Research Catalogue

Esther Marie Pauw is a research fellow at Africa Open Institute for Music, Research and Innovation, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. She was scholar-artist in residence at Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Studies (STIAS) in a duo improvisation research project with artist&musician Garth Erasmus (2020). Together they founded Africa Open Improvising, www.soundcloud.com/user-610733588. Esther Marie’s PhD in artistic research (2015) examined perspectives on interventionist curating in classical flute music concert practice, with geo-political aspects of landscape as lens for curations. She has published articles in: Ellipses Issue 3 (online journal), herri, issues 1, 4, 8 (online journal), Acta Academica, LitNet Akademies, Journal of the Musical Arts in Africa, South African Music Studies, NewMusicSA Bulletin, Perspectives of New Music and Oxford Artistic Research. Esther Marie has commissioned and premièred South African flute compositions, and played on national festivals. With musicians Ilse Speck (harp), and Barbara Highton Williams (flute), she has performed in Ulm, Germany, and Princeton, USA. Since 2015 improvisatory work with Garth Erasmus has explored openings into decolonial aestheSis, site-specific aspects of music-making, and interventionist curating amidst publics, institutions, art, history and music-making. The documentary films by Aryan Kaganof, Kreun (2016), Khoisan ghost kreun (2016), Nege fragmente uit ses Khoi’npsalms (2018), Suiwer in Blauw (2018), Sewe, Joubert Straat (2019) and Smeekgebed (2020) comment critically and respond artistically to her and Garth’s practice. Their sonic collaboration can be heard on Greg de Cuir Jnr.’s exhibition for Media City Film Festival (Detroit-Windsor) https://mediacityfilmfestival.com/dark-dark-gallery/. Kaganof’s 2014 film, Night is Coming, A Threnody to the Victims of Marikana, portrays Marietjie’s flute as gun: this film marks a turning point in her flute praxis.