Sounding Conflict: From Resistance to Reconciliation

Lead Research Organisation: Queen's University Belfast
Department Name: Sch of Hist, Anthrop, Philos & Politics

Abstract

This project investigates the effects of music, sound and storytelling in conflict and post-conflict communities and their distribution through digital media activities. Comparative case studies in the Middle East, Brazil and Northern Ireland serve as a basis for evaluating how sound is used to articulate experiences of violence, to support narratives of resistance and to promote peace building. Together with community partners, an interdisciplinary team from the arts, humanities and social sciences will bring together complementary methodologies to address critical questions in conflict research, music and the arts. We will consider common patterns of response and engagement across different conflict settings and identify how participatory music, sound art and performance can influence political agendas and feed into policy-making. The conceptual frameworks of resistance, intervention and reconciliation highlight specific conflict conditions through which we analyse the effects of sound art activities on community participants and interpret their conflict narratives. This research also addresses a constantly evolving global security environment in which music and the arts are increasingly being recognized as a means of healing or an arena for shared dialogue. However, there is still a gap in scholarship in addressing exactly how participatory and community-led approaches to music, sound and storytelling are being used to mediate and articulate the politics of conflict for wider policy outcomes.

The project is organized into three Work Streams (WS) to allow for fieldwork-based case studies and cross-cutting sound and ethnographic research methods. WS1, 'Sounding Resistance', considers a) the impact of rap and the effect of counter-narratives to ISIS and b) the transformations generated by digital storytelling interventions among Syrian refugees through the work of the Al Salam School on the Turkish-Syrian border. WS2, 'Sound Interventions in Peacebuilding', is conducted through revisiting a participatory sound art project in the Maré favela in Rio de Janeiro during military occupation in 2014 and then evolving its methodologies within a new sound art installation focusing on music interventions in Northern Ireland, finally re-exhibiting the new installation in Rio. WS3, 'Sounding Reconciliation', analyses the effectiveness of a) participatory music-making techniques and social media practices employed by the NGO, Musicians Without Borders in both Palestine and NI, and the impact of b) storytelling and performance methods in theatre on audiences and directors in the wake of the NI Good Friday Agreement (1998). Each work stream focuses on a particular music, sound and storytelling practice situated within three regions of the globe impacted by distinct conflict and post-conflict conditions. Local analysis and ethnographies will provide qualitative and quantitative insights into the effectiveness of the various projects, while comparative research will allow us to draw parallels, highlight differences and identify common patterns of responses to conflict.

The research is conducted in partnership with organizations that play significant roles in establishing music and arts activities in three conflict regions (i.e. Al Salam school, Turkey, Museu da Maré, Brazil, Musicians without Borders [Palestine and NI] and four theatres [NI]. These partnerships are fundamental for engaging with existing local knowledge and best practices while ensuring the research reaches audiences beyond academia. The research will produce important insights for arts organisations seeking to understand the importance of digital media as they address the effects and legacies of violence, and for policy makers in appraising how music, sound and storytelling play a role in narratives of resistance, as well as in processes of transformation and reconciliation.

Planned Impact

The impact of this project lies in the alternatives offered to those who are seeking to avert national security threats, while establishing the value of the arts in promoting creative, resilient and empathic responses to conflict/post-conflict situations. Our research questions are driven by our engagements with organisations in each work stream who are concerned to understand how music, sound and digital media can transform experiences of violence and who are seeking to influence wider policy agendas. The outcomes will have benefits for practitioners beyond these partner organisations by impacting upon the responses of participants, activists and political stakeholders as they engage with various forms of conflict transformation and peacebuilding from resistance to reconciliation. Our stakeholders and beneficiaries comprise the following key user groups, refugee youth, community leaders, exhibition staff and the public, arts/media practitioners and policy-makers, humanitarian and government organisations, as follows:

i). Youth, community leaders and the public: In WS1, the research will benefit communities faced with specific iterations of violence and conflict, by generating new insights into their experiences of conflict. Syrian refugee youth involved in the Turkish arts-media intervention will gain practical skills in sound and media production as they create responses to violence. In WS2, the Museu da Maré in Brazil and Cultúrlann in Derry will use newly created sound-art installations to showcase memories and experiences of conflict to audiences in both places. In WS 3, Musicians Without Borders [Palestine and Northern Ireland] and theatre practitioners [NI] anticipate using the results to enhance the efficacy of their creative practices locally and internationally when designing arts interventions.

