Monday 25 July 2011

Music and Conflict Transformation Symposium Part 2

I have been busy lately actually writing my thesis (honest, Tia!) and have neglected to post part two of my review of this notable conference/symposium. I have, therefore, decided to do the next best thing which is to post someone else's summary of events. In this case it was from Arild Bergh's personal site, Musica Lista. Anyway, here it is:


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Post-session Q&AIt was my great pleasure to organise the 2011 SocArts symposium on the topic of Music – Conflict – Transformation. This year was the largest so far, with more than 40 attendants from a wide variety of backgrounds: musicians, practitioners from the peace building field, academics and researchers, lawyers, activists and educators. The geographical spread was also very broad with attendants arriving from Colombia, Japan, USA, Canada, Spain, Turkey, Norway, Germany, Austria and the UK. There was considerable breadth and quality in the papers presented, and I was very pleased to meet old and new contacts working in this field. Below is a brief summary of the different sessions throughout the two days.
There were seven sessions in all as well as a plenary discussion session at the end. The first session on Community, a key issue in conflict transformation work, was kicked off by Catherine Pestano(Community music and the promotion of social inclusion: An English-Vojvodinian (Serbia) partnership) who provided a summary of a project in Serbia that highlighted problems related to the "NGOisation" of the region as well as issues around working in languages other than your own. The value of improvising in the field and finding willing partners was also discussed. The Living Together Lounge for People Who are Both HIV-Positive and HIV-Negative was a presentation by Mia Nakamura who focused on the value of simply providing spaces for joint musicking between conflicting groups and again showing how the initial intent of music use may "transmogrify" in  the field. Finally Mindy Johnston (Music and Conflict Resolution: Exploring the Use of Music in Community Engagement) presented her research on the link between self and society in work by musicians and composers who worked in the conflict resolution field.

In the Identity session different perspectives on this topic was explored using different European case studies. Irene Gallego’s presentation Music as a social control mechanism highlighted the bureaucratic issues facing street musicians in Barcelona, where only those who play “traditional” music which is perceived to be representative of their ethnicity is given permits to play. From Austria Martin Winterdiscussed the fluidity of first generation immigrants’ musical identity, either to “fit in” or for nostalgic reason in his talk on Musical practice and the construction of cultural identity. Finally Pinar Güran presented the use of hybrid music styles in Berlin such as “RnBesk” (American R’n’B and Turkish arabesk) to work with youth who resorted to violence in conflict encounters.

The following session went straight to the centre of music and conflict transformation issues with a look at music in mediation and reconciliationBarbara Dunn discussed her Ph.D. Research on the potential for music use mediation with adults and highlighted how previous music experience affect the ability to use it to address conflict, that music transforms may potentially transform conflict by creating common ground and that musical exercises require careful consideration if used in conflict transformation contexts. In Musicking as a Means of Accessing Tacit Cultural Understanding in Conflict Transformation Settings” Craig Robertson discussed issues of “normality” in post conflict societies and how the same processes take place whether using music for negative or positive purposes, hence a understanding of the processes involved in musicking are important. María Elisa Pinto García finished the session with a presentation that discussed the use of music for reconciliation in Colombia where victims and ex-combatants in the long running civil war has participated in top down projects or tacitly used music locally to put across their views on violent events, and the limitations of such approaches for reconciliation.

Tuesday started with three future projects presentations. Linda Ippolito presented her Ph.D. research which will work with mediators and encourage them to use paradigms from music making to think about how conflicts between to two parties can be mediated rather than the common western way of seeing mediation as a zero sum game with a winner and a loser. Thomas Valenti briefly outlined some ideas he has developed with the owner of Hopeless Records to encourage behaviour changes in young adults in conflict areas, possibly involving recording music and teaching different music skills by professional musicians. Finally Charlie Irvine discussed the potential of iPods and playlists as a means of inducing a mood conducive to mediation work among younger people. Overall this session generated a lot of discussion and ideas.

The New Directions session examined the use of music (and art) to promote longer term societal changes. Gloria Patricia Zapata discussed whether playing music could help children from socio-culturally deprived backgrounds in Colombia. A project that took place in Lebanon, focusing on creating musical instruments and art among social workers from different groups in the conflict there was presented by Mercedes Pavlicevic in her talk on “Firemaking in the Lebanon: building social resilience through the arts in times of low-intensity conflict”.

