the German Catholic churches to join their communities. Language and cultural barriers have prevented these forced migrants from practicing their faith as they were accustomed to do in Syria. My presentation explores the role of religion in community-building and healing among the Syrian Melkites in Germany as they strive to overcome the atrocities of the war and displacement and rebuild their lives in exile. Drawing from Kenneth Pargament’s theory of religious coping during stressful life events (1997) and from recent scholarship on the relationship between religion and wellbeing among forced migrants (Dorais 2009; Ennser et al. 2018; Shubin 2012), I argue that faith-based practices can support the moral and mental wellbeing of war-displaced Syrian Melkites by providing them with a sense of community, spiritual support, and coping mechanisms. Furthermore, I argue that the performance of musical and ritual practices of the Syrian Melkites are more than a religious need; rather, they are intertwined with a subculture strongly linked to a homeland from which these migrants have been uprooted and will help preserve their cultural identity. My discussion is based on fieldwork that I conducted in 2021-2022 in Germany among the Melkite community and a follow-up visit in July 2023, as well as on-going online research on different social media outlets, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

ABSTRACT. After being written by Ryōkin in 1185 A.D., Kangen Ongi (lit: the sound and meaning of pipes and strings) became known as a seminal medieval Japanese treatise on music theory. Although this treatise described a rich music system based on horizontal flutes and various musical modes from Tang China, with profound influence from Buddhist thought that was comprehensive and unique in that period, it has been little studied and not translated compared to other Chinese and Japanese musical writings. With the larger aim of understanding Sino-Japanese music transmission, I have studied the manuscripts of Kangen Ongi and am preparing an edited version with commentary. In my presentation, I will begin with a survey of the historical context and the status of the manuscripts. Then, I will provide a list of noticeable features for commentary writing, such as the cited con-tent from classical Chinese and Buddhist sources, the graphs of the tonal system, and the "im-proved" version of cosmic harmony. Finally, I will mention a few thoughts from the editing pro-cess, including the stemmatology of the texts, the consideration of orthography, the translation of key terms, and, most importantly, the problems, possible solutions, and expectations for fur-ther studies.

ABSTRACT. In this paper, on the one hand, the discussion of tracing the historical continuity of certain elements in Iranian classical music is raised, while on the other hand, the topic of creativity and its relation to the current state and future of Iranian classical music is addressed. I will try to take a fresh and different perspective on these two subjects through the lens of ornaments, particularly "Tahrir" (a type of ornamentation technique with specific rhythmic, melodic, and aesthetic features). Starting from a historical standpoint, I will commence the discussion by referring to the insights of Fârâbi, dating back a thousand years, regarding ornamentation in music. I will then trace this thread through figures such as Marâghi, the treatise writers of the Safavid era, and ultimately the Qâjâr and contemporary periods. Additionally, I will delve into the topic of creativity by exploring the various roles that "Tahrir" plays in the structure of Iranian classical music, including roles such as introducing a mode, extending a specific note, emphasizing the keynote of the mode, highlighting an important modal cell, and modulation. Ultimately, this historical exploration and focused examination of the role of "Tahrir" in Iranian music will unveil a fascinating connection and resemblance between the evolution of "Tahrir" and the development of Dastgâhi music. Simultaneously, throughout these discussions, my objective is to enhance the understanding of Iranian musicians and researchers, encouraging them to approach the analysis of sound material from a phenomenological perspective, which I personally refer to as Iranian Musicology.

ABSTRACT. The Americanization of music in South Korea post-liberation was a prominent phenomenon, significantly facilitated by the embrace of American culture through various international exchanges. During the Cold War in particular, the U.S. government launched numerous campaigns and programs under the heading of cultural diplomacy to ensure that nations recognized the superiority of American culture. Korea was no exception, with music playing a crucial role in these exchanges. Public and private U.S. organizations, such as the USIS, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Asia Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Fulbright Program established Korean branches and promoted a variety of music programs. These entities devised strategies to enhance the perception of the U.S.’s cultural advocacy and supported the cultural reconstruction of Korea by interacting directly with cultural figures through educational and cultural programs. This study examines the U.S. Cold War strategy in music, which in Korea had two main dimensions: promoting performances by American musicians in Korea to introduce American music; and providing material support to Korean musicians, including funding research and presentations by influential musicians as well as U.S. scholarships for young Korean artists to study in America, with a particular focus on classical-contemporary music and Korean traditional music.

ABSTRACT. In 1900, the voice of a woman from Saigon was recorded in Dr. Léon Azoulay’s collection of wax cylinder recordings at the Paris World Exposition. Singing a popular love song of the nineteenth-century with a Southern Vietnamese accent, the female vocalist told the classic story of a lonely woman longing for her love. To date, this is the first recording of Southern Vietnamese music. This paper will discuss the social-historical and musical contexts of this newly-found recording; and also explore the literary/mythological allusions embedded in the lyrics. The discussion will identify the song’s modal structure, melodic and rhythmic organisations with live demonstrations on traditional Vietnamese music instruments. Based on the study, this paper will highlight the similarities between the musical materials found in this love song and its contemporary tài tử instrumental repertoire, and also the classic vọng-cổ song ‘Dạ cổ hoài lang’ which emerged twenty years later.

ABSTRACT. Cornish Music and Dance (M&D) has been a staple of traditional customs for centuries on the southwestern peninsula of Britain. This workshop explores historical and contemporary customs associated with these social activities and performance practices. We journey through how various revival movements have interpreted and reinterpreted aurally transmitted and collected M&D. We divide this workshop into three sections looking at different stages of development within Cornish M&D, their social context and history.

First, feast days and furry dances. Furry dances are processional and vary along the length of Cornwall. Feast days are associated with local saints and linked to the church calendar. They have been through various stages of anglicisation - due to the reformation of the church and the book of common prayer, which was accompanied by the outlawing of preaching in languages other than English and, celtification - due to subsequent Celtic revival movements. We look at Helston’s May festival and the dance and tune associated with it.

Second, we look at the choreographed set dance Fer Lyskerys. Steps collected throughout the later stages of the 20th century have formed a corpus of material often used by dance display teams. The development around these teams and the performed identity of Cornish distinctiveness at home and abroad has become an important marker for a minority people.

Thirdly we explore social dance and the rise of the Nos Lowen scene. The recent surge in popularity of these dances in Cornwall started from a group of people feeling disenfranchised from other Cornish M&D scenes at the turn of the millennium. We explore how the celebratory nature of Nos Lowen has provided a fruitful avenue for renewed interest in historic Cornish M&D. We explore this through the newly traditionalised Kabm Pymp.

ABSTRACT. This dissertation focuses on the research of taarab music in Zanzibar，East Africa. The central topic is artistic value, survival status, and developing trends of this cross- culture integration of music. Nowadays, taarab has become the typical representative of Zanzibar and Swahili culture. Taarab is a composite of music which involves complex and ever changing musical structures，the colorful style characteristics, irreplaceable, unique style. After its 110-year history rise and decline, taarab music still has a strong vitality. The research on taarab in Zanzibar was not systemized in the past, so the author spends two main chapters applying the music ontology analysis and try to present the culture. This, finally, explores educational instruction and inheritance, the communication subjects and receivers, social structure, feminism and so on. The research will absorb the theoretical thought from Sociology, Communication and Pedagogy. With intercommunication developing frequently in the world, various cultural modes must influence and mix with each other firmly. Multi-cultural integration and absorption is the only way to hold the basis of self-worth and become the local cultural symbol. As a prime example, the taarab music has been the major transit from a rural music as dominant culture to the suppressed subculture, till present the cultural marker of Zanzibar and Swahili culture. The process of its development is a stark example for understanding the change and integration of traditional music. Through the research on taarab music, on the one hand, enrich and develops the domestic research on African music, on the other hand, hoping to find some things to learn from and draw on.

