Berlin, Juli 2023
It is the middle of June. And a warm summer evening. As I adjust candles and blankets on my roof, I gradually see people, instruments, food, drink and pillows falling out of the skylight. With surprised 'wows' they all come over to me. In the sunset over the roofs of Berlin, we set up the mics, fill our stomachs, tune the instruments and slowly arrive as a group.
Music on the Move was rising from our personal interests and activisms in the field of migration, from a university seminary on the topic of the European Border Regime and from the openness of amazing musicians sharing their thoughts and arts with us. Therefore, it is a project which blurs the lines between activism, art and research. Its goal is to dig deeper in questions of migration in/with/through music. In our sessions we met with six musicians who had - from different places of origin – made their way to Berlin. The sessions were spaces of musical, personal and theoretical exchange. We discussed for example how the experience of seeking refuge and being a musician are intertwined. We discussed the racism which is also reflected in the field of music, the compulsory integration into European styles and theory of music and the fetishization or exoticization of instruments and ways of making music. We also came across the question of who is actually ‘a refugee’ – is it mainly a juridical category? Or is it a label you can claim for yourself to describe a somewhat common experience? Or is it something you’re being made? We also exchanged ideas about how the arrival in Berlin has shaped the ways of making music, the spaces where to make music, and the people with whom to make music. This included the question: where do I find a space – a safer space - with my music, with my instrument, with my ways of making music. Coming from this, we discussed the topic of social justice. Which possibilities and responsibilities do I have or feel as musician in a world with so many different struggles and crises?
Thus, the project tries to understand the role of migration in/with/through music in the European Border Regime. It wants to shed light on the role, struggle and power of musical migration to Berlin, because – the movement itself is the driving force for the constitution of the dynamic of the border regime (Kasparek 2022, 30).
AUTONOMY OF MIGRATION
'Autonomy of Migration’ is not the endpoint of an analysis; quite the opposite, it is the starting point, an approach, a lens. For critical border and migration studies it acts as a prism to understand bordering processes and practices - which were also at the core of our research on music and migration. ‘Autonomy of Migration’ sheds light on the centrality of the movement itself to create the dynamic of the border regime. It’s not the agency of the migrating person which is being focused but the migration itself. Bernd Kasparek describes this dynamic, antagonistic relationship between movement and state control as “antagonistische[r] Ko-produktionsprozess des Regimes” (Kasparek 2022, 31). The potential of this approach is to emphasize the important role of movements to constitute ‘border’ every single day (vgl. Hess 2016):
„Unter diesem Gesichtspunkt sind es die Migrationsbewegungen, die das soziopolitische und ökonomische Phänomen der Grenzräume erzeugen.“ (vgl. Fröhlich 2015, zit. in Hess/Schmidt-Sembdner)
Now we looked upon the role which migration has in the border regime. But what about the other aspect of our research. What about ‘sound’ and ‘music’?
SOUND(SCAPES)
Schafer understands the world as a “macrocosmic musical composition” (Schafer, 96). In this sense, there is no strict separation between music and sound. According to him music is “merely sounds” (ebd., 97). But if so, what is sound? Novak defines sound (and noise) as socially and culturally manifested (2015, 125). Sound is embedded in a net of actors producing sound and sound knowledges, technological means of perceiving and measuring sound (frequencies etc.) and discourses around sound. Sound circulates and creates relations – there is “re-sonance” (Kapchan in Novak et al. (ed.) 2015, 33) between the different actors (ibid., 33). As multisensoriality teaches us, sound is not just about hearing; it activates other senses as well: Sound comes with vibration (ibid., 34). Beyond that, Anthropology of Sound opens up the space to understand ‘sound’ either as object of research, as lens or as form of representation - or everything simultaneously. According to Ingold, sound is not an object we perceive, it’s rather the base to be able to perceive:
“It [sound] is, to the contrary, fundamental to perception. We do not perceive it; we perceive in it (Ingold 2005a). We do not touch the wind, but touch in it; we do not see sunshine, but see in it; we do not hear rain, but hear in it. Thus wind, sunshine and rain, experienced as feeling, light and sound, are essential to our capacities, respectively, to touch, to see and to hear (see Chapter 10, p.130).” (Ingold 2007, 138)
To understand how sounds are being structured and are structuring our surroundings, there is the useful concept of ‘soundscapes’. ‘Soundscapes’ refer to the concept of ‘landscapes’. By doing so, it assumes – even though not as exact as in landscapes, that we can study and formulate characteristics of such scapes. Therefore, Schafer states: “The soundscape is any acoustic field of study” (Schafer in Sterne et al. (ed.) 2012, 99). In this sense, our research is about thinking migration in/with/through sound/music. We are trying to see how the lenses ‘soundscapes’ and ‘autonomy of migration’ can be fruitful to understand current dynamics, logics and mechanisms of the European Border Regime. What arises when movement/migration and the dynamic, mobile and powerful potentials of music come together – what happens in these processes, practices and spaces?
