19.9.2017 14:30 - 19.9.2017 17:00
Maçka Yerleşkesi, Maçka Kampüsü
Kültür&Sanat
Title:
Sound links: Sustaining music, engaging communities
Abstract:
Some music practices thrive, while others struggle to exist. This has probably always been the case. However, the last 50-100 years have seen a pace of change that the world has not known before. As a consequence, we now see many age-old music practices disappearing.
This happens in Turkey, and almost everywhere else in the world. Since the beginning of this century, awareness of the challenges to the cultural diversity of the planet has risen exponentially through a series of UNESCO Declarations and Conventions (2001, 2003, 2005). And while many countries and NGOs invest in cultural life, there is much debate on what are the most effective ways to address these challenges.
Exploring nine highly diverse music practices –from Indian ragas to Mexican mariachi, and from Australian Aboriginal songs to Western opera–, the five-year international research collaboration ‘Sustainable futures for music cultures’ (2009-2014) investigated the ‘triggers’ for music sustainability, aiming to “empower communities to sustain music on their own terms.”
As the research progressed, a picture emerged of music practices as part of ‘cultural ecosystems’. These can be divided into five key domains; systems of learning and teaching music; the interaction between musicians and communities; the contexts in which music is made and the constructs underlying these practices; the role of infrastructure and regulations on the music; and finally media and the music industry. Within those domains, about 40 forces interact, determining the sustainability of any music practice.
In this lecture, Huib Schippers, who initiated and led this research, will speak of the challenges to musical diversity in the 21st century, academic and non-academic approaches to music sustainability, and where the idea of ‘cultural ecosystems’ fits in the development of (applied and engaged) ethnomusicology. He will end with a vision of next steps to be taken with communities to help sustain the musics of the world.
Bio:
Huib Schippers boasts a long and distinguished career of research into music education, community music, artistic practice, arts policy, and the music industry. He was the driving force behind the Amsterdam World Music School (1990-1996), the World Music & Dance Centre in Rotterdam (1996-2003), and became Professor and Founding Director of the innovative Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre in Brisbane, Australia (2003-2015).
From there, he led a dozen major research projects into music education, community music, cultural diversity, and arts policy. He has published widely. His monograph on shaping music education from a global perspective ‘Facing the music’ (Oxford University Press, 2010) is considered a landmark publication in its field, as is “Sustainable futures for music cultures” (Oxford University Press, 2016).
Currently, Schippers continues to work for cultural diversity and better understanding among people as Director/Curator of the iconic label Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, the non-profit label of Smithsonian Institution (Washington DC), the largest museum, education and research complex in the world.