ABSTRACT. Welcoming beginners and incorporating them into one’s music and dance community is a crucial aspect of cultural sustainability. While many dance groups assert their beginner-friendly status, not all are effective at attracting and including first-timers in their events. This paper considers North American social dances, specifically contra, family, and barn dances commonly held in community spaces (Grange Halls, church halls, barns, and gymnasiums) and attended by dancers of all ages (from babes-in-arms to octogenarians). Analyzing ethnographic material gathered over 15 years as a dance caller, audio technician, and dance participant, this work asks what makes a dance form truly welcoming to those who haven’t attempted it before. It considers how inclusivity feels, sounds, and moves for those who are inexperienced and unfamiliar. Beginner-oriented dance events like family dances often demonstrate more implicit inclusivity, because of ease of choreography and lack of previous bias about how couple dancing “should” be. Contra dance groups, with larger percentages of experienced dancers, have had to unlearn previous practices that alienate certain newcomers. Successful sustainability strategies combine musical, choreographic, and social practices. Slower tempos, clearer phrasing, simpler choreography, shallower learning curves, and community willingness to dance with new people are all part of possible solutions. Other effective approaches address sustainability and inclusivity at the organizational or institutional level, such as public-transport-accessible venues, codes of conduct and safety committees, and explicit policies on non-gendered dance role terminology. Both implicit and explicit practices contribute to how welcome first timers feel in the event space, while embodying dance moves and while at rest. Drawing on Huib Schippers advocacy for musical sustainability, this work aims to elucidate widely-applicable approaches to welcome beginners that can help dance groups progress toward better inclusion across categories of age, race, social class, gender, sexuality, and ability.

ABSTRACT. Like many festive events around the world, the Carnival of Sesimbra, Portugal, faces a challenge in retaining its function of expressing local cultural practices while confronting the pressures of touristification. Integrating traditional Brazilian elements, such as samba schools, as well as traditional Portuguese cultural associations, this celebration has transformed over time into being a key tourist and leisure destination in the metropolitan area of Lisbon, the most culturally diverse area in the country. This event is one of the most sought-after carnivals in Portugal, reflecting the local community’s desire to make this time of year a defining moment in the calendar of major national celebrations. Though Sesimbra is historically a small fishing village, it has progressively become an object of cultural commodification, attraction, and consumption aimed at tourists and businesses countrywide (Gotham 2002). According to Appadurai (1986), the commodification of a given event exists at the intersection between genuine desire and absolute enjoyment in popular tourist destinations. In this context, I understand touristification as a phenomenon that includes socio-spatial transformations in Sesimbra, supported by strategies for the appropriation and commercial exploitation of culture, which attract thousands of tourists to this festival every year. Based on an ethnographic study of the Sesimbra Carnival, I aim to understand its economic and cultural resignification as the result of capitalization and aestheticization, where local practices such as festivities become spaces of touristic consumption. Focusing on strategies of appropriation and commercial exploitation of culture, I will explore how this event has consolidated an attractive local economy for tourism, with repercussions at a symbolic and material level.

ABSTRACT. Traditional Bestiary was born with the idea of reconnecting with "non-humanoid" living beings whose presence is inherent to their vital development.

The medium that makes this relationship possible is threefold in its particular conception, but global in its application: soundscape, coded sound (music) and visual landscape. Through these three elements and their imbrication, the performative result seeks an intra- and inter-specific, de-anthropocentric communion. For the preparation of the project it has been necessary to read and create a fund of scientific documentation on neuroscience research related to animal perception and cognition. Subsequently, the creation of a repository with repertoire belonging to traditional music where species of living beings, not humans, were named or alluded to. From this corpus of melodies a selection of repertoire has been made, intervening the original melodies with the incorporation of the sound field work as a guiding thread of the performance.

Simultaneously, a scenography work has been developed and the creation of an ethnographic film that visually connects with the selected themes.

The result of this performance will be recorded in a demo on May 15 in the auditorium of the CoSCyL (not open to the public) and the premiere will be at the Casa de las Conchas (Salamanca) within the program of the Festival de las Artes de Castilla y León (FACyL), June 13, 2024. The project has been carried out by students of Ethnomusicology, coordinated by Professor Julia Andrés Oliveira, Phd.

ABSTRACT. Artists are deploying a myriad of positionalities and approaches to raise awareness about the ecological crises and be more accountable for their music’s multi-dimensional environmental footprint. These positionalities and approaches speak of different environmentalisms – systems of beliefs– that mediate each artist’s engagement with their surroundings. The study of these diverse environmentalisms through music related to ecological issues is still in development. Thus, this presentation will seek to contribute to the ongoing discussion by expanding the territories and the musical and sound practices that have been considered so far. In this vein, the work will be located in Chile, a country constantly affected by ecological problems but where the discussion about music, sound, and environment is just beginning. Meanwhile, the cases of study correspond to two musical projects belonging to diverse genres and political-cultural positions. These projects are Bahía Mansa (Iván Aguayo), an ambient musician who composes his music through field recordings and synthesizers; and Mawiza, a Mapuche metal band within the Mapuche ül metal genre. The methodologies that guide the research are digital fieldwork, archival work, semi-structured interviews, and discourse and sound analysis. The notions of “worlding” (De la Cadena 2015), “oido geológico [geological ear]” (Ochoa Gautier, 2022), and “performing environmentalisms” (McDowell et al., 2021) will be used as theoretical concepts to scrutinize how Bahía Mansa and Mawiza establish a connection with their surrounding through sound and musical practices and to reflect on what these connections show about the system of beliefs that guide each project.

ABSTRACT. The Early Career Scholars’ Network (ECSN) as a part of ICTMD are welcoming post-graduate, Masters, PhD and early career scholars for a writing workshop on abstracts. Abstracts are necessary in succinctly articulating research ideas and projects while summarising valuable methodological approaches as well as key findings. Conferences, journal articles, theses, and many more academic contexts call for abstracts and it is an important skill for any scholar to learn and improve. This workshop will cover the basics of writing an abstract that can be used across different academic contexts, focusing on the structure of an abstract, how to summarise research ideas, and ways to improve readability in translating localised contexts to the global stage of research. The workshop asks that participants bring a paper, pen, or laptop and a research idea or project with them to use.

ABSTRACT. This workshop offers a practical, constructive, and reflective discussion tailored for early career researchers navigating the complexities of career prospects in the fields of music and dance studies. The session explores strategic approaches to securing positions in higher education institutions, focusing on current challenges and opportunities in academia. It will also address critical aspects of career development, including strategies regarding publications, grants, and projects, as well as approaches to advancing one's career after securing an initial academic appointment.

Beyond the traditional academic trajectory, this session also delves into alternative career pathways for MA and PhD graduates. The speakers provide insights into sustaining and evolving a career within and outside of academia, offering a contemporary and pragmatic perspective.

The workshop is designed to be interactive, fostering a dialogue that allows participants to ask questions, share experiences, and explore tailored strategies that address their unique contexts. It aims to equip early career researchers with insights into the knowledge necessary to navigate the evolving landscape of academic and alternative career possibilities in music and dance studies.

ABSTRACT. 1) George Helm: A True Hawaiian Sounds Out Aloha ‘Āina

This talk’s title is from the only recording of Hawaiian activist George Helm, I listen for the link he articulated between Hawaiian music and the idea of aloha ‘āina, or love of the land, a key term of the Hawaiian sovereignty movement he helped bring into being before his untimely death in 1977. Helm co-founded the Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘Ohana (PKO), an organization dedicated to ending the U.S. Navy’s occupation of Kaho‘olawe, which had been used as a bombing test site since the 1940s. Beyond his political activities, Helm was a talented leo ki‘eki‘e (falsetto) singer and guitarist, yet the only extant recordings we have of Helm performing music are recordings culled from his live performances in 1976 at the Gold Coin, a restaurant where he held a regular gig. Originally planned as nothing more than private recordings by James Wong, the Gold Coin’s owner, the recordings were posthumously released after Helm’s death the following year. Produced at a time when young Hawai‘i musicians were reshaping as well as resuscitating Hawaiian music in various ways, Helm’s musical legacy was relegated to a pair of bootleg recordings that, while celebrated today, were little known and distributed during his short lifetime. Critical of both the Bishop Museum’s “mummification” of Hawaiian culture and the Polynesian Cultural Center’s “commercial preservation,” Helm called for a vibrant, living Hawaiian cultural revolution, emphasizing the spiritual outlook of aloha ‘āina. Remembered today more for his activism than for his musicking, I listen for his musical articulation of aloha ‘āina, amplifying his political stance as well as providing support for his argument that “Hawaiian music reflects [Kanaka Maoli] attitudes toward life and nature [while also] expressing the emotional reaction Hawaiians are feeling to the subversion of their life style.”

