Posts by marcia.ostashewski@gmail.com
Digital Poetry Translations
The digital interns engaged in three poetry exercises today in anticipation of creating an online poetry archive. For the last project of the morning, the interns used digital photographs of different locations around Cape Breton University that they had taken the previous day, while learning how to use the photography app of iPads from the Centre for Sound Communities. They then created online graphics, collages, and slideshows on their newly created WordPress websites using their recently acquired skills through WordPress training. The digital interns crafted their own individual poems to express how they felt about the different spaces and using technology to interpret those spaces.
Earlier in the morning the interns discussed how they might create an online poetry archive for a future project, and all of the ways that they could use technology to make that poetry accessible through media. The result was two videos: the first emulating Sachiko Murakami’s own interpretation of Elizabeth Bachinsky’s poem “When I have the Body of a Man”, entitled “When I was a Digital Intern”, and the second a comprehension practice of Christine Leclerc’s 40,000km protest poem which resulted in a piece entitled “Satirical Protest Against MAC Computers . . .” (see videos below).
The digital interns from the Centre for Sound Communities at Cape Breton University mimic Sachiko Murakami’s interpretation of Elizabeth Bachinsky’s poem “When I have the Body of a Man” in preparation for their work in creating an online poetry archive. Titled “When I was a Digital Intern”, the interns stood in a circle reciting the poem they created, filmed in a single take traveling 360 degrees. Therefore, the poem begins and ends with the same person.
The digital interns from the Centre for Sound Communities at Cape Breton University engage in satirical protest against MAC computers as a comprehension practice about Christine LeClerc’s 40,000km protest poem as they prepare to create an online poetry website.
Filmed on January 26, 2017, in the CBU library computer lab.
Digital Intern Orientation
Today our ten digital interns began their orientation at the Centre for Sound Communities. We would like to congratulate and thank them for being a part of this project. We are really looking forward to getting started with such a great team!
The orientation began with a warm welcome for our interns, an overview of the project, and then introductions, as well as icebreakers. Our Coordinator and Assistant Coordinator, Amy and Matt, took the interns on a tour of CBU campus to get to know the university. After lunch, interns took photographs and created biographies that can be found under the digital interns tab of our website. Later in the afternoon, the interns met one on one with their coordinators.
Good luck to everyone who will be starting their WordPress training tomorrow, continuing through the week until Friday.
Donovan Shirt performs traditional Cree dance
Rapper and motivational speaker Donovan Shirt from Edmonton, Alberta, was recently spotted performing a traditional Cree dance on a moving escalator! Donovan participated as part of Singing Storytellers in October 2014 in Cape Breton. In an article published on April 29th, 2016, CBC News notes that the video was shot by Gary Moostoos, a well-known Indigenous cultural advisor in Edmonton, at the LRT platform beneath Commerce Place as the group waited for a train. To watch the video, please click on the article link above. To learn more about Donovan Shirt, visit our Media section at singingstorytellers.ca!
Excited to be in Kazakhstan at ICTM World Conference!
I’m thrilled to be participating in the International Council for Traditional Music World Conference that opened today in Astana, Kazakhstan at the Kazakh National University of Arts! I’m here with more than 400 delegates from over 100 countries, sharing research and engaging in exciting discussions about music and culture from around the world. We began our first day, welcomed by Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister, as well as the Rector of the University who is a world-class violinist! The official opening ceremony was followed by a youth music concert, a plenary on safeguarding musical traditions, afternoon panels of exciting new research, a reception (including a traditional Kazakh drink, horse milk), and a spectacular showcase of students and faculty of the National U of the Arts. Follow me on twitter @m_ostashewski (find my twitter feed on my website at marciaostashewski.ca) to see photos and videos of conference events, and my adventures in Astana – a city that is only 20 years old yet has astounding monumental architecture! I’ve also posted more information and photos about Kazakh bardic performances that were on stage tonight on the singingstorytellers.ca project website!
Kazakh bards featured in tonight’s ICTM concert!
It’s been a wonderful first day at the International Council for Traditional Music World Conference in Astana, Kazakhstan at the Kazakh National University of Arts! You can read more about the opening events at this website on the blog. Tonight we were treated to a spectacular concert showcase of Kazakh National U of Arts student and faculty (including the Provost!). Performances by singing storytellers were featured in the concert so I’d like to share a concert photo with you. This student ensemble, led by their teacher, a woman, in playing an instrument that appears to be have been played, historically, by male performers only (much like the bandura it seems)! For more videos (including a bardic performance), follow me on twitter @m_ostashewski and check out the blog on my website at marciaostashewski.ca!
