Volume II of our Deep
Soundings book series has just been published: Ethnomusicology
and Cultural Diplomacy. This book includes contributors from many countries
across the world who seek to show how music projects are used to generate
intercultural understanding, empathy, and reconciliation.
For me, the need for a book on this topic became clear when I was invited for an interview feature in a Geneva-based magazine for diplomats
called DIVA International Diplomat (published
in 2020, p.18-20). But cultural diplomacy matters far beyond the specialized sphere
of ambassadors and professional diplomats, since it encompasses an array of artistic
and social activities, sometimes even focused on relations between nations (or
ethnicities) within a single state. Cultural diplomacy, we argue, is also relevant
for teachers at all levels of schooling who seek to find innovative ways of
internationalizing their student’s experiences for a richer quality of
education.
During the writing of this book, our contributors faced an array of complex challenges, from severe Covid lockdowns to violent conflicts, including the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, volatile unrest in Hong Kong, and a catastrophic civil war in Tigray, Ethiopia. Our contributing author from Ethiopia disappeared in the chaos after sending us parts of his chapter, and following many months of concern we are still unable to confirm whether he survived. War is the opposite of what most kinds of music participation aim to cultivate. We hope this book will help generate new ideas for how peaceful relations and mutual respect can be fostered through music.
It is taking a while for the book to be internationally distributed, so we will plan a book launch event for sometime in August or September.