2) Songs of Our Atolls: Marshallese Musical Challenges to US Militarism and Pandemic Inequity in the Transpacific Diaspora

This talk explores the importance of Marshallese musical archives of U.S. militarism in outmigrants’ transpacific diasporic context. Specifically, I draw on the work of the Marshallese Educational Initiative (MEI), a non-profit in Springdale, Arkansas where the largest continental community of Marshallese live, over the last decade with a particular focus on how creative productions—music, poems, and visual art—have been central to their anti-nuclear activism and means of engaging the youth. From 1946 through 1958, the United States detonated sixty-seven nuclear weapons in what is now the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The US maintains an active military base on Kwajalein Atoll with missile tests that plummet into the lagoon from California. In addition to the legacy of US militarism, which includes Americanization on the governmental and cultural scales, lack of educational, employment, and health care opportunities in the RMI compromise the quality of life for Marshallese people and prompt outmigration. One project in particular, “Songs of Our Atolls,” which was created during COVID-19 due to the widespread disruption of intergenerational communication and multigenerational living, challenges this fracturing legacy through cross-generational musical sharing where Marshallese youth learn and perform songs from the elders in the cultural style of jitdaṃ kapeel (“seeking knowledge guarantees wisdom”). The songs, stories, and generational modes of sharing amplify the difficult history of fragmentation—of US militarization and embodied consequences of nuclear testing that continue to impact Marshallese in the diaspora given underlying vulnerabilities and comorbidities that led to the pandemic’s disproportionate consequences —as well as continuity through the power of Indigenous pedagogical processes and values.

3) Resilience and Recovery Through Mele: A Musical Response to COVID and the Lahaina Fires

This presentation discusses qualitative data from students of the Institute of Hawaiian Music (IHM) at the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College around their experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2023 Lāhainā wildfires. Hawaiian music is unique in the character and intensity of cultural information conveyed lyrically and vocally. Cultural values include recognizing and respecting the genealogical relationship of Kānaka ‘Ōiwi to ‘āina - land itself. The pandemic disrupted human connectedness, and the fires added trauma to the ongoing post-colonial disruption of sustainable stewardship embedded in Hawaiian culture (mālama ʻāina). In a Hawaiian worldview, acts of composing and making music literally create and renew these connections, the mana of the voice calling the words into being. By creating music together, IHM students experienced restoration of their connection to the human and natural world, improving their well-being in those difficult times. Participants’ words, both from interviews and songs, illustrate these benefits.

ABSTRACT. The interconnectedness of words and music is of paramount importance in many music traditions. In Chinese music, the significance of the text and the relentlessness with which the text is revered, sung, and re-sung makes the tradition unique among its peers. This panel examines this unique trait of Chinese music, which we would like to refer to as its “textuality”, by engaging with three iconic examples through the history of Chinese music. These seemingly disparate papers, each focusing on a distinct aspect of the textuality of Chinese music, nevertheless illustrate the persistence of textual significance in Chinese music through the ages.

Paper one explores the song-poetry tradition in pre-Qin China through the analysis of the Book of Odes, or Shijing. It is informed by recent archaeological discoveries which, as the paper demonstrates, rebuilds the ancient links between Shijing and music once thought to be lost to time. Paper two uncovers the entanglements between music and poetry by analyzing the humanist style in Wanshu's opera scripts. Capturing the prevailing cultural milieu of 17th-century Southern China through the dramatist’s humanistic plots, the paper illustrates the artistic struggle for individual freedom under the tight grips of neo-Confucianism, the official ideology of the early Qing dynasty. Paper three seeks to listen to China’s Anthropocene through the interpretation and reinterpretation of a children’s song in modern China. It reconceptualizes the complex entanglements between music and propaganda through an ecological lens by analyzing the music and lyrics of the song, as well as its arrangements and performances through the decades. Taken together, this panel ultimately calls for an interdisciplinary rethinking of the history of Chinese music, through which we hope a space for new approaches to Chinese music shall emerge.



Paper 1: The Musical Treatises from Newly Excavated Bamboo Slips: An Ethnomusicological Approach on the Shijing (The Book of Odes) Chanting The study of music tradition in antiquity is usually a challenging topic: in most cases, only textual evidence is found, and almost all of them had been shortened (considering the cost of writing materials) and carefully edited to become formal written language. Such ‘standardisation’, unfortunately, erased all the clues about any possible oral transmission. The Shijing, a collection of poetry edited by Confucius (551-479 B.C.) and his pupils, was highly likely to be accompanied by music in the era of its creation. In the following millennia, the Shijing was considered significant in Chinese history as it consolidated the basis of Chinese literary tradition. However, such music tradition, which was transmitted orally during that period, has long been lost due to the lack of evidence. A new light on such research was shed since the recent discovery of bamboo slips excavated from archaeological sites, notably the bamboo slips collections at Tsinghua University and Shanghai Museum. A lot of new knowledge was now known to us, including some names of musical ‘mode’ and the title of their accompanied pieces, as well as some variations of the poetry (i.e. the ‘lyrics’). In my presentation, I will briefly show my analysis of the new sources, and explain how those sources help us understand more about the musical aspect of the song-poetry tradition in early China.

Paper 2: Talent and Affection: The Humanist Style in Wanshu's Opera Scripts in Early Qing Dynasty (1630-1688)
 Wanshu (1630-1688), a talented dramatist in the early Qing Dynasty, composed various Kunqu (one leading opera in the Ming and Qing Dynasties) opera scripts at that time. But only three books have remained to this day, the Free-spirited Stick, Celestine Stone, and Twenty-eighth Episodes. The main characteristics of these surviving works are the portrayal of the figure's talents and affection within the plots. During the late Ming to early Qing Dynasty, which spanned the 17th century, humanism emerged as a significant theme in contemporary poetry and literature. At that time, Confucianism was designated as the official ideology, and social morals and critiques were suffering from neo-Confucianism. Arranged marriages were prevalent in society, and individual amativeness was discouraged, whether in educational institutions or workplaces. Instead, society placed greater emphasis on pursuing official degrees and economic success. However, some scholars expressed dissenting voices by writing literary articles, such as Wanshu. In his opera texts, he emphasized human emotions, portraying protagonists falling in love with their own choices and affection for their poets and literature, betraying the traditional critiques and secular profits. This paper aims to examine the plots of talents and affections in between words and sentences in the poetic and literary scripts of Wanshu's opera. It is not only about the love stories of scholars and ladies but also the individual expressions and humanistic writing style. Through a close examination of his original texts, the paper seeks to uncover evolving societal attitudes and the prevailing cultural milieu of 17th-century Southern China, with a focus on the physical and psychological needs of individuals.
 
 Paper 3: Revisiting "Our Farmland": Tracing China's Developmentalist Regime Through a Children's Song China in the Anthropocene is an amalgamation of paradoxes. The People’s Republic has become simultaneously the world's largest economy, worst polluter, largest victim of environmental change, and largest investor in renewable energies. Beneath these contradictory categories runs a steady current: developmentalism. The ruling party’s developmentalist regime has undergone a series of shifts so profound that it seems unrecognizable on the surface, but there was one children’s song that has accompanied these changes throughout the years. Composed at the beginning of China’s quasi-Stalinist First Five-Year Plan, “Our Farmland” was the combined effort of a noted Maoist composer and one of China’s forerunners in socialist children’s literature. It gradually became a mainstay in the music curriculum, with catchphrases in the lyrics remembered by millions. The song was subsequently used in ideologically divergent propaganda campaigns by the Party, aimed to promote changes in China’s economic policy: from the Great Leap Forward to the more recent vision for an “ecological civilisation”. How does one reconceptualize the complex entanglements between music and propaganda in contemporary China through an ecological lens? How does one listen to the Anthropocene in China through the singing and “re-singing” of a children’s song? And what can “Our Farmland” reveal about the ever-changing developmentalist regime in China during the Anthropocene? This paper attends to these questions with a close analysis of a series of arrangements of “Our Farmland” through the decades, using a variety of video recordings, official documents, and other primary sources from China. Drawing from Stevan Harrell’s ecological interpretation of modern Chinese history, this paper examines the evolving poetics of the lyrics as well as the musical changes embedded in various arrangements of “Our Farmland” in relation to China’s ever-changing developmentalist regime from Mao to the present. Ultimately, this paper aims to extend the ecological lens to an understudied genre in a region that musicological communities in the West have yet to explore sufficiently.

