Descrizione del progetto
Uno sguardo più attento agli artisti che protestano contro la segregazione razziale
Avviene spesso che artisti e musicisti, al fine di manifestare contro una tematica, organizzino dei boicottaggi culturali: dal movimento di boicottaggio, disinvestimento e sanzioni (BDS, boycott, divestment, sanctions) guidato dai palestinesi, al #BlackLivesMatter e alla campagna di disinvestimento dai combustibili fossili. La natura conflittuale di questi movimenti ha sollevato interrogativi sulle modalità di interazione tra scambio culturale e attivismo politico. Il progetto Beyond Boycott, finanziato dall’UE, studierà la questione da un punto di vista storico e porrà l’attenzione sul boicottaggio culturale globale dell’apartheid in Sudafrica tra il 1954 e il 1991. Il progetto si rivolgerà alle storie non note degli interpreti occidentali di musica colta che sono stati soggetti a sanzioni per esibirsi nel paese. Mapperà la portata oppositiva dei boicottaggi ed esaminerà il relativo contributo a un sistema di classificazione razziale.
Obiettivo
"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."
Campo scientifico
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinatore
WC1E 6BT London
Regno Unito