Anaïs Verhulst | Independent Researcher (original) (raw)

Conference papers by Anaïs Verhulst

ICTM World Annual Conference, 2019

Two criteria are crucial to acquire a place on the Flemish Inventory of Intangible Cultural Herit... more Two criteria are crucial to acquire a place on the Flemish Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage: first, the entire community should be involved in the application process and, second, they should demonstrate their engagement to safeguard the tradition. Recent research has shown that a lack of community involvement may cause a disconnect between heritage policies and the people to whom the heritage belong, leading to confusion as their values are not reflected in the process. Instead, safeguarding ICH should happen independently of such recognition or policies, starting “on the ground” so that the heritage can be safeguarded on the community’s own terms to ensure the tradition’s sustainability for future generations. How this can be done most effectively, and the way in which heritage professionals should help, remain two much discussed issues in the heritage sector. By presenting the interaction between a heritage worker and the hunting horn community in Flanders (Belgium) during their application process for the Flemish Inventory for ICH, this paper examines the importance of ethnomusicological research in ICH work to solve the issue. Inspired by the “Sustainable Futures for Music Cultures” project and the “Music Vitality and Endangerment Framework”, I developed a tool for short-term, multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork, consisting of individual interviews, group interviews, observations during rehearsals and performance, and a questionnaire. In this way, it was possible to involve a large range of people who are connected to hunting horn music. Musicians, their families, audiences, and people who organise performance opportunities alike had the chance to express the ways in which they value the music and identify the tradition’s threats and opportunities. By bringing their opinions together, appropriate actions could be determined to safeguard the sustainable future of hunting horn players.

British Forum for Ethnomusicology Annual Conference, 2019

ICTM Ireland Annual Conference, 2018

In 2016, Huib Schippers and Catherine Grant published Sustainable Futures for Music Cultulres: An... more In 2016, Huib Schippers and Catherine Grant published Sustainable Futures for Music Cultulres: An Ecological Perfpective, presenting a framework to assess the five domains that impact a music culture's sustainability; systems of learning, musicians and communities, contexts and constructs, infrastructure and regulations, and media and music industry. The framework can be used by communities to shape the future of their musical practices. Using this as a starting point, this paper will present my collaboration with the hunting horn community in Flanders in their process towards the recognition of their musical practice as intangible cultural heritage (ICH) on the Flemish Invetory of ICH. Community engagement and determining safegurading initiatives are two curcial and closely connected parts of this process. The community is engaged through group interviews, individual interviews, and a questionnaire. Using the five domains as a framework for analysis, the collected materials reveal which elements define the genre, the tradition's strengths and weaknesses, and the values people attach to the music and its context. These results, in turn, are used to determine appropriate safeguarding initiatives, so that the hunting horn community can continue to make music in the way they value it.

Flemish heritage organisations have been concerned with assessing the significance of heritage co... more Flemish heritage organisations have been concerned with assessing the significance of heritage collections since 2012. Using various evaluation tools, centres of expertise assist collection owners in determining, defining, and communicating the cultural values and meaning that people and communities assign to those objects and collections, with the aim of justifying collection management. As policies about intangible heritage are being developed, in line with the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, the potential of similar value assessments of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is being explored. As an ethnomusicologist working for Resonant, the centre of expertise for musical heritage in Flanders and Brussels, I am working on a model of valuing music in the context of the ICH policy in Flanders. The preliminary results of this project will be presented during this paper, focussing on the key aspects regarding values in the UNESCO convention, the peculiarities of music as ICH, and the limitations of existing valuing tools.

UNESCO’s definition of ICH emphasises the central position of communities in the recognition, (re)creation, safeguarding, and transmission of heritage. Furthermore, UNESCO’s sixth ethical principle suggests that value assessments should happen by the community itself and not by external experts. ICH is not assumed to have some kind of outstanding or universal value, as is the case with UNESCO World Heritage. Instead, the values that drive the efforts to safeguard ICH should be determined by the people to whom that heritage belongs and be relevant to them. The role of heritage experts, therefore, does not lie in valuing all the intangible heritage in the world but in assisting communities who wish to actively engage with their practices and knowledge as heritage in identifying those values. A model or method for valuing music would facilitate the communication between heritage experts and communities towards an efficient and thorough value assessment.

Intangible musical heritage—as opposed to tangible (including scores, instruments, and sound carriers) and immovable heritage (bells, organs, and concert halls)—encompasses all musical practices and the knowledge, contexts, crafts and skills, and people that are associated with it. Christopher Small’s concept of ‘musicking’, in which music is understood not as a thing but as a human activity, highlights some of the peculiarities of music that become useful in the search for a model for valuing music. Musicking involves taking part in music ‘in any capacity, in a musical performance, whether by performing, by listening, by rehearsing or practicing, by providing material for performance (what is called composing), or by dancing’. Although these musical activities may overlap, it is clear that music involves many people in different ways. The value that is attached to musicking is, consequently, often very individualistic as it depends on the person’s engagement with the music. Each type of engagement and each of these values are equally valid and should be brought forward in the value assessment. The ‘value’ of intangible musical heritage will, consequently, always be a multi-layered complex of values in which all stakeholders—the members of that musical community—need to be involved.