ii). Arts/media practitioners and policy makers will gain insights into how communities use music, storytelling and digital media to respond to and counter security threats, as well as to transform national memories and discourses of violence. By mapping the effects of music and storytelling with arts and media practitioners and their organisations, the research aims to reveal forms of empowerment that impact attitudes and behaviours leading towards greater democracy in community governance and leadership. The results will be presented in 6 briefing papers and a report on guidelines for sound arts interventions in conflict and post-conflict settings to be available for each region's respective arts' policy-making bodies and networks (see Pathways to Impact).

iii). We will seek further impact funding as the project progresses to engage humanitarian and government organisations with our findings of music, sound and digital media in conflict settings. We include government representatives in Defence and Security, international diplomacy, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as well as in Arts and Culture who have portfolios relating to domestic and external-international threats (WS1), shared futures in post-conflict communities (WS2, WS3) and policy-makers involved in the Home Office, policing services and local government who may draw upon new approaches to transforming community cohesion through the effects of arts interventions.

The research impact has the potential to enhance the quality of life of communities through influencing policy-making around the use of creative practices in well-being. As the organisations have been instrumental in the research design of the project and are integrated as a user panel throughout, the benefits of the research will be realised during fieldwork and in the briefing papers and impact activities from years 2-4. The expected benefits of the project are considerable in that this project adopts an integrated approach to arts, humanities and social science methods, and to the assessment of their impacts and benefits across conflict and post-conflict contexts.
 
Title Audio Montage as Reflective Tool 
Description Dr Jim Donaghey creates audio montages by layering and editing sounds captured during fieldwork with Musicians without Borders This audio montage created by Dr Jim Donaghey features the layering and editing of sounds captured during five days of the Musicians without Borders (MwB) training programme in Derry/Londonderry in April 2017. In condensed form, it gives a 'feel' of the training programme and some key points of the training curriculum are audible in the montage, including improvisation games, the 'trash orchestra' and guiding comments from trainers and participants. The process of audio editing and production is a subjective one. Condensing dozens of hours of material into a three-minute piece involves a great deal of selection. However, this montage effectively expresses an essence of the experience of that particular training programme, however subjective. It was this quality of the audio montage that was explored and used it as part of our research methodologies. Played to the participants of the subsequent MwB training programme in Derry in May 2017, the group included several people who had been recorded as part of the audio montage in April 2017 and several who had not been present at the previous training, as well as the MwB trainers. It was heard twice. First, without any particular guidance. Then, a second time, after a range of key questions and themes had been discussed. The participants and trainers were subsequently invited to discuss their reflections on it in sub-divided focus groups, which were recorded and transcribed. 
Type Of Art Composition/Score 
Year Produced 2018 
Impact This methodology has been useful in encouraging research participants to think critically and reflectively about sound. It does so in a way which complements Musicians without Borders' own training programmes. In conjunction with in-depth interviews and participant observation, this approach embeds creative practice and sound into the research process. 
URL http://soundingconflict.org/ResearchFindings/ResearchOutcomes/MWBDerryLondonderry/AudioMontageasRefl...
 
Title Belfast 'StoryMap' 2017 
Description This 'Storymap' detailing the impact of 'development' and gentrification on the northern part of Belfast city centre, was created by Dr Jim Donaghey to provide an example of how using 'Storymap', and especially its audiovisual dimension, can be incorporated as an illustrative tool to present narrative trajectories with personal and social resonances. 
Type Of Art Artefact (including digital) 
Year Produced 2018 
Impact This StoryMap functioned primarily as an example to research participants, leading to further StoryMap contributions. 
URL http://soundingconflict.org/ResearchFindings/ResearchOutcomes/MWBDerryLondonderry/BelfastStorymap201...
 