ABSTRACT. In recent ethnomusicological and ethnochoreological practice, individual positionalities of music and dance researchers gain increased relevance. The disclosure of positionalities in “the field” clearly transgresses outmoded emic/etic dichotomies – ambiguous, plural, and messy forms of belonging pervade definitions of one’s own standpoint. Among varied intersectional markers, this panel foregrounds gender and sexuality as well as racialized and ethnicized identities as key factors in determining how researchers navigate in the field. The panel brings together three ethnomusicologists/ethnochoreologists that depart from a positionality as researchers, music/dance practitioners, and community members alike. Since representation of minorities, underrepresented communites, and BIPoC in ethnomusicology is discussed more urgently, the panelists aim to address, how their ethnicized or racialized identities relate to gender constraints and normative sexuality in the communities they work with and are a part of. How do we make sense of the contradictions of narratives of belonging? How do we locate our personae between community and academia? How do ethnic identity, gender expression and sexuality govern research activities and field encounters? These questions are tackled from three perspectives: Referring to Ghanaian dance traditions, presenter1 addresses how cultural contexts (geographical locations, religious terrain, etc.), anti-progressive laws, and the politics surrounding marginalized identities affect the quality and depth of data a researcher can access and present without the fear of being stigmatized or (mis)labeled. Presenter2 reflects on growing up in a reform, gender-egalitarian synagogue within the wider context of the orthodox Jewish community in Vienna, Austria, facing community pressures as a researcher and performer due to political activism, and how fieldwork on Yiddish folksong within a transnational, diasporic, queer music community provides alternative belongings. Presenter3 addresses how urbanity, class and sexuality relates to belonging and determines his research and cultural work within the Croatian minority in Burgenland, Austria, presenting the example of vanishing vocal music genres.

Paper 1: Tell the Whole Story. Researchers’ Positionalities and the Representation of Cultural Knowledge

As the vast body of ethnographic studies on music and dance shows, qualitative researchers’ normative positionalities do not stay inconsequential as to the representation of cultural knowledge. Researchers speaking from normative standpoints often were and are not aware of the power they hold as corroborators of facts (truths), contributing to the erasure of certain truths as in the case of the presence of sexual minorities. The invisibility created through this incomplete representation of social systems and cultural traditions often entrenches the idea that non-heteronormative, “other” sexualities in some parts of the world are only a recent development due to the influence of the Global North. It becomes apparent that our own positionality profoundly affects the ability to tell the “whole” story of the communities we work with. This paper addresses the researcher as a conflicted “tool” especially during data collection periods. It looks at how deep, rich and truthful research can be affected by various factors researchers are confronted with. Reflecting on positionality and knowledge production, I present the case study of male cross-dressers in indigenous dance performances in Ghana who continue to build resilience in their line of work towards the attainment and recognition of their fundamental human rights. I ask how the cultural context, and the geographical setting as well as religious powers influence the scope of research. Gender and social inequalities and global asymmetries, especially in academic and policy-making spaces in Ghana and particularly anti-progressive politics and legal discourse minimizing the rights of marginalized identities are further factors influencing possibilities of research and potential findings. Foregrounding personal experience and the political meaning of non-normative dance expressions, this paper discusses the opportunities of accessing, gaining and interpreting data without the fear of possible stigmatization or (inadequate) labeling.

Paper 2: Jewishness on the Margins: Reflecting on positionality in Jewish music research, performance and activism

This paper explores the complexities of marginalization, identity, and belonging in the context of Yiddish music scholarship by a Jewish researcher. It recounts the author's upbringing in a doubly marginalized community—a reform, gender-egalitarian synagogue in Vienna that exists as a 'minority within a minority'—and its challenging position within the wider predominantly orthodox Jewish community, partly due to its explicit gender and queer politics. It scrutinizes the complexities encountered by aligning with a local community while simultaneously engaging in activism advocating for peace in Israel-Palestine, and how these dynamics intersect with the author's research and cultural endeavors within the Jewish community in Vienna. Subsequently, the paper explores the Yiddish music revitalization movement's role as a sanctuary for many of these pressures and contradictions, serving as a transnational, diasporic music community and a historical bastion for queer and other marginalized Jews. The author’s fieldwork in this movement, particularly on contemporary practices of queering Yiddish folksong as well as drawing on Yiddish folksong as a means to challenge Jewish ethno-nationalism, is presented. Through a reflexive approach, the paper interrogates how the intersection of ethnic and religious belonging, gender, and politics shape the researcher's fieldwork and cultural work. The paper also discusses the wider implications for the representation of marginalized voices in the preservation and dissemination of Yiddish folksong. By centering the narrative on the personal experiences of the researcher within these overlapping spheres, this paper aims to contribute to further ethnomusicological theorizations of positionality as a complex, multiple and dynamic process, and advocates for embracing the messiness of the process as part of research on expressive culture.

Paper 3: Othered Within. Queerness, Community Membership, and Fieldwork

Recent efforts in decolonizing ethnomusicology increasingly impact the way we conceptualize our positionalities as researchers vis-á-vis the individuals and groups we work with. Minoritarian self-representation is a core aspect of this discussion – the researcher/researched dichotomy is challenged, more and more ethnomusicological research features community members as researchers. Their positionality in the field, however, is not necessarily free contradictions. Especially gender expression and sexual desire affect fieldwork dynamics. While gender restraints and heteronormativity may generally be harmful to gender nonconforming and queer researchers, the challenges bcome more complex if the field corresponds to one’s own community. The vicinity of ethnic or cultural identity and research does not only affect the research but the very lives of researchers. Based on over a decade of research within the Croatian minority in Burgenland, Austria, I question how my positionality as community insider is full of frictions. What does ethnic membership mean, if the rurally defined traditional village life contradicts urban upbringing, class mobility and academic education? How does a non-heteronormative positioning play out in a traditional(ist) village life, how does it determine the possibilities of research and cultural work within the community? Illustrated with the case study of older folk song traditions that I research and perform, I ask how messy notions of belonging and ancestry connect to musical expertise and academic knowledge. The generational attribution of the presented vocal music genres – traditions whose performers drastically decrease – adds a further layer to my inquiry. As queerness is often perceived as a younger-generation phenomenon and simultaneously a threat to cultural tradition and ethnic distinctiveness, I discuss how sexual otherness can be neutralized or even “excused” because of cultural expertise. Located between ethnomusicological minority studies and queer theory, this paper is based on fieldwork and cultural work with the Burgenland Croatian community.

ABSTRACT. This roundtable will initiate new dialogues with emerging Indigenous scholars from Australia and Timor-Leste through their research into music and dance. It will address the motivations of these researchers in prioritising their communities’ aspirations and needs as a driving component of the methodological approaches and relational values that are expressed and strengthened through music and dance are integral to Indigenous knowledge retention in Australia and Timor-Leste. They will discuss how Indigenous relational values of respect, reciprocity, curiosity and excellence inform their research methodologies and remain essential to strengthening knowledge retention and shaping healthy vibrant communities through both the transmission and contemporisation of their song and dance traditions. The roundtable includes: a Wiradjuri/Wolgalu researcher who contributes to ceremonies in New South Wales and investigates connections between cultural practice, wellbeing and mental health; a leading anthropologist from Timor-Leste whose research situates lulik as the centre of Timorese culture and spirituality; a musician and historian who works to revitalise the Kala Lagaw Ya languages of the Western Torres Strait through song; an ethnomusicologist who collaborates extensively with Yolŋu and Warlpiri ceremonial leaders; and a leading scholar of the retention and contemporisation of Indigenous music and dance traditions in Australia and Inaugural Director of the Indigenous Knowledge Institute at the University of Melbourne.

ABSTRACT. Yazidi religious dances are a visual and aestheticized representation of the community and its social system. They organize the interactions between the different classes and/or castes in a symbolic way, both in the occupation of space and in the bodily relations between the dancers. Sama and govand, the two religious dances practiced in the annual pilgrimage Jama'iyah (gathering festival) represent two different aspects of the life of the community. On the one hand, sama, a sacred dance reserved for religious dignitaries (the elites representing power), embodies through its choreography the world beyond: the angels who contributed to the creation of Adam and to his sensory "opening" to music. On the other hand, govand, the dance open to all members of the Yazidi community, illustrates the community life that is below power, with a relaxation of the hierarchy strongly present in sama. While sama bears the marks of a Sufi Islamic tradition, govand is marked by Kurdish-speaking culture (the Yazidi community being made up of two unequal linguistic parts: an Arabic-speaking minority and a Kurdish-speaking majority). This raises the question that I will try to answer in this talk: do sama and govand represent two traditions inherited from two significant periods in Yazidi history? Or does the complementarity of these two dances, with their different functions and aesthetics, not represent a major anthropological aspect in the elaboration of the collective identity of present-day Yazidism? In my speech, I will present some unpublished religious texts. The analyses and recordings that will be presented in the speech are part of the corpus collected during my fieldwork carried out since 2019 within the Yezidi community, as part of my current thesis in the field of ethnomusicology. Some previously unpublished religious texts will also be exhibited.