Tools to evaluate tangible heritage also consider a multitude of criteria in their value assessments; usually historical, artistic/aesthetic, scientific/research, and social/spiritual values are given a score (low-medium-high) to establish the object’s value. However, there are some concerns with these tools if applied to ICH. The set of criteria is often too limit to ensure that all of the community’s values are incorporated into the assessment. The model’s application is often too patronising and its terminology too abstract. And, the system of scores seems less relevant; because of the community’s engagement with their heritage it can be assumed that it is highly valued. Instead, it is more important to determine what those values are. This project therefore aims to develop an alternative model that is approachable, participatory, and brings a multitude of values to the fore.

The repertoires that comprise a country’s ‘folk music’ or ‘traditional music’ are rarely unambigu... more The repertoires that comprise a country’s ‘folk music’ or ‘traditional music’ are rarely unambiguous; people may include or exclude certain types of music from these overarching terms depending on their region, age, personal musical preferences, and the context in which they talk about music. In Norway, the various translations and synonyms for ‘folk music’ and ‘traditional music’ indeed constitute a complex layer of meanings, each focussing on a specific genre and/or regional style of folk music. This complexity is apparent in the way musicians communicate about music in their daily lives, the way in which the various types of folk music are celebrated in dedicated festivals, and the way performances are evaluated based on their traditionality and originality. This paper will explore the multi-layered meaning of ‘folk music’ and ‘traditional music’ in Norway. Based on ethnomusicological fieldwork in 2016, I will refer to the three distinct repertories of music and the way they can be distinguished from each other in terms of musical practices, everyday discourse, as well as the annual festivals that both confirm and undermine the idea of traditional Norwegian music. This will, in turn, open the discussion to the role of such festivals in celebrating, safeguarding, and potentially influencing musical traditions.

When discussing the arrival of the violin in South India, Karnatak musicians acknowledge the poss... more When discussing the arrival of the violin in South India, Karnatak musicians acknowledge the possible biases against the violin that arose when it was first adopted into Karnatak music. As a Western instrument, brought to India by colonists, it lacked the divine associations that indigenous instruments held. However, these less favourable extra-musical attributes were rapidly outweighed by the violin’s suitability to accompany Karnatak singing. By developing a unique set of playing techniques, Karnatak violinists have detached the instrument from its colonial past and original usage.
Through an analysis of two performances of the composition ‘Manasuloni’, this paper will illustrate how the violin has since moved beyond its initial accompanying function in Karnatak music, has become a solo instrument in its own right, and, in recent years, shown the potential to transform the tradition. By experimenting with the violin’s affordances and through the subsequent development of advanced playing techniques, Karnatak violinists are emancipating their instrument from its traditional ties to vocal performances, creating a purely instrumental style of playing. This transformation not only challenges the accepted values of the Karnatak tradition but also confirms the perception of the violin as an ‘Indian instrument’, free from its colonial past.

Theses by Anaïs Verhulst

My doctoral thesis presents a cross-cultural, comparative, and analytical study of the violin in ... more My doctoral thesis presents a cross-cultural, comparative, and analytical study of the violin in Karnatak music, Norwegian folk, and metal. The purpose of this research is, on the one hand, to fill a gap in the existing literature about the violin, which typically does not reach beyond the instrument's use in Western classical music. On the other hand, this work will examine how the violin's design affords its versatile use in musical practices around the world. To achieve this, ethnographic methods are used to produce these three analytical case studies. Each study is based on ethnographic research conducted during fieldtrips to India and Norway and through online interviews, as well as on musical analysis. These analyses focus on how three key features of music-making are interconnected; music, musician, and instrument. This research reveals the contrasting ways in which these features relate to each other, depending on the musica and cultural context of each genre, and shows the similarities as to which properties of the violin are significant for its usage. Karnatak violin playing is traditionally determined by the limits of the human voice, Norwegian folk music developed on and for the violin, and the instrument's uncommon use in metal makes it a matter of individual creativity. These aspects influence the stylistic and technical choices made by the musicians in each genre. Despite different conceptualisations about the instrument, Karnatak, Norwegian, and metal violinists generally avail of the same properties of the violin; the bow, the fretless fingerboard, the ability to retune the strings, and its close resemblance to the voice.