This was followed by a session on the transmission of conflict through music. Argun Cakir discussed how the the Kurdish dengbêj tradition was not only used to promote conflict, but also suffered from conflict within the tradition itself as new ways of working within this tradition has developed in recent years. The session was concluded by Cornelia Nuxoll who showed how the meaning of music is always locally determined and independent of the intent of the artists and/or composers. In her case she discussed how child soldiers in Sierra Leone had re-interpreted reggae music lyrics and used it to augment local discourses and in the fighting itself in the civil war there in the 1990s.

The symposium was concluded by an excellent session on the issues and ethics to consider when intervening in conflicts, this workshop was run by Joan McGregor from “Responding to Conflict” in Birmingham, and it was clearly a session that gave us all a lot to think about in terms of how to work in conflict areas with music.

Friday 22 July 2011

Process Arts

Interesting site collating approaches to facilitating group interactions through aesthetic thinking:

http://processarts.wagn.org/wagn/one_response

Thursday 21 July 2011

THE SOUNDTRACK OF CONFLICT: THE ROLE OF MUSIC IN RADIO BROADCASTING IN WARTIME AND IN CONFLICT SITUATIONS

An intriguing conference that I, unfortunately, cannot afford to attend:

THE SOUNDTRACK OF CONFLICT: THE ROLE OF MUSIC IN RADIO BROADCASTING IN WARTIME AND IN CONFLICT SITUATIONS



Three-Day International Conference

THE SOUNDTRACK OF CONFLICT: THE ROLE OF MUSIC IN RADIO BROADCASTING IN WARTIME AND IN CONFLICT SITUATIONS

University of Göttingen, Germany, 15-17 September 2011


Radio is a powerful medium in conflict situations. Major world powers have dedicated sometimes significant resources to funding radio broadcasts into different and "enemy" countries, in times of both "hot" and "cold" war.
And precisely because radio is relatively cheap, portable, and before or in the absence of the Internet the easiest and safest way to transmit information over international borders, radio has been and remains important in various conflicts in and between smaller countries as well.



The role of radio in wartime and in conflict situations has been addressed by scholars from various disciplines. However, a number of aspects remain under-researched, particulary what role music plays in this context.

This international, interdisciplinary conference aims to promote a broader and comparative approach to this topic. Researchers from several disciplines will come together to present and discuss papers on the role of music in radio broadcasting in a range of conflict situations from around the world.

In addition to the presentations, the conference will host a lecture-performance on the theatre project "Hate Radio" on the role of the radio in the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Additional information on the lecture performance is available here.

M.A. Expressive Arts in Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding

I have just come across this programme at the European Graduate School in Saas Fee, Switzerland. I don't really know anything about this school or any of its faculty, but they're busy people doing interesting things and worth contacting.

Looks amazing.

M.A. Expressive Arts in Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding

The Expressive Arts in Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding (EXA-CT) M.A. is a three year program concentrating on the use of creative methods through the arts to address conflicts within teams, communities, and across cultures. The EXA-CT program provides students with frameworks for merging the arts with conflict analysis interventions, restorative justice, trauma awareness and healing, mediation, humanitarian responses, and research. In short, EXA-CT students will learn ways to use the arts for peace and co-existence. Distinguished faculty in the fields of the expressive arts and conflict transformation will provide instruction during three summer school sessions along with support and supervision of an internship, thesis, and community of practice throughout the year.
Students will spend three summers in residence in Saas-Fee, Switzerland. During the first two summer residency periods, they will follow courses on the priniciples and practice of both expressive arts and conflict transformation and peacebuilding. They will be taught by faculty members who are active practitioners in the combined disciplines. Within each course, students will be challenged to experiment with the application of the arts in conflict transformation and peacebuilding paradigms, along with group discussions and reflective exercises.
In between the summer residencies, EXA-CT students will be expected to complete a prescribed self-study plan, an internship, and a Masters Thesis supervised by an EXA-CT faculty member. Students will also participate in the design and creation of the EXA-CT in ACTION group project and meet in a virtual classroom to discuss assigned readings and videos. During the third summer session, the student will complete oral and written exams and defend the Masters Thesis. Professional artists, peaceworkers, art therapists, mediators, educators, coaches, and humanitarian workers are encouraged to pursue the EXA-CT MA program.

A Night in Tahrir Square

I'm going to this tomorrow evening in London. It sounds very interesting and I have heard about a new research project linked to this. More TBA...


