Indian Ocean & South Asia Research Network

Adrian McNeil – 11 September, 5.30 pm, Room 4.02, Level 4, Bldg 3.

‘Hindustani musicians in Kolkata negotiate Globalisation: innovative, intercultural and in your face’

Abstract:
Over the last decade or so, Hindustani musicians in Kolkata have been increasingly travelling outside of India to perform. This has been facilitated primarily through two ongoing processes: one being the increasing internationalisation of networks and structures of patronage for Hindustani music and the other being the establishment of world music networks promoting intercultural hybridity. Both of these phenomena can be seen as part of the larger arena of cultural consequences arising from economic globalisation. Drawing upon long term associations with these musicians, this paper explores a range of innovative responses through which they engage with international networks and the heterogeneity of spaces that globalisation has given rise to.

Biography:
Adrian McNeil writes on the social and cultural history of Hindustani music, the political economy of music and improvisation in music. His book, Inventing the Sarod: A Cultural History was published by Seagull books in 2004. He spent a number of years in Kolkata as an ARC postdoctoral fellow at Jadavpur University and also a research fellow at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences. He received intensive training in Hindustani music from leading exponents according to traditional methods for more than two decades and now regularly performs in India and overseas.

Website: http://adrianmcneil.com