About M.A.P // A.M.P

A project by Goethe-Institut seeking to capture, document, explore and invite music, poetry, research, and discourse on the intersections of music and activism in South Asia. The acronym tries to capture the different aspects, a programme on activist music could potentially focus on: Music and Protest, Activism, Politics, Multiplicity, Action, People, Agency, Metamorphosis, Power, and so on. The thematic frame of M.A.P // A.M.P interfaces with other topics, especially pertaining to civil society, minorities, feminism, and queer activism. The project is composed of a multitude of complementary elements that will unfurl over a period of time, including a radio programme, a music library, a series of podcasts, etc., and aims to create, foster, and share new content.

Protest has always been at the centre of any revolution or movement, while dissent is proof of a healthy democracy. In the South Asian region, there are a variety of musical traditions that have been taken up throughout history. Musicians have been and continue to re-address questions of identity, nation, and politics. The interesting thing about the phenomenon today is that classical tradition can be used both for political agitation, and against a policy of oppression of minorities. Consequently, tradition provides material that can be used to act in the contemporary field of tension.

Localisation of individuals, groups, and networks of like-minded people in a globalised world allows access to various genres and musical traditions and admits multiple forms of identification with “the local” and “the global” and offers the opportunity to formulate activist positions in music as a result of this tension.

Music creates the feeling of a collective identity, of cohesion and solidarity, making it more than the “soundtrack” of political and social movements.

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