12th Symposium of the ICTM study group on music and minorities
with a joint day with the ICTM study group on indigenous music and dance
University of Kelaniya, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Title of the Panel:
“From sovereignty to ‘minority’ and back. Voicing silenced songs and indigenous knowledge of the Sikhs”.
Paper 2.
The Indigenous Perspective: Bhai Baldeep Singh speaks of his pioneering work of research and revival of the Gurbani Sangit Parampara.
Bhai Baldeep Singh (The Anād Foundation, Founder and Chairman)
The Indigenous Perspective: Research and Revival of the Gurbani Sangit Parampara.
Abstract
Nobody marginalized GurSikhī or Sikh Religion itself, nor its cultural assets including linguistic riches, music, literature, pedagogical processes, crafts, or skill sets-including tool making and luthiery. Since the first quarter of the twentieth century, aesthetico-culturally ignorant Sikh political leadership handling Sikh socio-religious and political affairs in a maladroit way ensured that the cultural genocide that followed was self-inflicted. When ideating and initiating the revival of the Gurbāṇī Saṅgīt Paramparā (tradition of Gurbāṇī music), it was clear that I needed to understand the reason-or reasons, if multiple-how the revelation, reading, exegetical attendance, and singing of Gurbāṇī that shook the religio-political landscape of Asia in such an extraordinary manner and inspired multiple musical traditions, came to an abrupt end. There could have only been one of two reasons. One, the knowledge systems were not exciting enough, such that it was deemed dispensable, or two, its destiny was, even if inadvertently, thrust into the wrong hands.
Chair and organizer:
Francesca Cassio (Sardarni Harbans Kaur Chair in Sikh Musicology, Hofstra University, NY)
Francesca.cassio@hofstra.edu
Phone (office) 001.516.463.5533
ICTM member (and M&M program committee member)
Probably in-person participation
Nirinjan Kaur Khalsa-Baker (Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles)
Email: nirinjan.khalsa@lmu.edu
Office number: 310.258.8621
ICTM member (in 2021)
Probably online participation
Bhai Baldeep Singh (The Anād Foundation, Founder and Chairman)
C-26, Nizamuddin East, New Delhi 110013 INDIA
www.anadfoundation.org
Email: Bhaibaldeep@gmail.com
Mobile: +91-9810002653
ICTM member (in 2021)
Maybe in-person
Davindar Singh, PhD Candidate in Ethnomusicology, Harvard University.
davindarsingh@g.harvard.edu
ICTM member (?)
Available online only