Singing Storytellers – Sunjata Story – featured on BBC!
We are so proud to have had the Singing Storytellers “Sunjata Story” filmic material previewed in London, England at a SOAS conference on identities last week! LISTEN to Cherif Keita tell us about the story during his recent interview on the BBC!
Hawa Kasse Made Diabate, Fode Lassana Diabate, Professor Cherif Keita performing at the Singing Storytellers Symposium.
Curating Ethnomusicology/Exhibiting Music events begin Monday, June 15!
I’m proud to be a part of the Exhibiting Sound team, and looking forward to opening of a week of exciting events at Cape Breton University. This Monday at 9 a.m we begin the Curating Ethnomusicology pre-conference workshop!
Learn more about Exhibiting Sound, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, at our website exhibitingsound.ca and by following us on Twitter @exhibitingsound ! Learn more about this week’s “Exhibiting Music” conference here.
Come out this Friday at 7 pm to the iCreate showcase event!
Please join us Friday, June 12 for a closing presentation from the iCreate Cape Breton Pilot Project. This youth showcase, starting at 7 pm at the Boardmore Theatre at Cape Breton University, features visual art, rapping, spoken word, theatrical exercises, and a films screenings that young Cape Bretoners have developed over the past six weeks. This event also includes a pilot social enterprise project.
"Curating Ethnomusicology" Workshop – June 15-16th
CSTM 2015 Pre-Conference Workshop
Cape Breton University, Sydney, Nova Scotia
June 15th-16th 2015
A two-day pre-conference workshop, “Curating Ethnomusicology,” will be held June 15-16th, addressing the role of ethnomusicology and its interlocutors in curatorial practices related to diverse musical practices. This interdisciplinary workshop will provide participants an opportunity to learn about, engage with and discuss a variety of ethnographic media and music curation tools, as well as creative models and issues related to music creation, translating field research, archives, and digital curation. A range of methods, tools and issues will be explored. Emergent methodologies and practices arising from work with Indigenous communities will also be a focus of the workshop. Jeff Todd Titon, Professor Emeritus at Brown University, will deliver a keynote address on his pioneering research in ecomusicology and collaborative media production in ethnomusicology. Beverley Diamond, Canada Research Chair in Ethnomusicology at Memorial University and President of the Society for Ethnomusicology, will provide a closing plenary.
This pre-conference workshop will lead to a proceedings of the same name, that translates keynotes, lectures and discussion into an appropriate publication (accompanied by multimedia resources) for ethnomusicologists, folklorists and archivists interested in engaging with their research through media, curated spaces and other materials.
More details here: http://cstm2015.ca/pre-conference-workshop/
MUSICultures (41-2) on “Connecting with Communities” now online!
The most recent issue of MUSICultures (41-2), a special issue on “Connecting with Communities” guest edited by Dr. Marcia Ostashewski (Cape Breton University), is now online!
The contents of this issue include:
MARCIA OSTASHEWSKI
Engaging Communities and Cultures in Ethnomusicology: An Introduction
KLISALA HARRISON
The Second Wave of Applied Ethnomusicology
MICHAEL B. MACDONALD with ANDRE HAMILTON
Aesthetic Systems Theory: Doing Hip Hop Kulture Research Together at Cipher5
BOB W. WHITE
Listening Together, Thinking Out Loud: Popular Music and Political Consciousness in Congo-Zaire
CAROLINE MARCOUX-GENDRON, ARIANE COUTURE, FLAVIA GERVASI and MICHEL DUCHESNEAU
L’enjeu des communautés en sociomusicologie : Le cas du projet de recherche sur le développement des publics de la musique au Québec
GLENN PATTERSON and LAURA RISK
Digitization, Recirculation and Reciprocity: Proactive Archiving for Community and Memory on the Gaspé Coast and Beyond
MICHAEL B. BAKAN
The Musicality of Stimming: Promoting Neurodiversity in the Ethnomusicology of Autism
JEFF TODD TITON
Flight Call
JEFF TODD TITON and MARCIA OSTASHEWSKI
A Context for the Story: A Conversation
…as well as Book Reviews and Recording Reviews! This issue is available to current subscribers of the Canadian Society for Traditional Music here (non-subscribers can freely access issues more than 3 years old): http://journals.hil.unb.ca/index.php/MC/index. For membership/subscription information, please visit the website of the Canadian Society for Traditional Music: http://www.yorku.ca/cstm/. Or check your institutional library for access.