RAI RESEARCH SEMINAR
SEMINAR SERIES AT THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE
Ethnomusicology and Filmmaking
Dr Barley Norton, Goldsmiths, University of London
Wednesday 25 February at 5.30 pm
This seminar will examine filmmaking in ethnomusicology and its relationship with ethnographic film more broadly. The historical development of ethnomusicological film, I will argue, is characterized by a movement from a close affinity with ethnographic film to a position of increasing divergence. Audiovisual representations of musical practices have proliferated in the digital age, yet ethnomusicological film has been subject to little critical reflection and ethnomusicologists have rarely engaged with debates in visual anthropology. Moving beyond an understanding of film/video as visual ‘data’ or ‘evidence’ separate from the writing of ethnomusicological theory, the seminar will reevaluate some of the central tenets of realism in ethnomusicological filmmaking. Drawing on recent debates in visual anthropology and art practice concerning experimental and sensorial approaches to filmmaking, as well as my experience of making films about Vietnamese music, the seminar will consider emergent and potential directions for ethnomusicological engagement with filmmaking.
This event is free, but tickets must be booked. To book tickets please go to http://barleynorton.eventbrite.co.uk
