Beyond Boycott · Musical Internationalism and the Making of Race in Apartheid South Africa
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2022-06-01 → 2026-04-09
- EU contribution
- €215,164
- Participants
- 2
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Beyond Boycott: Musical Internationalism and the Making of Race in Apartheid South Africa
The project develops a social and cultural history of the cultural boycott of apartheid South Africa. It focuses especially on the hidden histories of classical musicians who defied sanctions to perform in the country. The project uses archival material to establish who travelled to South Africa in defiance of the boycott, and how the international anti-apartheid movement reacted to these boycott breaches (Objective 1). It also asks what role these performers played in the apartheid government’s attempts at international cultural diplomacy (Objective 2). Through critical analysis of historical data, the project establishes how performances by foreign musicians helped to reinforce apartheid-era race categories, which were deeply infused with ideals of Europeanness, foreignness, and cosmopolitanism (Objective 3). Finally, it theorises a subaltern perspective on current debates regarding cultural internationalism and arts-based activism (Objective 4). This project is particularly salient at a time of global conflict, where debates about artists’ roles as political agents are paramount. Boycott movements in protest at wars in Ukraine and Gaza have drawn attention in the past months, and have prompted politically-engaged citizens to explore the ethics of cultural circulation and diplomacy. This project responds to these concerns not by asking whether cultural boycotts work, but rather what they reveal about contemporary society’s political and cultural priorities. As such, it develops a historically-informed intervention into current debates.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
This project proposes to investigate the relationship between Western art music, cultural boycott, and the making of race in apartheid South Africa. In recent years people around the world have been encouraged to participate in political activism by the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, #BlackLivesMatter, #MeToo, #RhodesMustFall, and numerous fossil fuel divestment campaigns. Artists and musicians, too, have contributed to these movements both as activists and through their work. But in a world where the arts are often celebrated for their capacity to promote peaceful dialogue, the confrontational nature of protest movements has prompted artists, scholars, and activists to ask, How do cultural exchange and political activism intersect? Beyond Boycott addresses this question from a historical perspective by turning to one of the most important precursors of current boycott movements: the global cultural boycott of apartheid South Africa (c.1954-1991). The proposed project develops a social and cultural history of the South African boycott, focusing especially on the hidden histories of Western art music performerscommonly described as classical musicianswho defied sanctions to perform in the country. Through archival research, the project maps the extent of classical musicians breaking of the boycott, before asking how these performers interacted with the anti-apartheid movement, and how their appearances in South Africa contributed to a racial classification system that viewed culture as a marker of race. The main research objectives are to trace the extent of musical activity by international performers in defiance of the boycott, and to investigate the apartheid government's use of these performances to develop racial classifications and to advance political objectives. Beyond Boycott fosters a new area of interdisciplinary research on the relationship between art music, race, and transnational politics.""
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON · LondonCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
- UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND JOHANNESBURG · JohannesburgSouth Africa
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union