Evolve in the African State of Mind
Multimedia installation by Nkululeko Zungu
April 28 – 30
Lamar Dodd Building Room S390
Arts Collaborative Research Affiliate Nkululeko Zungu finds pleasure in exploring music from traditional Classical to modern Electronic. He writes:
Music is a powerful tool that shapes societies largely through entertainment and, more importantly, through communication and the preservation of culture. Identifiers play a significant role within cultures, influencing composers’ perspectives on music. African thought leaders like Ngugi wa Thiong’o encourage African writers to see themselves in terms of their identity, as opposed to the various colonial experiences encountered on the African continent.
This recording project explores the clicks from two South African languages, isiZulu and isiXhosa, to help me reposition myself within cultural identities. Furthermore, exploring clicks through modern technologies opens up the possibility of creating large works from simple building blocks. African musicians have kept these clicks within the text; thus, meaning remains in the language.
I produced, recorded, and manipulated the clicks used in this project at various points in the composition process, using electroacoustic tools available in the two digital audio workstations, Logic Pro X and Audacity, to explore more meaning beyond language. The clicks are used in three categories: within text, within expressions, and away from text. Other themes include affirmations of identity, declarations of existence, andassertions of independence. The clicks commonly heard as soundscapes within southern African languages can be contracted and expanded to be used as instrumental textures in a composition.
This research highlights the possibility for African composers to look within their cultures at the many sonic elements available, emphasizing what African thought leaders encouraged: a way to look within their African identity.
For more information, visit:
https://harmonizeto.pixpa.com