Coming from this perspective of understanding movement of people as the central aspect that co-determines the dynamics of the border regime, the question arises which specificities can be observed in regard to migration in/with/through music. In which way is the experience of fleeing with/in/through music in the European Border Regime specific? Is there a specific musical autonomy of migration? For analysing our sessions and for following these interests, we chose three analytical research questions:
RE-SONANCE
In our research context the relation – the “resonance” (M1, Session 2) – arises between musician, instrument, the practice of music-making, the music itself, other human beings/musicians, physical spaces, audiences and the socio-political context. This net is, according to M1, a dynamic, moveable and flexible constellation. In the moment or process of migration, some of these elements and thus, their way how they relate to each other, change radically.
“(…) this is not only about music, migration, it´s kind of a general experience of migrating, and it is affecting every relationship. Music is a relationship, to your instrument, to audience, to the language, to your ideas, and so this relationship, set of relationship, normally and naturally changes when you migrate to another country of language, people, instruments, genre, musical genres, etc. (…) music is a form of relationship, set of relationship, and changes when you migrate.” (M1, Session 3)
This constellation which includes the constant negotiation of ways how the different elements relate to one another at a specific moment of time, is the soundscape in which – in this case, specifically ‘refugee musicians’ navigate. The process of re-arranging the net, is also a process of constantly trying to make sense in these soundscapes. Through the experience of migration, the socio-political context and the audience change, and therefore the sense for whom and why to make music might changes. A (political) meaning which the music once had, might then be suddenly no longer relevant.
Thus, the experience of fleeing in/with/through music means that you’re uprooting yourself (or being uprooted) from the soundscapes you’re being socialised in. So, if music “has a concept” (M2), which is in resonance with the soundscapes around it, once this soundscape changes through migration, these changes are reflected in the concept of the music. As the musicians shared their different experiences, this reflection can occur in the shape of increased inspiration, fusion of musical styles, but also in silence.
‘REFUGEE MUSICIANS’?
“It’s difficult to divide yourself into musician and refugee (). We are experiencing our life as one single self.” (M1, Session 2)
We were often asking questions like “…as a refugee…as a musician”. Latest with M1’s statement it gets clear, that these identical categories cannot be considered as separate, independent identities. It got tangible that ‘musical migration’ is a very specific experience within the European Border Regime. You cannot separate musicians from their music, instruments, audience or political struggle, from the circumstances they are socialized in and the experience they make, especially not while/after migrating. Thus, if the ambiguous term ‘refugee’ was used in our talks, it was often used as self-labelling in a way of appropriation or describing a collective experience of seeking refuge somewhere else. But in any case, it was used as inherently entangled with the experience as musician. Therefore, we decided afterwards to extend the term to ‘refugee musician’. We want to emphasize that when the term refugee was used, it was never an isolated description, but that the music was always meant to be included. Because: The experience of ‘refugee musicians’ is specific as it is an experience of migration which is characterized by music, sound and acoustics. Refugee musicians can hear, feel, see, recognize bordering processes which others cannot hear, feel, see or recognize. It is a specific positionality – there can be privileges which means specific access to support systems through the music (M3). At the same time there can be specific experiences of violence through the language of music (M4). In this way, the experiences of ‘refugee musicians’ can make logics, mechanisms and dynamics of the European Border Regime visible – and hearable – which are actually also at work in other fields than music.
