Musicologists’ expedition to Madagascar
As early as this summer, an ethnomusicological expedition will set off for Madagascar to investigate not only local music and customs, but also to listen to screaming lemurs and try to find traces of certain penguins. The activities of the research group can be followed and supported on the website of the Institute of Musicology of the University of Wrocław and the fb page of the Institute of Musicology UWr.
As Marcel Frąckowiak, a student at the UWr Institute of Musicology, tells us – We are an inter-unit Wrocław-Poznań research team with a long tradition of ethnomusicological and anthropological research. Among other places, we have visited Siberia, Australia, Brazil and Belarus, researching the music of Poles dispersed around the world.
Recently, the research group participated with the Institute of Musicology at the University of Vienna in a joint expedition to Malawi in southern Africa, which we wrote about on our website. – For almost a month we explored the culture and audiosphere of this country, discovering the traditions of the different ethnic groups, their music, their dance, the way they serve them in rituals and even their daily chores – says Marcel. – Every now and then we were amazed by the deep connection between their musical behaviour and their social structures, beliefs and everything else that we collectively define as culture.
The results of this expedition can be found in numerous scientific or journalistic works. It is worth citing the work entitled “Między edukacją seksualną, a łamaniem praw człowieka, czyli szkoły inicjacyjne w Malawi” by Agata Pasińska, a student of musicology and journalism at the University of Wrocław, in the quarterly Zupełnie Inny Świat (issue title: KOBIETA, czas na MĘŻCZYZNĘ, no. 50). Workshops, multicultural evenings and meetings in the series Ciekawi Malawi and Lekcja Słuchania were also organised.
The plan for this year’s expedition includes eastern Madagascar and the small island of Nosy Boraha in the north-east – says our student. – It’s all about finding out why this African island stands apart culturally from the mainland.
Listen to the recording prepared by Pawel Piotrowski, in which Marcel invites you on a music-filled trip to Madagascar.
Complied by Maria Kozan.
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