ABSTRACT. Embedded in various discourses of power are its gendered ramifications, including the need for more expansive and culturally nuanced explications of the connections between power and gender within music-making contexts. This presentation explores modalities of performing power—yiko— and masculinity—Nda— among the Nupe in northern Nigeria. Based on an ethnography of the performance traditions of the Enyan-Etsu, an all-male royal ensemble in Bida and Patigi towns of the Nupe, this presentation will unpack the mutually reinforcing nexus of masculinity and power, and how ideations of masculinity and power are formulated, contested, and resolved within spaces of Enyan-Etsu performances. By recognizing spaces of music performance as microcosms of society, I argue that sites of Enyan-Etsu performances in relation to broad sonic expressions are critical for reifying and negotiating frameworks of masculinity, power, and socio-political hierarchies in Nupe society.

ABSTRACT. The increasing trend of global migration presents challenges to cultural identity, as individuals navigate new environments while maintaining ties to their homeland. This study which is based on ongoing research, focuses on understanding how Gonja cultural identity is constructed and reinforced through music-making within the diaspora community in Accra, Ghana. The Gonja, are from the northern part of Ghana with historical links to the Akan of southern Ghana. However, economic opportunities and other factors necessitated the migration of many to urban areas like Accra, leading to the establishment of a Gonja Diaspora community in Accra. Using an ethnographic approach involving participant observation, interviews, and focused group discussions, through the theoretical lens of symbolic interactionism and the Diasporic third space theory, I aim to understand how the indigenous musical traditions and practices of the Gonja community in Accra, construct and reinforce their cultural identity. I am also interested in understanding how musical performances promote community bonding and sustain memories of the homeland in the multi-cultural setting of Accra. Preliminary findings from the research reveal that music making by the Gonja in Accra, not only binds the community in Accra together and gives them a sense of homeland but also helps play a crucial role in shaping and reinforcing the identity of both newer generations born in Accra and older generations who migrated to the city.

ABSTRACT. The Meeting of Knowledges is a movement for social inclusion and decolonization of higher education institutions. It aims to incorporate mestres or “masters” of traditional knowledges as co-teachers in Universities to create a pluri-epistemological transcultural model of educational inclusion beyond the Eurocentric Humboldtdian disciplinary canon. This shift in pedagogical approaches is based on a movement to reform Brazilian universities that began in 2010 with the demands of Afro-descendant and indigenous communities to be represented in Higher Education and the implementation of affirmative action racial quotas in public education. This process led to the revision of curricula, which was conceptualized as far back as the nineteenth century and perpetuated forms of colonialism, discriminating against the non-white population in the country, to incorporate the cosmologies and epistemologies of marginalized groups that had never been part of formal education. The academic title Notório Saber (​​translated: "socially recognized higher knowledge") is an acknowledgment granted to these mestres, many of whom are illiterate, which recognizes them as full professors, enabling them to teach in Universities across Brazil (De Carvalho 2021). Variants and approaches of this model have been put into practice across institutions across the Globe and have had profound consequences for pedagogies of musics and dance practices as well as their research. Ethnomusicologists and ethnochoreologists, being at a privileged crossroads between communities and institutions, have played a key role in shifting towards pedagogies of the Meeting of Knowledges. This roundtable discusses the challenges, demands, practices, and experiences of implementing models of social inclusion for institutions, performers, and communities. We aim to share our experiences working on reforming universities from multiple geographical perspectives. We question the impact of the Meeting of Knowledges for academia and communities alike, what responsibility ethnomusicology shares in the process, and the implications for research paradigms.

ABSTRACT. In the last decade, the study of Mapuche music in urban contexts has progressively increased within the Chilean musicological community. This situation is noticeable by the work developed by some researchers such as Jacob Rekedal(2014a, 2014b, 2019), Pablo Catrileo (2016), Ignacio Soto-Silva (2017; 2018; 2019), Javier Silva-Zurita (2021), Soto-Silva et. al (2021a) and Silva-Zurita et. al (2022), among others. Predominantly using ethnographic approaches, all these studies report several experiences that show the use of hybrid elements in musical practices developed in urban settings by Mapuche performers. Another aspect that has also contributed to the discussion of Mapuche music in urban contexts is the founding of the ICTMD National Committee for Chile in 2019, due to some of the activities conducted by this organization has gathered together some agents and initiatives related to this topic (Soto-Silva et. al, 2020; 2021b). Leftraru Hualamán is the stage name of a Mapuche Williche musician from Osorno, Chile, who has developed a musical genre he has defined as Williche singing, which incorporates musical and discursive aspects related to traditional Mapuche music and stylistic elements from the New Chilean Song repertoire. This paper discusses Leftraru’s perceptions about his own music and how it relates with his political activism. By analysing some Leftraru’s interviews and documents that engaged in aesthetic and ideological perceptions about his music, we organized two categories wherein his ideas can be grouped: one that focuses on language revitalization, and another that incorporates aspects related to traditional Mapuche music into his creative practices. The conclusions indicate that these categories are key for understanding the notions of territory articulated by this musician, which allows the emergence of reinterpretations about some traditional notions, in this case Mapuche singing.

ABSTRACT. It is widely acknowledged that music, songs, and dance play a fundamental role in shaping the identity of language speakers (Echeverriaa & Sparlingb 2024:3). Additionally, songs can facilitate language education by aiding students in retaining what they have learned (Samuels 2015:348). Drawing from these insights, this study aims to investigate the efficacy of songs in indigenous language education, potentially contributing to language revitalization efforts, focusing on the Puyuma community, an indigenous group in Taiwan facing language and cultural decline like many other indigenous communities worldwide. The Puyuma language is recognized as vulnerable by UNESCO, yet it owns rich traditional songs to preserve cultural heritage and identity.

Various aspects of traditional Puyuma songs have been studied and described, including tone, scale, melody, and chord structures (To 2009; Lian 2008; Kuo 2007, etc.). These features are also present in newly composed Puyuma songs. Since the 1970s, some Puyuma individuals have been creating indigenous-themed songs, which have been widely accepted by the community and have become part of their folk music repertoire (Lin 2006:9). These songs have even been introduced into classrooms to not only enhance ethnic identity but also facilitate language learning among students.

This study builds upon previous research and aims to explore how Puyuma people compose melodies that reflect their cultural identity, integrate Puyuma lyrics into newly composed melodies or adapt existing songs. It also examines how these songs serve as educational tools to transmit their language to younger generations. Furthermore, the linguistic fidelity of the lyrics will be assessed, examining their grammatical accuracy, vocabulary usage, and other linguistic features. By utilizing the role of traditional songs in Puyuma language education, this study is expected to contribute to indigenous language revitalization and cultural preservation in a more theoretical perspective.

ABSTRACT. In the realm of preserving cultural heritage, it is imperative to delve into unique traditions that serve as threads weaving together the identity of a community. One such captivating practice can be found in the musical whistling names of the Khasi subtribe, who are living in Kongthong village, Meghalaya.

Nestled in the far east of India, the invaluable practice of mothers in this village is creating unique whistling calls to communicate with their children, navigate through jungles, and send messages. This lesser-known aspect of Khasi sub-tribe culture holds tremendous significance and deserves scholarly attention. Passed down through generations, they are more than mere sounds; they are living testaments to the rich tapestry of tradition, creativity, and legacy. Kongthong village was recognised by the  UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2013 and 2017 respectively for this oral tradition.

Through a mixed research methodology, the author as an ethnomusicologist will uncover the enduring essence of village traditions through orally transmitted information, preserving musical names that reflect nature's inspiration.

