The African Music Project focuses on music education, research, performance and community development. By advocating that African music occupy a central space in institutions, and by developing strong relations with the communities in which we live, the Project extends the involvement of the Department with artistic life in general and serves as an important vehicle for community reconstruction.
The African Music Project aims:
- to promote the study, practice and appreciation of African music
- to use music as a tool for empowerment so as to bring about change in line with the recommendations set by the Recons-
truction and Development Programme - to enhance the music of the region by fostering local forms and bridging them with other traditions in the region and beyond
- to bring existing talent in KwaZulu Natal Province to the forefront and make artists accessible to the wider public
- to establish links between community organizations and to promote cooperation for wider community involvement via public performances and community residencies
- to encourage musicians and performers to form organizations to enable them to develop and market their talent
- to develop a mentoring project in community development which will include the incorporation of graduate assistants in campus projects and the use of field assistants linked with community centers as assistants
in the administering of community-based projects.
AFRICAN MUSIC PROJECT: CURRENT AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES
Community Outreach: The project initiates and revitalizes community-based programs and provides forums for musical exchange, education and research in African Music. The Project organises an annual African Music Festival in May. This Festival offers a profile of music practices from Africa and thus encourages an awareness of the diversity and wealth of music traditions in the continent. Embracing a different theme each year, the festival features local and Pan-African artists. The Project has been commissioned by the International Society for Music Education to study the feasibility of establishing a regional centre for African Music and Dance here in KwaZulu-Natal.
African Cultural Calabash Extravaganza
The third year 2019 African Music Outreach: Community Development class is organizing it’s 14th African Cultural Calabash
The theme for the 14th edition is “One Last Dance, Africa!”
Practical Performance Experience: The Project offers practical courses in African music and dance and provides students with opportunities to participate in a variety of performing ensembles and apprenticeship programs with visiting artists. The project has established performing ensembles made up of community artists and students. Plans are being made for students and other musicians to perform at EXPO 2000 in Hannover in June, for students to study and to perform in Ghana in July, and for students and gumboot dancers from the community to perform in Sweden in October or November.
Visiting Artists Programme: The visiting artists program acquaints students with a variety of African genres and traditions. The artists share their skills by interacting with students on campus and by holding workshops within local communities. The visiting artists programme is intended to expose students and educators in South Africa to musical practices from all parts of the continent.
Archival and Documentation Unit: The focus of the documentation unit is to record music events and cultural forms in KwaZulu Natal Province. Indigenous cultural forms, including neo-tradional forms, will be documented so as to preserve our local cultural heritage. Included will be migrant groups, rural groups and groups associated with the royal palace. The results will be presented in the form of exhibitions with introductory papers. It is intended that the documentation unit will establish the University of Natal, Durban as a clearing house for music resources from KwaZulu Natal Province; that it will provide graduate and honor students with fieldwork experience; and that it will attract international researchers and make archival materials available to them.
Teacher Training Project in African Music and Dance: This skills-training programme has been based in Umlazi township, with some portions of the courses being carried out at the University of Natal, Durban. After completion of the training programme, trainees will further develop their musical skills in their townships and outlying communities. The program is in the process of developing educational materials for schools and other institutions, in the form of teaching manuals and accompanying video tapes. Courses for teachers are being planned in collaboration with the Entumeni Educationa Quality Improvement Programme. The teacher training project is funded by the Swedish International Cooperation Development Agency (Sida) in conjunction with the School of Music and Musicology, Göteborg University. The African Music Project is cooperating with the Crime Reduction in Schools Project.
Musical Mapping of Local Music and Dance Performance Practices in the Durban Functional Region: The goal of this project is to train a team of field workers from communities in the Durban Functional Region to document oral and written sources of historical and contemporary local music and dance performance practices. Through a series of workshops and tutorials, this team will be provided with basic administrative skills as well as the skills necessary for the gathering, processing and presenting oral and written information from this region. All training and feedback will take place at the University of Natal, both on the main campus and at the Killie Campbell Africana Library. This project is partially funded by the Research and Community Development Fund of the University of Natal.
For further information, contact the Director of the Project:
- School of Music
- University of KwaZulu-Natal,
- Durban 4041, South Africa
Telephone: 27 31 260 1045