Events

Musicological Research Seminar

Lecture: Donald John W. Hatfield

【Date】12/16(三) 14:00-15:00

【Date】12/16(三) 14:00-15:30
【Speaker】 Donald John W. Hatfield 施永德 (Associate Professor/ Berklee College of Music)
【Topic】〈Dance and Mimetic Refusal: What Can Critical Art Practice Tell Us about Studying Musics in Indigenous Contexts? 〉
【Place】普通教學館506教室

In this talk, I explore refusal as pointing out possibilities to develop more responsive relationships to Indigenous musics and musicians. In particular, I discuss recent works by contemporary installation and performance artist, Rahic Talif (Mangota’ay Pangcah). In these works Rahic employs malikoda, a variety of ‘Amis / Pangcah ritual dances nearly iconic of Taiwanese Indigenous Peoples, as a method. As he dances across large canvases applying paint with his feet, Rahic reflects on ways that Pangcah aesthetics might be maintained in dialogue with colonially derived materials. Rahic’s use of malikoda as method criticizes mainstream semiotic ideologies in which dance is cultural content for inclusionary performances. In his work refuses to give viewers any iconic representation of the dance, its gestures, or dancing Indigenous bodies. His mimetic refusal suggests ways that refusal might be articulated with and configure possible alliances. With this in mind, I compare Rahic’s work with refusal in the work of Indigenous popular musicians, arguing that critical art practice may inform new ways of engaging with and interpreting Indigenous musics.