World music focus of CLACS symposium
Hard on the heels of Bloomington’s Lotus Festival, which focuses on world music, Indiana University’s Center for Latin America and Caribbean Studies is hosting a fascinating symposium titled “Where’s the ‘World’ in Popular Music?”
“With increasingly global trends in cultural, religious and ethnic conflict; industry concerns over intellectual property and international piracy; and the branding of places as ‘origin’ sites of particular cultural forms, the human art of music is a battleground not just for breaking borders down but also erecting new ones,” the symposium’s site reads.
That intriguing sentence caught my eye, particularly when coupled with some of musical genres that will be discussed: “Dancehall Reggae in Contemporary Japan,” “Peruvian Punk” and “Cape Verdean Rappers.”
Interested? You can read abstracts from the presentations here, and all are open to the public. The symposium is Sept. 28-29 in the IMU’s Walnut Room. Plus, you’re invited to hear “Ritmos Unidos” play at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29 at Player’s Pub, 424 S. Walnut St. The Caribbean jazz group is made up of IU professors and area professionals. (Note: If you do go, there’s an $8 cover charge.)
CLACS is part of the College of Arts and Sciences. The symposium is hosted by the College Arts and Humanities Institute, the African Studies program, the Center for the Study of Global Change, the Department of American Studies and the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology.
Tags: Cape Verde, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, dancehall reggae, Japan, Peru, punk, rap, Ritmos Unidos, world music
