British Bhangra: A Symposium

British Bhangra: A Symposium

15 September 2007 10am – 6pm, S.O.A.S., University of London

British Bhangra is a genre of popular music that fuses Punjabi beats, music and lyrics, UK pop, RnB, reggae and other world sounds. Its history in Britain dates back to the immediate post-war period when migrants from the Punjab, India, resettled their lives and homes in the UK.

In the post-00s the music can now be heard across the soundscapes of multicultural cities around the globe, to mainstream fashion and advertising, and even in the songs and music of Bollywood films. British Bhangra’s centres of music industry are increasingly located in Birmingham and London, from where its musical products are distributed and performed internationally. Yet, this recent visibility is also marked by a history of cultural racism, community politics and a music and cultural industry that has struggled to stake its place in British popular culture.

This one day symposium brings together leading international practitioners, aristes and academics who have been involved in producing and charting the story of British Bhangra music and its industry. The event will include panel presentations with Q&A as well as a roundtable discussion with all participants.

Read my review of the Soho Road to the Punjab exhibition.

Migrating University Event

Migrating University – Goldsmiths, University of London

14-15 September 2007

Friday 14th September – venue room 150 and 137a Richard Hoggart Building

Room 150 RHB From 10am Tea/Coffee – welcome – stalls for No Borders Camp etc

Room 137a RHB
10.30
John Hutnyk (Goldsmiths) Introduction to the day
Camille Barbagallo (Goldsmiths) this meeting is to encourage attendance at No Borders Camp at Gatwick.

10.50 -12.55 – Panel #1 – The Teaching Factory (Chair: Leila)

Does a university education offer a passport to a world of opportunity?
Are the old exclusions of race, class, gender and ability fully redeemed by our policy initiatives and “inclusive” programs? Or is the new hierarchy a filtering mechanism promising precarious labour for some, security and success for others? While some may never question their right to access, do some have to fight to move at all and others struggle daily simply to pass or fail?
This panel asks if education is really a social good, a pass to freedom; or if it is rather a ticket to a new set of subjugations?

Retro-Writing: back to basics

What with email, facebook, google, youtube…it’s time to get off the net and get writing.

After reading Steven Poole’s excellent post, Goodbye, cruel Word, it has inspired me to turn everything else off and just let the blank page of the word-processor (WP) stare back. Easier said than done; and slow-bloated crash-prone Windows MS Word has so much redundant crap that it clutters my mind.

I want to see a screen when writing and nothing much else. Old-Skool here I come: trying out a WP called Q10 – download for Windows (free): http://baara.com/q10/

Minimalist features, though includes setting a word count target, setting a timer – makes you into a writing machine. And it has reassuring typewriter sound effects – now that is cool.

The beauty of Q10: it’s all and only about writing.

Note: saves in text files only, so you can’t format, or put together a whole book. But do that afterwards.