The interdisciplinary new research will be focused on  how the unique whistle scale and notes are distinct from human voices? Why this unique way of communication developed and how? What are the intricate relationship between new technologies and external influences on this age-old practice,? and how the younger generation is championing efforts to conserve and revive this endangered heritage.

ABSTRACT. This paper will focus on the dance of deodhas at the annual Deodhani festival held at Kamakhya temple in Assam, a North-Eastern State of India. Deodhas are over a dozen male dancers who belong to lower caste from humble occupational backgrounds. Kamakhya temple is one of the fifty-one sakti pithas (seat of power) devoted to menstruating goddess Kamkhya where her yoni (vulva) is worshipped in the form of a block of stone. Every year deodhas visit the temple during the Deodhani festival to offer their bodies to become ghora, the vehicle of serpent goddess Manasa and other Hindu deities of sakta and tantric lineage. Even though the festival is named after female dancers deodhani who perform at other ritual and secular spaces in Assam, Deodhani festival at Kamakhya temple is exclusively marked for deodhas who enthral the audience with their spectacular entranced demeaner and violent gestures. The three-day long festival displays a gradual increase of theatrics and ferocious divinity reaching its peak on the third day. Deodhas dance in tune with the hypnotic effect of scores of drummers akin to a throbbing heart, echoing the Nilachal hill where the temple is located. They exhibit their sanguine bodies slathered with fresh warm blood of sacrificed animals, adorned with flower garlands, holding sticks, machetes and swords. They adopt unique dancing styles in tandem with the iconography of their respective deities. The ritual dance of deodhas is a form of negotiation for claiming performative space and social elevation as they become the mediums through which deities reveal themselves. Noting the transgressive and dramatic choreology along with the conspicuous absence of deodhanis, deodhas’ dance cannot be merely viewed as a manifestation of divine embodiment, but also as an attempt to produce a gendered masculine site solely reserved and endorsed for male performers.

ABSTRACT. This paper seeks to understand cultural resistance and social movements thinking through the embodied voices of women singers in India. In their performance, through gendering protest they not only challenged the power hierarchies but also played a key role in shaping of new social sensibility in contemporary India. Existing studies on social movements have discussed resistance in different contexts, from an organized political protest (Oommen 1991; Shah 2004), as a silent revolution (Jaffrelot 2003) to a more implicit subversion of hierarchies in day to day lives (Scott 1989; 1990). In most of the cases, protests and their efficacy have been analysed through slogans, speeches and written texts. Other modes of protest are largely ignored. Such approaches have not only led to the neglect of various other modes of protest but also eraser of subjectivities who were using those modes of resistance. Recent studies (Munsi and Dutt 2010; Damodaran 2017; Peddie 2017) have shown how genres have been endangered either through the erasure of women’s voices or through the displacing of the women-centric genres themselves. One of the major silences in study of Indian social movements has emerged because of such methodological approaches. Drawing upon the recent resistance songs from various parts of India, this paper intends to interweave music, resistance and women voices to construct a narrative that remains marginalised in broader social science approaches.

ABSTRACT. In October 2021, I faced an unexpected physical racist attack from a stranger in Paris. I was punched in my face by a white man while waiting at Montparnasse metro station in Paris. It happened without any conversation or provocation or any prior acquaintance. I was accused of stealing. This came as a shock. I was suddenly made aware of my living inside a brown woman's body. It was a significant encounter since I work constantly with my body as a dancer. It was a rupture in my experience of friendships and collaborations while living outside India for the first time. This incident left me with physical injuries and trauma that urged me to question the relationship between a performing body and its image through artistic research.

Based on this traumatic personal experience, this performance -using songs and music from my home state, Rajasthan- aims to explore whiteness and the construction of race through a feminist lens. The imprint of this personal memory is contextualized through colonial histories. How was I ‘othered’ in this incident? With what mechanisms am I continuously othered when I am performing inside an institutional structure? Structures of identity, gender, and language are experienced through gazes. If the act of presence is in and of itself political, then 'Time to stop'(the title of the performance is based on a poem by an Indian writer A. K. Ramanujan) is the practice of resistance. My body navigates these questions in this performance in layers of movement, sound, and text.

ABSTRACT. Hunting with golden eagles has a long history in Central Asia as an art, tradition, and, recently, a tourist attraction that significantly contributes to the livelihood of local communities (MacGough 2019; Soma 2015). It relies on partnerships and bonds of trust constructed through vocality and the intimacy it generates (Feldman and Zeitlin 2019; Eidsheim and Meisel 2019; Kean and Howell 2019). In post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan, as intangible heritage, eagle hunting leans on Indigenous ecological knowledge and epistemology, providing a ‘popular means of interacting with nature’ (UNESCO). However, the vocal weaving of these interspecies bonds also provides an important example of human/non-human interconnection and the possibility for coexistence, dialogue, and cooperation. My paper draws on fieldwork carried out in Issyk-Kul, recent literature on Central Asian falconry, the matter(s) that vocality is made of, and discussions of tourism in relation to the environment, sustainability, wildlife, and Indigenous communities (Holden and Fennell 2013; Farrelly 2013; Hall, Gössling and Scott 2015; Smith 2015). It examines vocality as a tool for conflict resolution in interspecies relations. It discusses the central role played by Indigenous communities in mediating the human/non-human conflict and preserving wildlife, and the significance of eagle hunting for reclaiming identity in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan. Exploring renewed approaches to human/non-human agency in the Anthropocene (Bennett 2010; Steingo 2024), I argue that these encounters provide an opportunity for interspecies ‘merging’ and bonds to emerge from their ontological distinction. The conflict in which their two natures intersect can generate a partnership. Vocality is the invisible thread that ties ‘the subject and the Other together’ (Dolar 2006, 112). The paper will contribute to ethno/ecomusicological research on interspecies communication in Central Asia and Indigenous identity in the post-Soviet space (Levin and Süzükei 2006; Beahrs 2019; Pegg 2024; Suny 2000; Dadabaev 2016; Levin 2018).

ABSTRACT. On the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, in the Jin Chuan River basin, the Rgyalrong Tibetan region commonly preserves a ritual song and dance tradition acquired through physical expression and passed down from generation to generation. This tradition is known as "Darga" in the local language. Darga is closely related to the social life of Tibetans in Rgyalrong and has become an indispensable part of life ceremonies, annual activities, and festival celebration. Based on long-term, in-depth field study, this paper reveals that although Darga manifests itself with a secular face, its spiritual essence lies in the pursuit of the“Sacred”beyond mere entertainment. Beliefs play a central role in constructing Darga ritual performances. In Western academic circles, “Sacredness-Secularity”serves as a dualistic framework for differentiating various types of Tibetan music. This paper describes the ritual performance of Darga and provides an extensive discussion on the cultural aspects of syncretism between sacredness and secularity. A case study on the ritual performance of Darga in the Rgyalrong region is presented, followed by reflections on how traditional Tibetan music is understood among Chinese and Western scholars.

ABSTRACT. The Kazakh qobyz, a two-stringed bowed fiddle, is one of the oldest musical instruments of the Central Asian steppe. The qopuz evolved in nomadic culture as the sacred instrument of the bakshi (shaman), played for spiritual and healing purposes. The qopuz plays a significant role in Kazakhstan as a vivid musical instrument that carries centuries of cultural meaning, and qobyz healing arts were integrated into Kazakh traditional medicine for centuries. However, in the 19th century qobyz healing, along with the Kazakh cosmology in which it was embedded, was derided by Russian colonizers, and in the 20th century, Soviet power enforced a bakshi-eradication campaign while working to desacralize the instrument and limit it to concert use. Nonetheless, dedicated qobyz players have kept the instrument’s heritage alive and can give many examples of its use in healing and therapy. Most Western-based scholarship has remained skeptical, approaching qobyz arts as embedded in mythology and alien to the scientific discourses of Music Therapy. In this presentation, we will explore the qobyz as a therapeutic instrument embedded in Kazakh cosmology while simultaneously considering the impact of the instrument’s acoustic properties on human neurology and perception. This is a collaborative research project that draws on performance and interviews as well as interdisciplinary research, aiming for an experience-based study that can accommodate multiple worldviews. Research on the therapeutic properties of the qobyz can contribute to the field of Music Therapy while restoring dignity to a cultural heritage that has undergone significant colonial and political repression.

