MUSICKING IN ABUNDANCE
AKADEMIE MODERNE
DECLARATION TOWARDS A GREATER DIVERSITY IN MUSIC CURATION With this declaration, we aim to start a five-year process of exchange and collaboration between institutions and relevant stakeholders towards fulfilling the requirements of a greater diversity in music curation in a sustainable way. PREAMBLE For several decades now, initiatives and proposals have sought to address the starkly uneven distribution of resources in publicly funded musical life: they seek to dismantle the historical – and ongoing – dominance of Eurocentric, white, male, and elitist traditions within repertoires, performances, texts, research projects, and funding. In support of these efforts, alliances have been formed, biographies and encyclopaedias have been written,1 databases have been compiled to inform directors, curators, and musicians in their programming.2 These efforts do not only aim to counter injustices: they also want publicly funded cultural life to become a central concern for broader and more diverse audiences.
VISION We welcome these diverse initiatives as vital first steps towards a musical life that opens up the abundance of cultural practices to all music and sound art enthusiasts. With this declaration, we commit to structural and in-depth measures that foster coexistence and collaboration among a variety of artistic traditions and practices, along with a fair distribution of and equitable investment in resources. These measures include but are not limited to promoting greater attention to creative sonic/music artists that are present and active in our societies but not structurally visible (e.g. women, LGBTQIA+, non-dominant traditions) These measures will affect both the artistic programme and the methods, practices and individuals involved in the programme. Moreover, we aim to analyse and evaluate our own practices, programmes, and participants, and to precisely position
1
2
our institutions within a diverse cultural landscape. Our long-term goal is to create a clearly identifiable network of various cultural institutions, collectives, companies, ensembles, and other cultural actors involved in musicking within diverse social contexts. Such long-term goals require sustainable strategies in dealing with all participants in our creative processes, whether technical, administrative, or creative staff, as well as in our relationships with audiences, collaborators, and institutional partners. We recognise that such processes require time, money, and committed participants. Their implementation will require new resources and new types of processes from the individuals and institutions signing here. This declaration, arrived at in discussions between experts and the signatories, therefore merely recommends goals as well as actions towards these goals. Details must now be worked out, and actions must be adapted to the realities of each institution.
STRATEGIC FIELDS OF ACTION PROGRAMMING We aim to align our programming with the realities of contemporary life and its abundance of traditions. This shifting of accents gives rise to new, more diverse traditions and a redefinition of various canons. We propose the following actions and measures: a) the intensified curation of contemporary works and traditions, b) curating works from historical composers with alternate life realities, gender identities and musical traditions, both of which are c) coupled with intensified reflections and consultations on cultural appropriation.
PRODUCTION We aim to re-orient our internal processes towards diverse artistic and social contexts and necessities: we acknowledge that curatorial work will require a decisive change in the design of artistic processes. We propose the following actions and measures: a) respect the right to artistic autonomy and cultural openness of each artist b) offering opportunities for alternate presentation contexts c) scheduling of production processes according to diverse life circumstances, cultural backgrounds, and socio-economic conditions d) diversification of teams.
Some examples: Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy (USA), International Alliance for Women in Music (USA), Donne – Women in Music (I/GB), Keychange, Archiv Frau und Musik (D), Institute for Composer Diversity (USA), Boulanger Initiative (USA), Curating Diversity (Berlin), Defragmentation (Europe), Sounds Now (Europe), etc. Again some examples: The Big List – Women Composers Database, Composer Diversity Database, Présence Compositrices, Black Women’s Music Database, Musik und Gender im Internet etc.,