We’re delighted to be joined this week by Noel Lobley, who is a sound curator, ethnomusicologist, and artist. His sound installations have been presented internationally in spaces ranging from art galleries to rainforests, theaters to basements, in schools and out on the streets. He is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Music at the University of Virginia and author of Sound Fragments: from field recording to African Electronic Stories.

An abstract for Noel’s paper, together with a brief (1-min) video primer, can be found below: 

What happens when colonial sound fragments are actively transformed through the visual arts, roaring praise poetry, and Afrofuturistic remix culture? What are the possible pathways between the International Library of African Music–the world's largest archive of ethnographic music and sound in Africa–and The Black Power Station, an inter-generational arts activist collective space in Makhanda, South Africa? What work can collaborative sound curation do?

Sound Fragments Introduction

Hip Hop Arts Activist Xolile 'X' Madinda, founder and CEO of The Black Power Station in Makhanda will be in conversation with Noel Lobley (Music Professor and Curator, University of Virginia).

Speaker: Professor Noel Lobley (in person) in conversation with Xolile 'X’ Madinda (via Zoom)