ABSTRACT. The Zezuru are a sub-ethnic group within Zimbabwe's Shona indigenous people. The Zezuru people's music and dance are a rich tapestry of centuries-old traditions, cultural identities, and spiritual links to the land. This presentation explores the multiple characteristics of indigenous musical and dance forms, providing insights into their significance, preservation, and evolution in modern contexts. Rooted deeply in oral traditions, the Zezuru people’s indigenous music and dance serve as vital conduits for the transmission of cultural knowledge, stories, and histories across generations. They embody indigenous cosmologies, reflecting the interconnectedness between humans, nature, and the spiritual realm. Through rhythmic beats, melodic tunes, and intricate choreographies, these art forms encapsulate the essence of indigenous worldviews, fostering a sense of belonging and collective identity within communities. However, the sustainability of indigenous music and dance faces numerous problems, including globalization, cultural assimilation, and environmental destruction. Despite these challenges, the Zezuru people continue to sustain and revitalize their musical and dance traditions through efforts that encourage cultural revival, inter-generational knowledge transfer, and collaborations with scholars, artists, and activists. Moreover, indigenous music and dance have increasingly gained recognition on global platforms, challenging stereotypes and fostering cross-cultural dialogue. From mbira and marimba festivals such as ZimFest to dance culture houses in America, these vibrant expressions of indigenous creativity captivate audiences worldwide, transcending linguistic and cultural barriers. Despite the difficulties of the modern world, I believe that the sustainability and celebration of indigenous music and dance is critical not just for the survival of indigenous cultures, but also for enriching humanity's cultural diversity. By acknowledging and elevating these perspectives, I acknowledge a shared obligation to promote cultural pluralism, mutual respect, and a harmonious relationship with the environment and its different inhabitants.

ABSTRACT. 1.Lueji A'Nkonde (c. 1635 – c. 1670) reigned in the Lunda Empire, a Cokwe ethnolinguistic region in the northeastern part of what is now the Republic of Angola (formerly a Portuguese colony, independent since 1975). In Lunda oral history, Lueji, a woman, the second daughter of King Nkonde-Matete, was appointed by him as sovereign, thus breaking a succession tradition. Lueji's peculiar and prosperous reign, despite leading to the military conflict that would divide the Lunda Empire, became one of the founding myths in the mosaic of pre-colonial ethnic cultures that resonate in present-day Angola and also influenced post-independence political tensions. 2.In 1990, Angolan writer Pepetela (1941) published "Lueji, the Birth of an Empire," a fiction intertwining Lueji's story with that of Lu, a Luanda´s young choreographer in the 1980s. Through these two women, that separated by four centuries seek for themselves facing their own circumstances, we glimpse the vicissitudes of the Angolan identity processes. 3.In 1991, Angolan choreographer and researcher Ana Clara Guerra Marques founded the first contemporary dance company in the country, aiming to explore a dance of Angolan expression that does not shy away from social criticism. “In Regards to Lueji”, the Company’s inaugural piece, draws from Pepetela's book for a free reinterpretation of Cokwe sociocultural elements articulated with kinetic suggestions from the literary work. With these axes in perspective, we analyze the dance piece to engage the following discussion: if all cultural processes are constructed, signaled, and negotiated through body movement, what challenges arise today for a “dance of Angolan expression” in a time of a globalized aesthetics that mirror new contemporary cultural hegemonies? To what extent does the allusive nature of a performance that does not withdraw from political connections, builds itself as a sensitive gaze, reinforcing or bringing complementary perspectives, to the colonial or decolonial narratives?

ABSTRACT. This paper explores the revitalisation of the Sephardi selichot (penitential prayers) custom in recent decades in Israel. From melodies that formed part of an early morning synagogue service described in the 1970s as declining in popularity, by the 2020s, Sephardi selichot have established a highly audible place in Jewish-Israeli culture, via large-scale concerts, media broadcasts and popular recordings that define the public Israeli soundscape during the month of Elul and the “days of penitence” between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. These new renditions of selichot have made significant inroads into Israeli public culture, in part through their ability to align the musical-emotional desires of the audience with the artistic and cultural agendas of audiences, musicians, culture brokers and local politicians. The cultural ecology sustaining this transformation embodies deep-rooted processes of change in Israeli society, including the increasing visibility and perceived coolness of Mizrahi culture, and the increasing prominence, since the 1990s, of elements of religious Judaism in Israeli public culture. In this paper I examine how the transformation of the selichot into mainstream auditory culture is articulated through the interweaving of conservative and innovative elements, anchoring a musical-religious repertory in public spaces which resonate both national and religious meaning.

ABSTRACT. As recordings began to reach broad audiences, scholars like Austrian Erich Hornbostel (who had never been to Africa) began to use these recordings to construct a theory about African and oriental music. He created a system based on the sounds they produced. Following Hornbostel’s investigation, scientific collections of music archives began to appear, most notably, in Berlin (some of whose sound archives were captured from prisoners of war in German concentration camps during the First World War) and the Kirby Collection (now housed at the University of Cape Town and with some parts at Museum Africa). If we assume it is essential to archive African music and dance, increasing access to technology in Africa remains challenging. Governments and institutions must invest in the infrastructure and skills necessary to maintain delicate collections. Then comes this question: Can documentation and archiving be regarded as applied ethnomusicology? That, of course, depends on what we mean by applied ethnomusicology and archiving. From other perspectives, applied ethnomusicology is primarily about ethnomusicological studies and research activities reaching outside the academic world and directly interacting with the community—often to influence and change political and social structures and conditions. Archives should be seen as identity projects aiming to create continuity. Target groups may be groupings of various kinds and levels, from nations to different interest groups in society. From that perspective, it can be argued that archives and museums are about democratic and human rights—the rights to history and cultural identity. In the research project Music, Media, Multicultural, music was used as the starting point to understand and explain how social and cultural diversity is constructed and organized in modern societies. The archival mission also wavers between two poles, which in principle are constant but where the emphasis has varied over time. On the one hand, the archive is a place for orderly storage—where cultural heritage is given secure preservation and is available for research and historiography. On the other hand, the archive plays an active part in cultural life as a source and inspiration for musicians and an instrument for cultural policy—as a creator of cultural heritage.

ABSTRACT. With my presentation, I will take you, the participants, on a journey with me into the diverse and fascinating realm of knowledge production within artistic research. Here, I will share my experiences and encounters with this topic through my current artistic research project homemade hips . With homemade hips I have entangled creatively and critically notions of hips and domesticity through my choreographic practice.

A theoretical and practical weaving of knowledge production within artistic research will discuss active and evolving qualities as essential elements for knowledge production within artistic research (Hannula, 2009; Hübner, 2024; Nelson, 2022). I will expand my discourse on knowledge production by highlighting that aspects of sensing, feeling, and experiencing support a connection and production of artistic research knowledge (Midgelow, 2019; Pakes, 2018; Spatz, 2015). Here, I will re-perform elements of my choreographic practice and introduce small participatory invitations (e.g. standing up, placing hands on hips, and moving hips gently) to experience and expand on the “felt” (Klein, 2017, p. 6) knowledge that artistic research seeks to offer.

With my presentation, I aim to activate a knowledge dance of how, what, and that, where body and mind, theory and practice constantly entangle and diffract themselves, and where knowledge production enters and operates in a politics of middling, “where things are still forming and categories are not-yet” (Manning, 2019, p. 4). This system of continual evolutionary becoming of knowledge evokes, what I call, a vibrant knowledge, which would always be unfinished. 

References

Hannula, M. (2009). Catch me if you can: Chances and challenges of artistic research. Art & Research: A Journal of Ideas, Contexts and Methods, 2 (2), 1-20.

Hübner, F. (2024). Method, methodology and research design in artistic research: Between solid routes and emergent pathways. Routledge.

Klein, J. (2017). What is artistic research? Journal for Artistic Research. https://jar-online.net/en/what-artistic-research

Manning, E. (2019). Towards a politics of immediation. Frontiers in Sociology, 3 (42), 1-11.

Midgelow, V. (2019). Practice-as-research. In S. Dodds (Ed.), The Bloomsbury Companion to Dance Studies (pp. 111-144). Bloomsbury.

Nelson, R. (2022). Practice as research in the arts (and beyond). Principles, processes, contexts, achievements (2nd ed). Palgrave Macmillan.

Pakes, A. (2018). Knowing through dance-making: choreography, practical knowledge and practice-as-research. In J. Butterworth & L. Wildschut (Eds.), Contemporary choreography: A criticalreader (2nd ed., pp. 11-24). Taylor & Francis Group.

