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 University.

With a focus on transnational and cross-cultural music-making within the maqam realm, Dr. Kordmafi’s presentation scrutinised the intricate intersections between music revival, activism, and national and ethnic identities, particularly within the context of the Iranian music revival movement. The lecture elucidated how a historically informed perspective over one’s own music can foster cultural exchange and transcend the nationalist ideologies constructed during the 19thand 20th centuries in the Islamic world.

The BFE/RMA conference was organised and hosted by the School of Music at Cardiff University from 10–12 January 2024. Inspired by Wales’s rich sense of place and national identity, the conference embraced the overarching theme of ‘Identities’.

 

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