This thesis was submitted in September 2017 to University College Dublin in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Books by Anaïs Verhulst

faro | tijdschrift over cultureel erfgoed , 2019

ICTM World Annual Conference, 2019

Two criteria are crucial to acquire a place on the Flemish Inventory of Intangible Cultural Herit... more Two criteria are crucial to acquire a place on the Flemish Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage: first, the entire community should be involved in the application process and, second, they should demonstrate their engagement to safeguard the tradition. Recent research has shown that a lack of community involvement may cause a disconnect between heritage policies and the people to whom the heritage belong, leading to confusion as their values are not reflected in the process. Instead, safeguarding ICH should happen independently of such recognition or policies, starting “on the ground” so that the heritage can be safeguarded on the community’s own terms to ensure the tradition’s sustainability for future generations. How this can be done most effectively, and the way in which heritage professionals should help, remain two much discussed issues in the heritage sector. By presenting the interaction between a heritage worker and the hunting horn community in Flanders (Belgium) during their application process for the Flemish Inventory for ICH, this paper examines the importance of ethnomusicological research in ICH work to solve the issue. Inspired by the “Sustainable Futures for Music Cultures” project and the “Music Vitality and Endangerment Framework”, I developed a tool for short-term, multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork, consisting of individual interviews, group interviews, observations during rehearsals and performance, and a questionnaire. In this way, it was possible to involve a large range of people who are connected to hunting horn music. Musicians, their families, audiences, and people who organise performance opportunities alike had the chance to express the ways in which they value the music and identify the tradition’s threats and opportunities. By bringing their opinions together, appropriate actions could be determined to safeguard the sustainable future of hunting horn players.

British Forum for Ethnomusicology Annual Conference, 2019

ICTM Ireland Annual Conference, 2018

In 2016, Huib Schippers and Catherine Grant published Sustainable Futures for Music Cultulres: An... more In 2016, Huib Schippers and Catherine Grant published Sustainable Futures for Music Cultulres: An Ecological Perfpective, presenting a framework to assess the five domains that impact a music culture's sustainability; systems of learning, musicians and communities, contexts and constructs, infrastructure and regulations, and media and music industry. The framework can be used by communities to shape the future of their musical practices. Using this as a starting point, this paper will present my collaboration with the hunting horn community in Flanders in their process towards the recognition of their musical practice as intangible cultural heritage (ICH) on the Flemish Invetory of ICH. Community engagement and determining safegurading initiatives are two curcial and closely connected parts of this process. The community is engaged through group interviews, individual interviews, and a questionnaire. Using the five domains as a framework for analysis, the collected materials reveal which elements define the genre, the tradition's strengths and weaknesses, and the values people attach to the music and its context. These results, in turn, are used to determine appropriate safeguarding initiatives, so that the hunting horn community can continue to make music in the way they value it.

Flemish heritage organisations have been concerned with assessing the significance of heritage co... more Flemish heritage organisations have been concerned with assessing the significance of heritage collections since 2012. Using various evaluation tools, centres of expertise assist collection owners in determining, defining, and communicating the cultural values and meaning that people and communities assign to those objects and collections, with the aim of justifying collection management. As policies about intangible heritage are being developed, in line with the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, the potential of similar value assessments of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is being explored. As an ethnomusicologist working for Resonant, the centre of expertise for musical heritage in Flanders and Brussels, I am working on a model of valuing music in the context of the ICH policy in Flanders. The preliminary results of this project will be presented during this paper, focussing on the key aspects regarding values in the UNESCO convention, the peculiarities of music as ICH, and the limitations of existing valuing tools.

UNESCO’s definition of ICH emphasises the central position of communities in the recognition, (re)creation, safeguarding, and transmission of heritage. Furthermore, UNESCO’s sixth ethical principle suggests that value assessments should happen by the community itself and not by external experts. ICH is not assumed to have some kind of outstanding or universal value, as is the case with UNESCO World Heritage. Instead, the values that drive the efforts to safeguard ICH should be determined by the people to whom that heritage belongs and be relevant to them. The role of heritage experts, therefore, does not lie in valuing all the intangible heritage in the world but in assisting communities who wish to actively engage with their practices and knowledge as heritage in identifying those values. A model or method for valuing music would facilitate the communication between heritage experts and communities towards an efficient and thorough value assessment.

Intangible musical heritage—as opposed to tangible (including scores, instruments, and sound carriers) and immovable heritage (bells, organs, and concert halls)—encompasses all musical practices and the knowledge, contexts, crafts and skills, and people that are associated with it. Christopher Small’s concept of ‘musicking’, in which music is understood not as a thing but as a human activity, highlights some of the peculiarities of music that become useful in the search for a model for valuing music. Musicking involves taking part in music ‘in any capacity, in a musical performance, whether by performing, by listening, by rehearsing or practicing, by providing material for performance (what is called composing), or by dancing’. Although these musical activities may overlap, it is clear that music involves many people in different ways. The value that is attached to musicking is, consequently, often very individualistic as it depends on the person’s engagement with the music. Each type of engagement and each of these values are equally valid and should be brought forward in the value assessment. The ‘value’ of intangible musical heritage will, consequently, always be a multi-layered complex of values in which all stakeholders—the members of that musical community—need to be involved.