Spatz, B. (2015). What a body can do. Technique as knowledge, practice as research. Routledge.

ABSTRACT. The usual way of understanding ‘improvisation’ in music has been to define it in opposition with terms like ‘composition’ or ‘score’, a distinction that is sometimes helpful but often misleading, in the Indian Context. The paper aims to problematize the 'composition-improvisation' dichotomy, first by looking at how this established perception has affected our understanding of South Indian Carnatic Music. ‘Improvising’ in the Western Context, would broadly imply making changes in the already notated and memorized music or making changes otherwise not related to the notated piece of music. The assumption that such improvisation is universal or is a fact of music, leads to error when transposed into certain systems of Indian Music such as South Indian Carnatic Music. ‘Improvisation’ as being a sort of deviance or sudden manifestation does not exist in Carnatic Musicology. Following from this assumption, certain academic scholarship and thinking has settled for a reductive definition of the central concept of ‘Manodharma’ (literally translated as ‘mind-order’) as being the improvised element of Carnatic Music, whereas in reality Manodharma is equally relevant to the so called ‘fixed’ and ‘unfixed’ part of Carnatic music. The paper also argues that Manodharma is extramusical, defined as the praxis of imagination that is limitlessly creative and yet completely controlled. I situate the study of Manodharma, using the Kritis (tripartite songs) of composers from the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Southern India, that largely form the repertoire of Carnatic Music today, to understand the growing role of generative imagination, visualization and mental fixation in South Indian Carnatic music and culture at large.

ABSTRACT. As an important medium for recording, carrying, and disseminating traditional Chinese music, Gongche notation plays a crucial role in the continuation and evolution of traditional music. Until now, many folk music genres and genres still use Gongche score as a notation method, constantly inheriting the essence of traditional Chinese music culture. The paper focuses on the examination objects of Kunqu Gongche score, Pipa Gongche score, Xi'an Drum Music Folk Character Score, Zhihua Temple Jing Music Gongche score, Fujian Nanyin Gongche score, and Hebei Concert Gongche score. It deeply analyzes the practical application of Gongche score in traditional Chinese music, systematically summarizes the notation methods and unique morphological characteristics of various Gongche scores. At the same time, by examining examples of Gongche notation rhyme and performance (singing), this study explores the current inheritance status of Gongche notation, as well as how musicians can use rhyme techniques such as "Ah Kou" or "Hum Ha" to build a bridge between notation and live music, thereby achieving the complete process of traditional Chinese music composition from "notation" to "rhyme" and then to "music". This study not only demonstrates the framework characteristics of the Chinese Gongche notation, which is characterized by its simplicity and complexity, but also reveals its profound internal connection with traditional music theory. Chinese Gongche notation not only exists as a notation method, but also carries the spiritual core of traditional Chinese music culture with its diverse forms and profound cultural connotations.

ABSTRACT. This panel will address ethical, theoretical and methodological issues concerning the current international debate on decolonizing modes of doing ethnomusicology and ethnochoreology, drawing upon selected perspectives emerging from a long-term, participatory action-research experience within Maré, a working-class residential area in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Altogether the three presentations will focus on politico-theoretical premises and methodological choices for developing horizontal dialogues with residents, as well as on some of the intellectual and practical outcomes of this praxis for social change. The first paper will problematize the contextual motivations, theoretical and methodological choices as well as the ensuing implications that led to a long-term, and increasingly organic involvement of a university-based research unit with organizations and residents within an area of the city critical to studies of power relations in Brazil. Accordingly, the second paper illustrates both the intellectual and practical outcomes of horizontal exchanges between residents and non-residents resulting in perspectives on music, dance and cultural activities opened by the adopted research strategies. Authored by one of the first residents to engage in this joint effort, it will explore how the ideas germinated during the first years of reciprocal learning paved the way to his master’s thesis on a local composer’s biography that eventually won a nationwide publication prize and to the focus on a related post-doc project in the making on the socio-political implications of romantic popular music. The closing presentation, by the current members of the still active action-research team at Maré, will address the most recent related project carried out through intensive interdisciplinary collaboration with former members of the Maré research collective, archivists, local schoolteachers, artistic collectives and institutions: the constitution of a public access digital archive with materials generated along these twenty years of participatory research work, making possible critical use in future initiatives for social change.

PAPER 1 - LONG-TERM PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH ON MUSIC AND DANCE AS PRAXIS FOR SOCIAL CHANGE; PREMISES, POTENTIALS AND CHALLENGES. Reflecting on direct experience over two decades of mediating a research initiative undertaken in partnership by an academic collective and knowledge bearing individuals, collectives, and institutions either not trained in or formally attached to academic institutions, this presentation will introduce and problematize some of the central premises of long-term research based on dialogical collaborations and participatory protocols as well as on an extensive international debate in both academic and extra-academic fora on decolonizing studies of music and dance. Setting out a more general framework to the other two presentations in the panel, the paper will raise questions such as: what happens if, and when, the academics are not the only ones to take part in the definition of research goals and methods as well as of the forms of making public the results? What to make of active involvement on either ritual or experimental performance practices as knowledge producing strategies equaled to participant observation, note-taking from a distance and/or forms of publication? What consequences should be drawn from situations in which researchers are impelled to think over the concealment of their real-life value judgements in their publications, but treating them critically, openly facing ideals of neutrality expected to validate their work?

PAPER 2 - THE BREGA SPIRIT: REFLECTIONS ON THE POLITICS OF PASSION IN BRAZIL.

Brega has been a famous musical genre in Brazil from the last 50 years. It is a kind of sound chameleon, enforcing the dialectical maxim that a river, even if it is a river, is never the same. The reflections on brega music that are presented here have nothing to do with the attempt to denounce the erasure of its artists and repertoires from the Brazilian cultural memory. The contribution of the brega aesthetics of the 1960s and 1970s to Brazil has already been described by historian Paulo Cesar Araújo. Here, the focus is more on an ethnomusicological perspective than a historiographical or memoirist one. The central concern is not with the historical memory of popular music in Brazil, but with what this sound practice reveals about the national spirit in the present conjuncture. In saying this, it is emphasized that the novelty of the propositions is based more on what brega. with its nuances, still is, rather than on what it was. In general, it is a work with more prospective than retrospective content. The objective of the paper is to discuss brega as a key to interpreting Brazil from its concrete and abstract devices, almost as entering the Brazilian soul from this microcosm that is national popular music. A kind of MP of B, or the B side of MPB (Brazilian popular music) that currently, resurfaces and reanimates a whole new generation of Brazilians, brega is the empirical object whose object of research is Brazil. In short, the presentation is intended to bring music-making closer to political making, showing the interlocutions between these two universes, understanding that music and politics are arts of life.

PAPER 3 - COMMUNITY ARCHIVES, SOUND PRAXIS AND PUBLIC INTEREST; REFLECTIONS ON THE MUSICULTURA ARCHIVE

This presentation aims to discuss the process of construction, availability, and publicization of a community digital archive generated by the activities of the Musicultura Group. Inspired by the theoretical and methodological formulations of intellectuals such as the Brazilian educator Paulo Freire and the Colombian sociologist Orlando Fals-Borda, Musicultura has been conducting a long-term participatory action-research on sound praxis and its social-political impact in the favelas of Maré, Rio de Janeiro, for about twenty years. Despite the fact that the documentation of musical practices in Maré, and the democratization of the research material generated by the group, has been one of Musicultura’s primary objectives since its beginnings, the current stage of the work became a priority due to the escalation of police brutality and of violent conflicts in Rio de Janeiro's favela areas, particularly from 2019 onwards, and intensified with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the midst of this political and health crisis, the research material and documentation collected over the years were at risk of being lost. This critical situation led to a change of workspace, shifting from the Community Center for Citizenship Defense in Maré to the Escola de Música da UFRJ in Rio de Janeiro 's city center. Subsequently, through an interdisciplinary joint effort between ethnomusicology and archival science, and between former and current members of the group, activities were carried out to organize, classify, and digitize this collection. With the creation and diffusion of the archive, the group seeks to contribute not only to the academic activities in the field of ethnomusicology, but also to knowledge production and social change within Maré. In this sense, strategies for dialogue with potentially interested local entities, such as public schools, memory centers, artistic-political collectives and social organizations, will also be addressed.