Musicking and Nonkilling for Peacebuilding Conference in September

Åbo Akademi University in Vasa, home of the Programme in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research, will co-organize with the Center for Global Nonkilling, its third exploratory interdisciplinary conference on September 18-20, 2017 focusing on the topic “Musicking and Nonkilling for Peacebuilding: Crises, Dangers and Opportunities.” The conference is organized with the collaboration of numerous groups and institutions, including the Min-On Music Research Institute (MOMRI) and the Norwegian Peace Association, under the scope of the Nonkilling Arts Research Committee. The conference will take place in Vasa, Finland, and admission is free. A full program is available for download:

Musicking (a concept created by Christopher Small) allows to look at what we do to ourselves and others through music, the actions we take with and around music, in addition to musical objects such as rhythm, pitch and tempo. Musicking can be used both for constructive and destructive purposes, and it is essential to have an ethical compass guiding our actions. Nonkilling provides such a compass. This conference seeks to understand the limitless possibilities provided by musicking in relation to the goal of establishing killing-free socities and contributing to peacebuilding. Concepts such as Inner Peacebuilding, Communicative Creativity, Planetary Awareness and Preventive Peacebuilding are essential concepts supporting nonkilling philosophy and action.

Registration is free (emailing ingrida.grigaityte@abo.fi). Confirmed presenters include Olivier Urbain (Director of the Min-On Music Research Institute [MOMRI] and editor of the collective volumes of Music and Conflict Transformation, Music and Solidarity and Music, Power and Liberty), Alexander Harang (President of the Norwegian Peace Association), Kari Anne Næss (Project manager – The Peace Culture group at The Norwegian Peace Association), Barbora Silhanova (musician and reseacher at the University of Turku), Innocent Tinashe (researcher at the Durban University of Technology), Nadezhda (Nadja) Zhandr (Secretary of the MIRA Foundation), Bamidele Francis Oyeyiola (Kpanlogo Yede), Olga Terentieva (Ostrobothnian Crisis Center Valo), Lina Teir (singer/songwriter, storyteller, director, teacher and human rights acitivist), Isik Zeliha Ulubas (A Bigger Heart Project) and Joám Evans Pim (Director of the Center for Global Nonkilling).