SONIC EQUITY
(2024)
author(s): Nathan Riki Thomson, Adriano Adewale
published in: RUUKKU - Studies in Artistic Research
SONIC EQUITY
This exposition investigates questions of inclusion, equity, and decolonisation through the central voice of the Brazilian berimbau. Drawing on the approaches of artistic research, musical case studies are employed to investigate the core concepts, including the solo berimbau work of Adriano Adewale, as well as duo dialogues between Adriano Adewale on berimbau and Nathan Riki Thomson on double bass, seen through the conceptual lens of third space.
Findings emerge in terms of uncovering and reimagining the unique, experimental sonic possibilities of the berimbau and the ways they can be utilized for artistic expression in both solo and duo playing. Through shining a light on the unique possibilities of the berimbau, questions arise in terms of why this instrument and its interconnected traditions have not been given equal space and value within higher music education, highlighting the need for institutions to continually reassess their policies through the lens of decolonisation.
The artistic investigations further reveal issues related to the need for equity in music and music education, pointing towards a decolonised future where marginalized instruments such as the berimbau are given space and valued equally alongside all forms of musical expression. This connects back to the fundamental human need to be seen, acknowledged, and valued in our world, which is a commonality we can perhaps all relate to.
Key words: berimbau, equity, decolonisation, interculturalism, higher music education, third space.
Situating Personal Values in Artistic Practice: Towards a Reflective and Reflexive Framework
(2022)
author(s): Annick Odom
published in: KC Research Portal
In what ways can a musician use reflexivity and reflection to situate her personal values in her artistic practice? To answer this question and put the results into practice, the author combined archival and digital research, interviews, and fieldwork. By combining new and found materials inspired by Appalachian folk music and the state of West Virginia, the connected auto-ethnographic case study is a reflective attempt of the author to engage critically with her personal values of empathy, inclusion, and equity in her artistic practice. Using the reflective lenses of the author’s autobiography as an artist, the audience’s reactions, fellow artists comments, and literature review, she was better able to reflexively see her own assumptions and missteps, better allowing her to situate her personal values within her artistic practice. Besides creating a reflective framework by which other artists could consider their own artistic practice, she also found that by taking on new roles outside that of the traditional classically trained performer, she had a greater agency to influence and understand performance elements such as design and form, materials, context, audience, and production process.