Music and Identity - A virtual exhibition
curated by students of the Musicology Department Detmold / Paderborn and the South African College of Music, University of Cape Town
19 October to 31 December 2023
https://artspaces.kunstmatrix.com/de/exhibition/11979415/music-and-identity
Join the curators for the opening of the exhibition with a guided tour and Q&A on
19 October 2023 at 18:00
https://uni-paderborn-de.zoom.us/j/99432503846?pwd=b0wrMnlEUEkrelp0bDluLytoVVVSZz09
Meeting-ID: 994 3250 3846
Password: 192011
Every day we experience in our personal environment and on a broader level, that music is an essential factor in the formation, expression and sustaining of personal as well as collective identity. Our identity lies in the relationship between these personal experiences and the society we live in. Just as the music, which we create, perform or listen to, positions us in relation to or sharing it with other people. Often identity is constructed in association with class, gender, ethnicity, age, disability and religion (to name but a few). The same holds true for preferences in music, and both music and identity interact with each other. We listen to and make music in order to belong to a specific group, but also to express a certain attitude in relation to the society around us. Identities are not stable, just as our listening preferences change over time. In addition, identity can be used to liberate and oppress, just as its expression in music can be used to include and exclude.
In the exhibition we, students and staff from the Musicology Department (Detmold/Paderborn) and the South African College of Music (University of Cape Town), explore four areas in which music and identity interact: gender, colonialism (ethnicity), class and religion.
Gender
In our section we focus on the concept of rejection vs validation of FLINTA* in the communities we move in, in the field of music, in Africa and Europe. We showcase four prominent historical female composers by comparing their works and lives under the aspect of rejection and validation in their careers as women composers on different continents. Charlotte Maxeke and Miriam Makeba from Africa and Ethyl Smyth and Fanny Hensel from Europe. We develop this argument by interviewing two contemporary female composers to hear what they say on the impact of rejection and validation in the music industry today. To widen the discourse from the music to the wider arts sector, we have asked female artists from South Africa and Germany to participate in our exhibition and provide artworks that show their reflection on this topic in their communities. At the end of our section, we as curators incorporated our reflections on this part of the exhibition and the process so far.
Colonialism
The concept of music as a global language has undeniably been affected by colonialism and specifically Western colonialism. It has, above all, acted as a vehicle for the development of music across cultures, continents and genres. In our section on “colonialism”, we look into the productions of the large media company Disney and their portrayal of different cultures through animation and song. Provided is some insight into the musical elements and historical backgrounds of two very famous pictures, Pocahontas and The Lion King. Issues of misrepresentation, cultural appropriation and plagiarism are brought to light as well as research into the effect of such aspects on the developing child’s psychology.
Class
“WHO AM I? WHO ARE WE? WHO ARE THEY?” In this space, we explore how music, class, and identity are intertwined. What impact does class have on the development of musical identities? What role does the class affiliation of individuals play on their musical education and self-identification as musicians of a particular genre? What role can class struggles play in the evolution of a musical genre, and how are conflicts with social injustices reflected in internal musical structures, as well as in socio-economic and cultural-political decisions?
We examine these questions from three different viewpoints: explorations from the perspectives of classical music, South African music, and jazz.
Religion
Finding the link between music, identity and religion has not been easy. Trying to narrow down such a broad concept into one concise topic was one that proved challenging but eventually we were able to focus it into: How does sacred music and musical church practices of denominations in Cape Town influence and form the religious identity of the community/congregation? Through interviews and conversations with the different church musicians of the 3 denominations chosen, a conclusion of some sort was reached. Journey through this space to find out what that conclusion is and walk through the incredible moments we experienced to finally understand the connection between music, identity, and religion.
The story behind exhibition
As part of a collaborative seminar between the Musicology Department Detmold / Paderborn and the South African College of Music (University of Cape Town), ten students from Detmold/Paderborn and seven students from Cape Town explored questions about music and identity. Based on four major topics (class, colonialism, gender, religion), the students developed (supported by four lecturers) their own research questions and presented their findings at a student conference at the SACM at the beginning of April 2023. Following this first part, which was characterised by research-based learning, it was important to make the results accessible to a broader public in the spirit of scientific communication. The medium chosen was a virtual exhibition, which you can visit here. In many weeks of work, the students dealt with curating the exhibition, attended a workshop specifically about music-related exhibitions, and developed ideas for presenting the topic as appealingly as possible and through different media.
This project could only be realised thanks to the financial support of the DAAD and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research within the IVAC programme.
