Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Beyond Boycott (Beyond Boycott: Musical Internationalism and the Making of Race in Apartheid South Africa)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2022-06-01 al 2024-05-31
The project develops a social and cultural history of the cultural boycott of apartheid South Africa. It focuses especially on the hidden histories of classical musicians who defied sanctions to perform in the country. The project uses archival material to establish who travelled to South Africa in defiance of the boycott, and how the international anti-apartheid movement reacted to these boycott breaches (Objective 1). It also asks what role these performers played in the apartheid government’s attempts at international cultural diplomacy (Objective 2). Through critical analysis of historical data, the project establishes how performances by foreign musicians helped to reinforce apartheid-era race categories, which were deeply infused with ideals of Europeanness, foreignness, and cosmopolitanism (Objective 3). Finally, it theorises a subaltern perspective on current debates regarding cultural internationalism and arts-based activism (Objective 4).
This project is particularly salient at a time of global conflict, where debates about artists’ roles as political agents are paramount. Boycott movements in protest at wars in Ukraine and Gaza have drawn attention in the past months, and have prompted politically-engaged citizens to explore the ethics of cultural circulation and diplomacy. This project responds to these concerns not by asking whether cultural boycotts work, but rather what they reveal about contemporary society’s political and cultural priorities. As such, it develops a historically-informed intervention into current debates.
This project is particularly salient at a time of global conflict, where debates about artists’ roles as political agents are paramount. Boycott movements in protest at wars in Ukraine and Gaza have drawn attention in the past months, and have prompted politically-engaged citizens to explore the ethics of cultural circulation and diplomacy. This project responds to these concerns not by asking whether cultural boycotts work, but rather what they reveal about contemporary society’s political and cultural priorities. As such, it develops a historically-informed intervention into current debates.
The majority of activities in the first two years consisted of archival research. I have completed surveys of the Hans Adler collection at Wits University, and the Johannesburg Musical Society collection (erroneously titled the Musica Viva Collection) at Wits University. I have also begun work in the SABC archive in Johannesburg, in the Hans Kramer archive in Cape Town, and in the PACT archive in Pretoria. My work has also incorporated research in the Enuga S. Reddy papers and the archive of the South African Institute for Race Relations, where I especially engaged with media reports relating to the cultural boycott. At the Bodleian Library, Oxford, I completed work in the British Anti-Apartheid Movement’s archive. There, I was able to examine documents relating to the cultural boycott, both as it relates to the United Democratic Movement in South Africa, and the UN in New York City.
My research activities thus far have focused on building a dataset from which research towards the project’s interpretive objectives (O.3 and O.4) may proceed. I have spent significant time analysing the material collected from archives, and have constructed a dataset currently comprising 441 names of performers who travelled to South Africa, including the dates and places they visited. This dataset, though not yet complete, is already much larger than originally anticipated. I am also building a secondary dataset of performance routes across the African continent, and a third of performers who refused to perform in South Africa. This work signifies the first attempt to collect comprehensive information on visiting performers, their performing routes, and those who objected to performing under apartheid. These datasets are unique and will serve as an essential basis for significant future research.
My research activities thus far have focused on building a dataset from which research towards the project’s interpretive objectives (O.3 and O.4) may proceed. I have spent significant time analysing the material collected from archives, and have constructed a dataset currently comprising 441 names of performers who travelled to South Africa, including the dates and places they visited. This dataset, though not yet complete, is already much larger than originally anticipated. I am also building a secondary dataset of performance routes across the African continent, and a third of performers who refused to perform in South Africa. This work signifies the first attempt to collect comprehensive information on visiting performers, their performing routes, and those who objected to performing under apartheid. These datasets are unique and will serve as an essential basis for significant future research.
The project establishes for the first time a comprehensive survey of artists who defied sanctions to perform in South Africa. By the end of the project, I shall have a complete list of performers who appeared in the country under apartheid, as well as the dates and places of their performances. This will serve as a crucial resource for future research on South African music history.
The project also offers the first systematic analysis of the workings of the anti-apartheid movement and its implementation of the cultural boycott. Though much has been written about the boycott, the ways in which the campaign was implemented and administered remain obscure. Attending to details of management, promotion, and execution, I shall be able to account for the contradictions and omissions that plagued the boycott movement, and which continue to haunt the campaign’s legacy.
By the end of the project, I further anticipate being able to present a more complete view of official government practices and policies around the status of so-called ‘honorary whiteness’. At present, this status remains shrouded in mystery. By examining apartheid-era issues of the South African Government Gazette, I hope to develop a fuller view of the state’s engagement with this race category.
Finally, the project will contribute to contemporary debates regarding the importance and efficacy of global boycott movements. Rather than establishing whether artists should (or should not) participate in boycott campaigns, the project will shed new light on the social and political role ascribed to the arts by organisations promoting boycotts, and governments or industries resisting them.
The project also offers the first systematic analysis of the workings of the anti-apartheid movement and its implementation of the cultural boycott. Though much has been written about the boycott, the ways in which the campaign was implemented and administered remain obscure. Attending to details of management, promotion, and execution, I shall be able to account for the contradictions and omissions that plagued the boycott movement, and which continue to haunt the campaign’s legacy.
By the end of the project, I further anticipate being able to present a more complete view of official government practices and policies around the status of so-called ‘honorary whiteness’. At present, this status remains shrouded in mystery. By examining apartheid-era issues of the South African Government Gazette, I hope to develop a fuller view of the state’s engagement with this race category.
Finally, the project will contribute to contemporary debates regarding the importance and efficacy of global boycott movements. Rather than establishing whether artists should (or should not) participate in boycott campaigns, the project will shed new light on the social and political role ascribed to the arts by organisations promoting boycotts, and governments or industries resisting them.