Research project BL/37/FWI23 (Research action BL)
Summary
Objectives of the networking:
The RIETMA project - Réseau international d'étude des traditions musicales africaines - aims to carry out networking activities in order to promote cooperation between the participating institutions on the long term. The theme of the project focuses on the issues of the representation of the "Other" through musical heritage of Africa and Europe. Experience stressed out that even if the notions of co-creation between the North and the South are increasing lately in the issues of representations and even if the research themes are often similar (for instance for example the study of transformations of musical traditions), the ways of representing the other in both hemispheres does not merge totally. This project focuses on the representation issues in order to better match the contemporary and reciprocal problematics faced by the partner’s institutions to provide a dynamic description of the other but also to challenge their role as a medium between the public and the source communities. The working method consists of the organization of workshops in the North and South during in which will be organized fieldwork based on musical performances from Africa and Europe which will be recorded and filmed in order to mount an audiovisual exhibition which would allow crossing the views of curators, researchers, musicians and cultural professionals.
Project partners:
- Coordinator (P1): Rémy Jadinon – Africa Museum, Tervuren (Belgium);
- P2: Saskia Willaert – Muziekinstrumentenmuseum, Brussels (België);
- PI: Susanne Fürniss – CNRS - Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris (France);
- OP 1: Derek Debru – Nyege Nyege Festival, Kampala (Uganda);
- OP 2 Éveline Koho Kabou – Musée de la Musique, Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso);
- OP 3: Larissa Nzang Metogo – Musée National du Gabon, Libreville (Gabon).
- Long term perspective regarding institutional research cooperation:
This project reinforces the already existing networks between the different partners. By proposing workshops of mutual research around musicals activities, we wish to develop together the means and the best practices to best fit on the long term with the expectations of the various sources’ communities and publics but also to promote a better match of the bilateral collaborations and the exhibitions projects. The large experience on the African musical heritage of the different partners is a major opportunity in this project. The expected results of the establishment of the network are the observation of changes in the policies of public institutions to illustrate the processes of transformations of cultural practices and their impact on economic activities, as well as a greater awareness of methods of representation and transmission of a vivid cultural heritage. Long-term collaboration in the cultural sector is assured by the nature of the project; each partner is backed by a network of its own. The project would crystallize existing co-operation and re-orientate it towards true exchange of samples of each other’s contemporary traditions, aiming at a balanced collaboration. The results of this project will be broadcast trough the audio-visual exchange platforms of the different partners (CARMENTIS, MIMO, DEKKMMA, TELEMETA).
