International Symposium, including film screenings and concerts

Registration for the international symposium ‘Safeguarding the Intangible: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Music and Heritage’ is now open (register here). The symposium will be the inaugural launch event of the new in the Department of Music at Goldsmiths and will feature a concert organised by Goldsmiths’ Confucius Institute.

The symposium is supported by a prestigious award from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), which was awarded to one of the organiser’s of the symposium, Dr Naomi Matsumoto (Associate Lecturer in Historical Musicology at Goldsmiths).

The JSPS award facilitates international research collaboration between Goldsmiths and three research institutions in Japan (Osaka University, Ritsumeikan University and the National Museum of Ethnology, Japan). For further information contact Dr Naomi Matsumoto.

Symposium Theme

As economic, technological and cultural change gathers pace across the world, cultural development and the safeguarding of cultural heritage has become a pressing issue for local communities, national governments and international organisations like UNESCO.

The ratification of UNESCO's Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2003 has focused international attention on the safeguarding of traditional practices, knowledge and skills. Musical practices have been prominent in those cultural forms that have been recognised as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO since 2003. However, academic research on intangible cultural heritage is in its early stages and applied research is needed to understand current revival initiatives in different parts of the world.

The symposium aims to further understanding of different strategies and policies on safeguarding musical heritage and their impact on musical traditions. Through individual paper presentations, roundtable discussions, music performances and documentary-film screenings, the symposium will critically investigate current music revival and safeguarding initiatives in different parts of the world.

The Symposium Speakers

• Dr Bithell, Caroline (University Of Manchester)
• Dr Brosius, Amy (University Of Birmingham)
• Dr Hughes, David (Soas, University Of London)
• Prof Ito, Nobuhiro (University Of Osaka)
• Prof Kawase, Itsushi (National Museum Of Ethnology, Japan)
• Dr Maguire, Simon (Sotheby’s)
• Dr Matsumoto, Naomi (Goldsmiths)
• Dr Mills, Simon (Durham University)
• Dr Norton, Barley (Goldsmiths)
• Pearson, Lara (Durham University)
• Pryer, Anthony (Goldsmiths)
• Dr Tan, Hwee-san (Soas, University Of London)
• Prof Terada, Yoshitaka (National Museum Of Ethnology, Japan)
• Prof Wajima, Yusuke (University Of Osaka)
• Prof Yoshida, Hiroshi (Ritsumeikan University, Japan)

Download the timetable by clicking on the link:  Symposium Schedule

Download the full programme (with extracts) by clicking on this link: Symposium Programme