Research

New from ONCURATING: “Taking the Temperature” on musical diversity in contemporary music

A thought-provoking collection of interviews published by ONCURATING, which explores various definitions of what musical ‘diversity’ is or could mean, and how it can be achieved.

This publication was originally conceived as a conference during the 2020 edition of the Ultima Festival in Oslo, Norway that would launch a year-long series of exchanges and discussions around issues of diversity in contemporary music. As of March, not only did it become clear that such an international event could not take place, but also that many of the presumptions that underpinned not just this project, but also the survival of the entire performing arts community, were now open questions without answers.

This caesura in musical production has made contemporary music’s crisis of societal relevancy more apparent than ever. Bringing together interviews with music curators, musicians, activist networks, and institutional leaders, this book details existing practices and approaches showing that change is possible, but only if the recent wave of interest in curatorial practices, diversity, and divestment from a white, European bourgeois aesthetic are taken seriously by the musical establishment. The focus of this book radiates out from the Ultima Festival in Oslo, Norway, tracing connections to related contemporary musical practices in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, and Canada.

Featuring interviews with: Fredrik Andersson, Anna Berit Asp Christensen, Sandeep Bhagwati, Myriam Boucher, Dena Davida, Gabriel Dharmoo, Marta Forsberg, Siri Haugan Holden, Pauline Hogstrand, Kasper Holten, Merja Hottinen, Adele Kosman, Astrid Kvalbein, Marcela Lucatelli, Anne Margvardsen, Peter Meanwell, Ung Nordisk Musik, Anne Hilde Nesset, Tanja Orning, Tine Rude, Thorbjørn Tønder Hansen, Jennifer Torrence, Helena Wessman

Read the full publication here.

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