Posts by admin
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Keeping Uyghur Culture Alive in Exile
On February 24, 2024, the Orient-Institute, Istanbul hosted an ‘invitation-only’ event, “Keeping Uyghur Culture Alive in Exile.” The event responded to the repression, surveillance, mass detention and cultural destruction experienced by Uyghurs in recent years. The event focused on the ways in which academics, educators and artists have responded to fears of the erasure of Uyghur culture by engaging with exile communities who are striving to keep their culture alive. Rachel Harris, Professor […]
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Aesthetic Orientations, Cultural Re-Engineering, and Spiritual Joy
Encounters with Uyghur Sufis in Exile A talk given by Rachel Harris at the Research Seminar of the School of Modern Languages (students’ choice), Newcastle University, March 6, 2024. Abstract: This talk reflects on China’s ongoing campaigns in the Uyghur region and related debates on cultural erasure through the lens of recent ethnographic encounters with Uyghur Sufis in exile in Istanbul and Dubai. They are inheritors of an Islamic cultural and spiritual tradition which […]
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SOAS Student Middle East Ensemble performs in an end-of-term event
In a vibrant musical showcase, the SOAS Middle East Ensemble performed in the “Acoustic Evening” held on March 15th at SOAS. This event serves as an opportunity for SOAS Music students to showcase their musical skills and accomplishments gained over the academic year. Comprising some ten students from diverse musical backgrounds (both undergraduate and postgraduate) the ME Ensemble embodies a collective eagerness to learn about musical cultures within the realm […]
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Dr Saeid Kordmafi delivers a Keynote Speech in Cardiff
In a notable academic event, Dr. Saeid Kordmafi took the stage as a keynote speaker at the 2024 BFE/RMA Research Students’ Conference, hosted by the University of Cardiff. His lecture, titled “Performing Transnationality: Thresholds of Artistic Research in 21st-Century Music Studies,” delved into the theoretical frameworks and methodological tools of practice-based research, which are also integral to the “Maqam Beyond Nation” project. Dr Saeid Kordmafi delivering a keynote at Cardiff […]
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Maqām Beyond Nation
Maqām Beyond Nation explores a field of music-making that stretches from North Africa to Central Asia; a set of historically fluid and inter-connected creative practices which were transformed under 20th century nationalisms into fixed repertoires. The project seeks to understand the major changes which are now weakening these nationalist models. We attend to the musical materials and their potential for new creativity, and to the social: how a focus on expressive culture […]