A Night in Tahrir Square

Featuring El Tanbura, Azza Balba, Mustafa Said and Ramy Essam

22 July 2011 / 19:30
Barbican Hall

Tickets: £12.50 - £25
subject to availability


Description  /  Press  /  Bio  /  FreeStage  /  Amnesty UK campaigns


It was the biggest party in Egypt’s history. Between January 25th and February 11th, the people turned Cairo’s Tahrir Square into a cross between Woodstock and a giant soapbox. Music and poetry played a crucial role in breaking the ice and melting the fear of tyrannical decades.

The Barbican is proud to celebrate people power in the Arab world with an exceptional line-up of artists, all of whom helped to create the soundtrack to Egypt’s revolution.


Listen to Zakaria Ibrahim from El Tanbura in our Blaze podcast

El Tanbura - 25 Jan, Tahrir Square

Singer-songwriter Ramy Essam went to join the protestors with his guitar as soon as the uprising started. He became 'the Billy Bragg of Tahrir Square', performing countless times a day on makeshift stages and living down in the square for the entire revolution. His song 'Irhal' ('Leave') became the anthem of the revolt and a huge viral hit on the internet. Egypt’s most famous street music ensemble, El Tanbura, were also Tahrir regulars and their percussion and simsimiyya-driven sound from Suez found great favour with the protestors. 'You cannot imagine the feeling of solidarity between all the people there,' says founder Zakaria Ibrahim.

Ramy Essam - "Leave" live in Tahrir Square

Another fêted presence in the square was that of Egypt’s greatest living poet Ahmed Fouad Negm. Negm has spent 18 of his 82 years in Egyptian jails for his outspoken and often bitingly comical poems and lyrics. He is unable to travel, but his former wife Azza Balba – who has has also had a taste of Mubarak’s jails – will take part; a lifetime of protest lends a unique power to her performances of songs by Negm, Sheik Imam and others. Mustafa Said is an Egyptian singer, composer and virtuoso of the oud, or Arabic lute. His fiery performances during the revolution demonstrated his ability to combine refined instrumental skills and revolutionary passion to immense effect.

'An institution, both in their native Egypt and abroad.'Songlines 5* on El Tanbura's Friends of Bamboute

Freedom to Create Prize

I came across this and thought I should post it. It's essentially two huge prizes for for artists who use their art courageously for social justice, including one prize for an artist imprisoned because of it. Sounds amazing on one level yet I can't help but think that this prize money would be better spent helping with the social justice itself rather than rewarding an individual's efforts in this way. What do you think?


About the Freedom to Create Prize

Launched in 2007, the Freedom to Create Prize is a celebration of the courage and creativity of artists, and the positive influence of their work to promote social justice and inspire the human spirit. The Prize is open to all forms of art, in any creative field and any individual or group of any gender, religion or nationality.

In 2010, nearly 2,000 artists entered from more than 100 countries.

In 2011, a total prize fund of US$100,000 will be awarded to the winning artists and their nominated advocacy organisations to further the cause their artwork has highlighted.
Opportunities for Artists
The Freedom to Create Prize offers a range of opportunities and platforms for artists across the world. In addition to competing for the Freedom to Create Prize, all entrants are also considered for selection to:

Perform at the Freedom to Create award festival in November 2011. This year's celebrations in Cape Town, South Africa will reveal the 2011 Prize winners and celebrate the courage and creativity of this year's participating artists.

Showcase their work as part of the international Freedom to Create Exhibition - a touring exhibition of selected work entered for the Freedom to Create Prize. In addition to recent exhibitions in Mumbai and New York, Freedom to Create Exhibitions have also been held at the Cairo Opera House in Egypt, the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare, the Queen’s Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Enter 2011
The Prize has two categories: the Main Prize, open to individuals or artistic groups in all creative fields over the age of 16 and the Imprisoned Artist Prize, focusing on artists who are currently imprisoned for their artwork.

The 2011 Freedom to Create Prize is now open for entries via our website until 30 July 2011 (deadline extended). Please seehere for further information on how to enter the prize.
Judging Panel
Read here about the Judging Panel for this year’s Freedom to Create Prize and read more about the members of the 2010,2009 and 2008 Judging Panel.
Award Ceremony
Winners of the 2011 Freedom to Create Prize will be unveiled in November 2011, at the Freedom to Create Award Ceremony in Cape Town, South Africa.