Descripción del proyecto
Un análisis más profundo de los artistas que protestaron contra la segregación racial
Para protestar por un tema, los artistas y músicos a menudo organizan boicots culturales, desde el movimiento BDS (boicot, desinversión y sanciones) dirigido por palestinos al #BlackLivesMatter y las campañas de desinversión en combustibles fósiles. La naturaleza conflictiva de estos movimientos ha hecho surgir la pregunta de cómo interactúan el intercambio cultural y el activismo político. El proyecto Beyond Boycott, financiado con fondos europeos, investigará esta cuestión desde una perspectiva histórica. Centrará su atención en el boicot cultural mundial del «apartheid» en Sudáfrica entre 1954 y 1991. Los objetivos del proyecto serán las historias ocultas de los intérpretes de música artística occidental que desafiaron las sanciones para actuar en el país. Se identificará la extensión de la rotura del boicot y se investigará su contribución al sistema de clasificación racial.
Objetivo
"This project proposes to investigate the relationship between Western art music, cultural boycott, and the making of race in apartheid South Africa. In recent years people around the world have been encouraged to participate in political activism by the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, #BlackLivesMatter, #MeToo, #RhodesMustFall, and numerous fossil fuel divestment campaigns. Artists and musicians, too, have contributed to these movements both as activists and through their work. But in a world where the arts are often celebrated for their capacity to promote peaceful dialogue, the confrontational nature of protest movements has prompted artists, scholars, and activists to ask, ‘How do cultural exchange and political activism intersect?’ ‘Beyond Boycott’ addresses this question from a historical perspective by turning to one of the most important precursors of current boycott movements: the global cultural boycott of apartheid South Africa (c.1954-1991). The proposed project develops a social and cultural history of the South African boycott, focusing especially on the hidden histories of Western art music performers—commonly described as ‘classical’ musicians—who defied sanctions to perform in the country. Through archival research, the project maps the extent of classical musicians’ breaking of the boycott, before asking how these performers interacted with the anti-apartheid movement, and how their appearances in South Africa contributed to a racial classification system that viewed culture as a marker of race. The main research objectives are to trace the extent of musical activity by international performers in defiance of the boycott, and to investigate the apartheid government's use of these performances to develop racial classifications and to advance political objectives. ‘Beyond Boycott’ fosters a new area of interdisciplinary research on the relationship between art music, race, and transnational politics."
Ámbito científico
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Régimen de financiación
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinador
WC1E 6BT London
Reino Unido