Projects tagged "Music & Sound"

Funk Lessons
Practitioner:
Adrian Piper
Date:
May 6 1982
Adrian Piper's "Funk Lessons" (1982-84) was a series of performances and collaborative events in which the artist taught white participants about black funk music, its culture, and its history, aiming to deconstruct stereotypical ideas about Black culture.
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9
"Glory" Performance at the Academy Awards
Practitioner:
John Legend, Common
Date:
Feb 22 2015
See below for a link to the performance of the song at the Academy Awards. From Salon: How Common and John Legend’s performance of “Glory” fired up Oscar night’s idling empathy machine by Sonia Saraiya
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1
Sit-Down Strike for Rhythm
Practitioner:
Rhythm Ambassadors
Date:
Oct 5 2017
At the New Orleans Swing Dance Festival the all African-American dance troupe The Rhythm Ambassadors were presented along side an African-American iteration of the Preservation Hall All-Star band with African-American vocalist Taryn Newborne to deliver the message that the African-American Lindy Hoppers were going to be protest until their rhythm is better presented...i.e.
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Break-dancing for social justice in Tunisia
Practitioner:
Art Solution
Date:
Feb 1 2017
In Tunisia, a country gripped by economic uncertainty and still in the midst of rebuilding its identity after the Arab Spring, hip-hop culture is viewed as part of an ongoing dissident movement. Just a few events, such as the recent Mafia Wallitili Festival in the heart of downtown Tunis, offer the local hip-hop community an opportunity to share their values with the broader population.
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6
Arts Meets Environmental Activism in "The Crossroads Project"
Practitioner:
Laura Kaminsky, Rebecca Allan
Date:
Feb 9 2014
This month’s blast of arctic air may have roused climate-change skeptics. But the composer Laura Kaminsky and the painter Rebecca Allan were unfazed. Holed up in their apartment in Riverdale in the Bronx on one of the coldest days in decades, these longtime artist-activists were doing what came naturally: fighting the planet’s warming.
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1
Mada Underground
Practitioner:
Caylah, Naty Kaly, Totté, Temandrota
Date:
Oct 1 2017
As local rapper Naty says, a group of young people are intent on making their mark in Madagascar's cultural history. From gifted slam poet Caylah to inventive visual artist Temandrota and a crew of entrepreneurial skateboarders, a generation of young Madagascans are making space for creative projects.They are inspiring in their enthusiasm and hopeful for the future despite the poverty in their country and its colonial past.
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2
Jesus as a Working Class Hero: Resignifying religion in Spanish music (three examples)
Practitioner:
Gloria Fuertes, Extremoduro, SKA-P
Date:
May 13 2015
The story of the life and death of Jesus is arguably the most ubiquitous story ever told. Translated to every language, vastly circulated, taught in schools all around the world, conservative groups –except for some exemptions, like Liberation Theology- have held monopoly of this narrative for the longest time. However, like every other narrative, it is not totally closed to resignification and oppositional and negotiated readings.
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2
Paco Ibáñez (Valencia, November 20th, 1934)
Practitioner:
Paco Ibáñez
Date:
Mar 3 1966
Francisco Ibáñez Gorostidi (known as "Paco Ibáñez") is a spanish singer that has dedicated almost all his career to turning poems by classical and contemporary spanish and latin american authors into songs.
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2
Movimento Vem Pra Rua (Come to the Streets)
Practitioner:
Rogério Chequer / People in Brazil
Date:
Dec 1 2014
Vem Pra Rua is a nonpartisan, democratic, and pluralist movement that emerged in response to society’s fight for a better Brazil. Brazilians of all regions, social classes, and ages began mobilizing at the end of 2014—building on the 2013 marches that protested corruption, inequality, and other socio-economic and political problems.
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2
The Rage Against the Machine Performance That Got Them Banned From 'SNL'
Practitioner:
Rage Against the Machine
Date:
Apr 13 1996
Rage Against the Machine have always been rabble rousers, but the political statement that got them banned from Saturday Night Live sounds positively prosaic compared to other acts of protest they committed in their heyday, like shutting down the New York Stock Exchange or sporting a "Free Mumia Abu-Jamal" shirt on live television.
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1
Dance for George
Practitioner:
Sheen Jamaal, Alison Bedell
Date:
Jun 7 2020
When dancer Sheen Jamaal saw a video of protestors doing the Cupid Shuffle in New Jersey, inspiration struck to do something similar in New York. He immediately called his friend and collaborator Allison “Buttons” Bedell, and the seed for the Dance For George protest was planted.
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3
"Fuck Tha Police": N.W.A.'s Most Courageous Song is Still Relevant As Ever
Practitioner:
N.W.A.
Date:
Aug 9 1998
Upon its original release on N.W.A.’s Straight Outta Compton LP in 1988, the song was safely titled “_ _ _ _ Tha Police (Fill in the Blanks),” and the album cover was among the first to feature the infamous “Parental Advisory” label, warning moms and dads about the album’s explicit lyrics. A censored version of the LP even omitted the song entirely.