Tools to evaluate tangible heritage also consider a multitude of criteria in their value assessments; usually historical, artistic/aesthetic, scientific/research, and social/spiritual values are given a score (low-medium-high) to establish the object’s value. However, there are some concerns with these tools if applied to ICH. The set of criteria is often too limit to ensure that all of the community’s values are incorporated into the assessment. The model’s application is often too patronising and its terminology too abstract. And, the system of scores seems less relevant; because of the community’s engagement with their heritage it can be assumed that it is highly valued. Instead, it is more important to determine what those values are. This project therefore aims to develop an alternative model that is approachable, participatory, and brings a multitude of values to the fore.

The repertoires that comprise a country’s ‘folk music’ or ‘traditional music’ are rarely unambigu... more The repertoires that comprise a country’s ‘folk music’ or ‘traditional music’ are rarely unambiguous; people may include or exclude certain types of music from these overarching terms depending on their region, age, personal musical preferences, and the context in which they talk about music. In Norway, the various translations and synonyms for ‘folk music’ and ‘traditional music’ indeed constitute a complex layer of meanings, each focussing on a specific genre and/or regional style of folk music. This complexity is apparent in the way musicians communicate about music in their daily lives, the way in which the various types of folk music are celebrated in dedicated festivals, and the way performances are evaluated based on their traditionality and originality. This paper will explore the multi-layered meaning of ‘folk music’ and ‘traditional music’ in Norway. Based on ethnomusicological fieldwork in 2016, I will refer to the three distinct repertories of music and the way they can be distinguished from each other in terms of musical practices, everyday discourse, as well as the annual festivals that both confirm and undermine the idea of traditional Norwegian music. This will, in turn, open the discussion to the role of such festivals in celebrating, safeguarding, and potentially influencing musical traditions.

When discussing the arrival of the violin in South India, Karnatak musicians acknowledge the poss... more When discussing the arrival of the violin in South India, Karnatak musicians acknowledge the possible biases against the violin that arose when it was first adopted into Karnatak music. As a Western instrument, brought to India by colonists, it lacked the divine associations that indigenous instruments held. However, these less favourable extra-musical attributes were rapidly outweighed by the violin’s suitability to accompany Karnatak singing. By developing a unique set of playing techniques, Karnatak violinists have detached the instrument from its colonial past and original usage.
Through an analysis of two performances of the composition ‘Manasuloni’, this paper will illustrate how the violin has since moved beyond its initial accompanying function in Karnatak music, has become a solo instrument in its own right, and, in recent years, shown the potential to transform the tradition. By experimenting with the violin’s affordances and through the subsequent development of advanced playing techniques, Karnatak violinists are emancipating their instrument from its traditional ties to vocal performances, creating a purely instrumental style of playing. This transformation not only challenges the accepted values of the Karnatak tradition but also confirms the perception of the violin as an ‘Indian instrument’, free from its colonial past.

My doctoral thesis presents a cross-cultural, comparative, and analytical study of the violin in ... more My doctoral thesis presents a cross-cultural, comparative, and analytical study of the violin in Karnatak music, Norwegian folk, and metal. The purpose of this research is, on the one hand, to fill a gap in the existing literature about the violin, which typically does not reach beyond the instrument's use in Western classical music. On the other hand, this work will examine how the violin's design affords its versatile use in musical practices around the world. To achieve this, ethnographic methods are used to produce these three analytical case studies. Each study is based on ethnographic research conducted during fieldtrips to India and Norway and through online interviews, as well as on musical analysis. These analyses focus on how three key features of music-making are interconnected; music, musician, and instrument. This research reveals the contrasting ways in which these features relate to each other, depending on the musica and cultural context of each genre, and shows the similarities as to which properties of the violin are significant for its usage. Karnatak violin playing is traditionally determined by the limits of the human voice, Norwegian folk music developed on and for the violin, and the instrument's uncommon use in metal makes it a matter of individual creativity. These aspects influence the stylistic and technical choices made by the musicians in each genre. Despite different conceptualisations about the instrument, Karnatak, Norwegian, and metal violinists generally avail of the same properties of the violin; the bow, the fretless fingerboard, the ability to retune the strings, and its close resemblance to the voice.

This thesis was submitted in September 2017 to University College Dublin in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

faro | tijdschrift over cultureel erfgoed , 2019