The ”Gender and musicianship in North(-)/Eastern Europe” is the fourth conference in a series of yearly symposia on gender studies in music

25.1.2024 1 Like 0 kommenttia

The ”Gender and musicianship in North(-)/Eastern Europe” symposium, organised by Uniarts Helsinki and Research Association Suoni, will take place on February 12–13, 2024. It is the fourth conference in a series of yearly symposia on gender studies in music, which started during the COVID pandemic online. The chair of the symposium Nuppu Koivisto-Kaasik tells that the current symposium focuses on questions of gender, power hierarchies, and intersectionality within the geographical context of Northern, Eastern, and North-Eastern areas of Europe.

As has been established in previous research, musical life is not separated from political turmoil and societal change: Finnish musicians have always travelled abroad, and, vice-versa, foreign musicians have toured Finland. The closing and opening of borders have affected their job market and contacts with colleagues, friends, and family, just like in any other professional field. Think, for instance, of the musicologist Margareta Sahlberg-Vachnadze (1909–1993) – born in Finland to Georgian and Finnish parents and educated in Paris at the Sorbonne.[1] Or of Charlotte Lithander-Carlbom (1784–1858), an early nineteenth-century Finnish composer born in Noarootsi (Estonia) and died in Kodavere (Estonia).[2] Thus, Finland’s nationalist canon of music history has indeed been widely questioned by scholars during the past few decades. This is why we have hoped to keep the geographical focus of this conference rather wide, even if it specifically targets certain areas of Europe.

Ever since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, there has been an urgent need to re-evaluate the geopolitical choices in Finland’s past and present. Finnish media, political leaders, and researchers have adressed questions of naivete with regard to Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian regime and aknowledged not taking the warnings of, e.g., their Baltic colleagues seriously enough. At the same time, it remains crucial to understand the mechanisms of Russia’s governmental oppression towards minorities and political opposition within its own borders. In the current political situation, it is all the more important to recognise the transnationality of Finnish musical life and to intensify research contacts abroad – especially with Ukraine, the Baltic states, Central Eastern Europe, and the Balkans.

The past few decades have also witnessed a growth of interest in gender studies in music research, although the field itself has a rich history extending to the early twentieth century. Overall, this series of symposia on gender and musicianship has stemmed from within the community of feminist music research in Finland. The second half of the 2010s witnessed a growing public debate on the position of women, gender-marginalised, and BIPOC composers and musicians in society both in Finland and abroad. Based on an idea from Päivi Järviö, we wanted to create an open forum for scholars interested in the topic and affiliated in Finnish universities. Our first symposium in January 2020 ended up attracting almost 200 registrees, even if it was held in Finnish and Swedish. Connecting with other researchers and sharing experiences felt especially important in an atmosphere where both gender studies and musicology were constantly threatened by inappropriate, even aggressive feedback on public platforms, especially social media.

Over the years, we have received valuable feedback on improving the event in the future. Thanks to the suggestions of our attendees, we have begun to pay more attention on the safety and security of all attendees in establishing guidelines for organisers, attendees, and session chairs on how to act in alarming situations. It is important that everyone could feel comfortable in attending the sessions and expressing their opinions. A lot of work still remains to be done: the event’s focus on so-called classical music and the experiences of white cis-women is still something we need to focus on in the future.

Despite the narrow canons of Western music history, women and gender-marginalised people have always composed, played, and sung, even if their role in musical life has not been fully recognised in music historiography. The topics of the 20 papers, 7 lecture-recitals, keynote lecture and panel discussion of this symposium show the rich input of women and gender minorities in musical life both on historical terms and today. They will offer us a unique chance of learning from one another and thinking of similarities and differences between the geographical and cultural themes we are studying.

Nuppu Koivisto-Kaasik

PhD, postdoctoral researcher, University of the Arts History Forum

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[1] On Sahlberg-Vachnadze, see, e.g., the Biographical Dictionary of Georgia (http://www.nplg.gov.ge/bios/en/00004514/, accessed on January 24, 2024); Tuomi Elmgren-Heinonen: ”Jälleen kotimaahan – uutta elämää aloittamaan”, Suomen Nainen 10/1939.

[2] Seee, e.g., Susanna Välimäki & Nuppu Koivisto-Kaasik, Sävelten tyttäret: säveltävät naiset Suomessa 1800-luvulta 1900-luvulle (Helsinki: SKS), 37–39.