A four-part podcast series on music & art for the University of the Arts Helsinki
Over the summer I had the pleasure of producing the @uniartshelsinki Puzzled Together podcast! Focused on the Research Pavilion events in June I was able to do four really inspiring interviews with artists and researchers – the interviews featured Nyokabi Kariũki, Dana Hall, Sonya Lindfors & Maryan Abdulkarim , Leena Kela, Taru Elfving & Leena Rouhiainen.
Episode info:
1. An afternoon with composer Nyokabi Kariũki
I had a beautiful time visiting Nyokabi at her Helsinki residency on Suomenlinna. She talked about reconnecting with her native language Kikuyu and exploring language as memory for her next album, her relationship to African composers especially Halim El-Dabh and learning how he wrote one of the earliest electronic music compositions (but is never mentioned in composition class), and what decolonising means in her practice as an artist (and how she e-mailed Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o – and he replied!)
2. Decolonising jazz education with Prof. Dana Hall
In this interview drummer, composer, ethnomusicologist & head of jazz studies at Chicago’s De Paul university Dana Hall talks about the colonial forces that exist in jazz education, and how important it is to teach the broader societal and historical contexts that are associated with music genres.
3. Miksi kollektiivinen unelmointi on niin tärkeää, Sonya Lindfors ja Maryan Abdulkarim?
Olen ollut Sonyan ja Maryanin fani jo pitkään, ja varsinkin heidän projekti We Should All Be Dreaming on inspiroinut mua paljon, oli kunnia saada haastatella heitä! Tässä jaksossa he reflektoivat projektin alkua ja kehitystä, miten afrofuturismi on vaikuttanut heihin, ja miksi kollektiivinen unelmointi on niin radikaalia juuri nyt.
4. Mitä on taiteellinen tutkimus?
Opin todella paljon tässä keskustelussa tutkimuspaviljongin työryhmäläisten Leena Rouhiaisen, Leena Kelan ja Taru Elfvingin kanssa – puhuttiin siitä mitä taiteellinen tutkimus on, Suomen kentästä ja minkälaisia mahdollisuuksia sillä on.