AUS_GRENZUNG
Quite at the core of our conversations were the topics of racism and integration. It had emerged that, as people who are being racialized, and read and categorized as non-European musician, they are taught to prove that their music, instruments and ways of making music are not “matter out of place” (Mary Douglas) that it is no “noise” or less good/less professional music. The feeling of having to proof that what you’re doing is “serious music” (M5) and having always have to be “double as good” (M2) than others, was ever-present in the talks. Collectively, they experience a somewhat musical integration compulsion. There are subtle rules of how to make music in Germany which are rooted in a Eurocentric music theory.
“(…)because like Turkish music especially is, or let’s say not Turkish but ottoman, influenced societies’ cultures music is like… the modal music which divides like one full tone to nine units, which is not the case for western music, it just divides right in the middle. And to the European educated ears, to the western educated ears, it sounds wrong. () But when it sums up in a melody, it somehow sounds right. And instead of like embracing one’s own shortcoming about not being able to understand the music that I am playing, it was perceived as something foreign that one doesn’t need to make effort to understand.” (M5, Session 2)
This inability to “embrace ones’ own shortcoming” (ibid.) then, concludes into a fetishization and exoticization of e.g. Oud music (M6). M6 explained that ‘they’ always wanted to have Oud along but didn’t take the music seriously. It would be just “exotic” (M6). Also, M4 explained that it sometimes feels as if it was just “für’s Museum” (org. German; Engl. for museum; M3). In this experience of compulsory integration, racism and fetishization lays tension. On one hand, all of them expressed their interest and openness to new styles of music and their wish to get inspired in new “soundscapes”. On the other hand, there is this constant Othering happening every day, may it be in institutions or jam sessions in the evenings. Thus, it is a challenge to navigate the question: when do I want to adapt and get inspired, and when do I explicitly take distance from – maybe dominant - influences which surround me? These questions influence for example decisions of pursuing a formal musical career, attending a jam session or playing a concert.
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Inspired by M1, we understand music as something in which, even if you don’t explicitly understand yourself as an activist, your political being is reflected. With your music you are co-constituting the soundscape you’re living in in a way you would like to see (or hear) the world.
“To, first of all, to feel comfortable in the soundscape that you are producing. So, you make music. It creates that you feel comfortable in it. First of all, I think aligns with what should be and what you think about the world and country and the social in general.” (M1, Session 3)
M1 assumes that even without making political positions explicit through lyrics, the music itself “includes emotions and is going to create an emotional structure” which can include or exclude a certain audience. In other cases, the political implications – the possibilities and responsibilities of musicians - are more in the centre of consciousness. M2 was raising a struggle within an Iranian music project. They stated that in the current situation of the feminist revolution, it’s inappropiate to create a music project with just Cis-men. They were thus referring to a responsibility of music/musicians within a specific political struggle to react upon it.
MUSICAL AUTONOMY OF MIGRATION
As it got tangible, the nexus of music and migration within the European Border Regime has the potential to understand logics, mechanisms and dynamics of the regime. If we understand Migration as a social movement (as autonomy of migration wants to understand it), as “weltschaffende, kollektive Praxis und folglich als grundsätzlich politisches, soziales und transformatives Projekt” (Hess/Schmidt-Sembdner, 200) and if we see the negotiations, potentials and responsibilities of music (to e.g. influence, react and deal with political struggles), we can imagine something such as “musical autonomy of migration”. Through musical migration, refugee musicians are moving, creating and changing the soundscapes in which they navigate in. They are negotiating where to adapt, where to get inspired and where they prefer to create spaces apart from the dominant, euro-centric music theory and practice.
Thanks to all the musicians and supporters of the project <3