Music and Identity in Trade

Catalog description

This course investigates contemporary Khaleeji musical heritage with a focus on Kuwaiti pearl diving music between roughly 1900 and the present. With influences spanning from Zanzibar to Bombay to Kuwait and the coastal civilizations in between, this hybrid and cosmopolitan music was born of trade and cultural exchange. As a music of the Indian Ocean civilizations trade, it is also extra-Khaleeji and extra-Arabic. It changed with each pearling and trading season as sailors and divers played music with the locals as they waited for monsoon winds to change direction before sailing home, eager to share the new sounds and instruments upon their return. In addition to historical, cultural, ethical, and philosophical topics, we create a virtual Modern Khaleeji ensemble to collectively and virtually perform music. This course is part of the NYU Big Ideas series.