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8
No Pride in Incarceration!
Practitioner:
QLatinx, Familia TQML
Date:
Jun 24 2021
❗❗PRIDE REQUIRES ACTION❗❗ Celebrating Pride? What better way to uplift LGBTQ people’s lives than by joining our campaign to #EndTransDetention? Honor the legacy of Pride by taking action until all of us are free. Sign here & share with 3 friends: https://www.endtransdetentions.org/petition
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5
Yankee Doodle Dandy
Practitioner:
United States Continental Army
Date:
Jul 4 1776
The Fourth of July is upon us, so it’s time once again to sing what is arguably our most baffling national ditty, “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” Maybe you’ve noticed: Some of the lyrics seem like the work of a prankster on acid. Who else could have conceived a vignette as bizarre as a man riding a pony into town, then sticking a feather in his cap that, for unknown reasons, he insists on calling “macaroni”?
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3
Chance the Rapper Hosts Open Mic Night
Practitioner:
Chance the Rapper
Date:
Feb 1 2015
Before Chance the Rapper performed at sold-out concert venues, he practiced his rhymes in front of an intimate crowd of roughly a dozen people at Harold Washington Library. Now the rapper is trying to return the favor, one open mic at a time.
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1
Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls
Practitioner:
Willie Mae volunteers
Date:
Jan 1 2001
Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls is a non-profit music and mentoring program that empowers girls and women through music education, volunteerism, and activities that foster self-respect, leadership skills, creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration.
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5
Prank Call to Governor Scott Walker
Practitioner:
Ian Murphy
Date:
Feb 12 2011
A New York blogger impersonating David Koch successfully prank called Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. David Koch is one of the two wealthy brothers who were big donors to his political campaign and GOP efforts generally.
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2
When an orchestra director negotiated his cachet in trees
Practitioner:
Claudio Abbado
Date:
Sep 9 2009
Claudio Abbado was an Italian orchestra director (1933 - 2014) who served as chief director at La Scala Theater in Milan from 1968 - 1985. After 18 years of absence, in 2009, he was invited to conduct a concert there. He accepted upon condition that, instead of paying him a monetary honorarium, the city would commit to the planing of 90.000 trees in the city of Milan.
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3
Anthem From the Iranian Protests
Practitioner:
Shervin Hajipour
Date:
Sep 27 2022
On September 27, 2022, a song by Iranian musician Shervin Hajipour ‘broke’ Persian social media. Hajipour posted a video on Instagram of himself singing a song for the mass protests that began in Iran following the death of Jina (Mahsa) Amini. Its lyrics were composed of tweets from members of the Iranian Twittersphere explaining what the protests meant to them, what they were fighting for and what was at stake with the hashtag #برای (for the sake of).
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1
Fabled Asp
Practitioner:
Fabled Asp
Date:
Jun 18 2014
Fabled Asp is a multimedia online archive that documents forty years of activist history and creativity. Disabled lesbian activism is a radical assertion of self in the face of societal stigma and marginalization. The project illuminates the myriad ways disabled lesbians have been moving against invisibility through civil rights actions, theater, dance, sports, and visual arts.
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3
The Scheherazade Project
Practitioner:
The Scheherazade Project
Date:
Jun 9 2020
The Scheherazade Project is a Performing Arts Non-profit based in Washington DC. Co-founders Lisa Leibow and Julia Alvarez were inspired by Scheherazade in the Arab classic 1001 Nights and created The Scheherazade Project. For more information, our website is https://thescheherazadeproject.org/The-Scheherazade-Project
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5
Beyoncé’s ‘Renaissance’ Album
Practitioner:
Beyonce
Date:
Jul 9 2022
Beyoncé’s album Renaissance is grounded in black queer ballroom culture. It debuted at no. 1 on the Billboard 200 and had the third highest album debut of 2022.
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3
Rap Captures Voices of Dissent in Kashmir
Practitioner:
Musicians
Date:
Jul 21 2012
Zubair Magray, who goes by the stage name Haze Kay, raps about the conflict in Indian-administered Kashmir. The 23-year-old, one of the first rappers to emerge from the valley, blames the Indian military for "ruining" his homeland.
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1
Center Portion
Practitioner:
Sheila Donohue, Greg Scott
Date:
Jan 1 2000
Space to Play by Rick Kogan
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3
The Comfort Illusion
Practitioner:
Nic Adams
Date:
Oct 1 2018
The Comfort Illusion is a solo aural performance that highlights the effects our everyday actions can have on the environment. Through mixed media storytelling using sound and lighting, Adams narrates the life of "The Overkiller" a fictional villian who negatively impacts the earth and the lives of the people around him through smaller everyday decisions. This character constantly prioritizes convenience over care and responsibility (ie.
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