What is the connection between Bronze Age artefacts, European jazz, medieval manuscripts and photography which captures Europe’s complex colonial past? And how do artists as diverse as gipsy violinist Roby Farkas and his colleagues in the extrovert multi-national band Budapest Bár, or saxophonist/MC/rapper Soweto Kinch, or the hauntingly beautiful Sami voice of Mari Boine fit into the picture? These seemingly disparate subjects form part of The Time and the Place: Culture and Identity in Today’s Europe, a series of concerts and creative interventions from a Europe-wide choice of artists whose music acts as a counterpoint to the themes of a wide-ranging and fascinating group of research projects that reach their conclusion this year.
Members of the Rhythm Changes: Jazz Cultures and European Identities project team are heavily involved in this quite outstanding set of events in London at the end of May, to mark the end of the current round of HERA projects. In fact our Project Leader, Prof Tony Whyton, has worked with HERA and Serious music promoters as lead organiser of many of the activities. There is a conference, panels, debate, presentations, posters and videos about the 19 HERA projects, with speakers from across Europe and worldwide. It’s a celebration of humanities research. Also there is a wonderful series of music concerts, focused on national identity, international dialogue and transnational cultural exchange.
From Rhythm Changes, apart from Tony, Prof Walter van de Leur will be speaking about European culture, and Prof Andrew Dubber about digital creativity. I’ll be there in both my roles as Rhythm Changes researcher and as AHRC Leadership Fellow, talking about the public value of humanities (and jazz) research. Other team members will be in attendance and contributing in their characteristically lively and engaged manner! Tony and I will also be introducing the live evening concerts. Some of the events are free to the public, some are ticketed. It should be a terrific send-off for HERA 1, as well as a launch for HERA 2 projects. #heralondon. Events include:
Thursday 30 May
British Library, 9 am-5 pm
Final conference on the HERA joint research programme projects
King’s Place evening concert, 8 pm
- Budapest Bár
Friday 31 May
King’s College, London, 1-3.30 pm
Cultural Dynamics and Creativity in Digital Europe seminar
King’s Place panel discussion, 6.15-7.30 pm
Does Research Matter? The Public Value of the Humanities (panel includes me)
King’s Place evening concerts (two, choose one) 8 pm
- Poul Høxbro and Fraser Fifield (introduced by me)
- Soweto Kinch and Andreas Schaerer
Saturday 1 June
King’s Place HERA open day, from 10.30 am
feat. four public panels through the day, ideas, discussion, culture; just turn up
King’s Place evening concerts (two, choose one) 8 pm
- Mari Boine (introduced by me)
- Gianluigi Trovesi and Gianni Coscea
