Videogram 112: Norient, 23 March 2022 19:00 (on-line via Zoom)

Getting Close to Phenomena through Music and Sound

How can we get closer to phenomena, music and musicians in research? How can we add more perspectives, and produce deeper, more nuanced knowledge? What are new formats to discuss contemporary culture, music and societies with? And how can we communicate research to diverse publics? This lecture is based on ethnographic research from London (2000), Beirut (2006-2010), Ghana (2013-2019), and Kenya (2020). It will use examples from my recently 2019 documentary «Contradict», about musicians in Ghana. Further it draws on experiences and thoughts from the launch (2002) and re-launch (2020) of the platform Norient – Performing Music Research. The re-launched Norient offers «ethnography as a collage», as James Clifford called it (Clifford, 1981). Its intention is to create space and place(s) for scholars, researchers, journalists, artists and thinkers from a variety of disciplines, worldwide, established and young – a community of practice, multi-disciplinary, multi-sited, multi-lingual, multi-authored, on- and offline. Overall, the paper offers thoughts and insights in what new digital technologies and experimental formats can bring to understand people, music and culture. The talk will be led by Thomas Burkhalter, founder and director of Norient.

Thomas Burkhalter

Thomas Burkhalter is an anthropologist/ethnomusicologist, AV-artist, and writer from Switzerland. He is the founder and director of Norient (Norient.com), co-directed documentary films (e.g. “Contradict”), AV/theatre/dance performances, and is the author and co-editor of several books. Currently, he is working on a new music project, and on the experimental podcast series’ Timezones and South Asian Sound Stories.

Author doc. MgA. Filip Cenek
Published
Short URL https://www.favu.vut.cz/en//f26745/d223754

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