Arctic Traditional Music and Cultural Integrity

Organized by the University of Akureyri Research Centre, the Northern Research Forum, ÞjóðList ehf, the Iceland Academy of the Arts, and the Icelandic Arctic Cooperation Network 17. October 2015

Does continued practice, knowledge and understanding of traditional music promote a sense of belonging and lead to a more viable society? Does our perception of sound and music derive from "cultured listening" over a long period of time and if so, how does that affect our aesthetic preferences and choices, unconscious and/or conscious? The presentations in this session seek answers to these questions while attempting to rediscover and understand the realities as well as (mis)representations of arctic traditional music.

Speakers:

  • Guðrún Ingimundardóttir, Composer and ethnomusicologist, ÞjóðList ehf: Arctic Traditional Music and Cultural Integrity.
  • Kimberly Cannady, Lecturer in Ethnomusicology, New Zealand School of Music, Victoria University of Wellington: Off the Wall and Out of the Archives: Bringing Drumsongs into Everyday Life in Greenland.
  • Helga Rut Guðmundsdóttir, Professor, University of Iceland: The Icelandic tradition of public participatory group singing
  • Rósa Þorsteinsdóttir, Folklorist, The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies: A hollow box and a horsehair string: Attitudes towards musical instruments in Iceland.
  • Þorbjörg Daphne Hall, Musicologist and Programme Director, Iceland Academy of Arts: The Icelandic sound?

Chair:

  • Guðrún Ingimundardóttir, Composer and ethnomusicologist, ÞjóðList ehf
  • Heather Exner-Pirot, Strategist, University of Saskatchewan, Canada