Title Derry/Londonderry 'StoryMap' 2017 
Description Here, MwB participant Annette McNelis takes a journey from her home in Buncrana, County Donegal, across the border into County Derry and then across the Peace Bridge in Derry City itself, reflecting on the differences between the experience and sound of this journey to her memories of making the same journey during the height of the Troubles. 
Type Of Art Artefact (including digital) 
Year Produced 2018 
Impact This StoryMap will form a basis for ongoing dialogue between research participants in various global locales. The contributing research participant, Annette McNelis, said: 'I did a lot of reflecting this resulted in my delving deeper within and uncovering many buried memories.' 'I had a positive and enlightening personal experience.' 'it made my memories more tangible and real, helping me to 'own' them at last. The entire process completely changed my perspective on the wide reaching effects of war. I believe it has also made me more conscious of the true depths of the devastation of the emotional impact on people living right at the centre of conflict areas.' 'In terms of my creative practice, the process did ignite an idea for a simple rhythm exercise I can see myself using this with certain target groups in the future.' 
URL http://soundingconflict.org/ResearchFindings/ResearchOutcomes/MWBDerryLondonderry/DerryLondonderrySt...
 
Title Omagh 'StoryMap' 2017 
Description Here, MwB participant Valerie Whitworth moves along the Strule River in Omagh, County Tyrone, starting her journey with a reading from the Omagh Memorial Garden, which commemorates victims of the Omagh Bomb of 1998, before following the river's flow past new developments in the town. 
Type Of Art Artefact (including digital) 
Year Produced 2018 
Impact This StoryMap will form a basis for ongoing dialogue between research participants in various global locales. The contributing research participant, Valerie Whitworth, said: 'I found it challenging, personally and creatively, but I enjoyed the act of reflecting creatively and engaging with where I live in this way. It made me feel that my reflections were valued and validated.' 'I enjoyed using sound as a medium and will definitely think about using it in the future.' 
URL http://soundingconflict.org/ResearchFindings/ResearchOutcomes/MWBDerryLondonderry/OmaghStorymap2017....
 
Title Participatory Sound Montage 
Description An audio montage of around 3 and a half minutes was constructed from the audio recordings of the first block of training sessions with Musicians without Borders in the Derry/Londonderry Music Bridge programme in April. This piece can stand as a research output in its own right, for use at conference presentations or on the website for example. However, the key use of this Montage has been as a tool to generate reflection from the MwB participants, via focus groups at the May training session. This Montage also acts as an example/catalyst towards the participants' own creative interventions and reflections. 
Type Of Art Artefact (including digital) 
Year Produced 2017 
Impact Musicians without Borders reported that they were very impressed with the process of reflection and analysis that the montage generated. They are considering ways of incorporating it Into their own evaluations to explore the effects of creative practice. 
 
Title Sounding Conflict: A Performance in Five Acts 
Description A metaphorical and physical wall serves as sonic and choreographic material around which two characters cyclically confront and enact conflict scenarios. The film asks questions about what a wall does to community. Is it protection or is it a border? Who builds a wall and for whom is it built? Framed around resistance, resilience and reconciliation, the film is a performative enquiry into relationships of power, spatial politics and identity. The film was created in the context of the The Sounding Conflict research project (AHRC/ESRC) which investigates the effects of sound and its distribution through digital media activities in conflict situations. At the core of the project are case studies in the Middle East, Brazil and Northern Ireland which serve as a basis for evaluating how sound is used to articulate experiences of violence, support narratives of resistance and promote peace building. The film is a creative response to materials and insights from three case studies. The work aims to expressively and creatively relate insights from fieldwork to re-appropriate these in an artistic context, to generate insights into commonalities and differences in conflict and post-conflict situations. Concept and Sound Design: Pedro Rebelo with Matilde Meireles Performance: Patrick J O'Reilly - Director, Joe Loane and Keith Singleton - Performers Technical assistance: Aisling McGeown, Johnny McGuiness and Craig Jackson Produced at SARC, Queen's University Belfast Duration: 30 minutes 2021 
Type Of Art Artwork 
Year Produced 2021 
Impact The work has been shown in Brazil (Museu da Maré, Rio de Janeiro) and Portugal (Jardins Efémeros, Viseu) engaging local performers and audiences. This represents ongoing impact based on the insights from the research process. Themes of conflict transformation, resistance, resilience and reconciliation are addressed in the projected film while local performers engage live with these very themes. 
URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN-TU_aw8bY&t=6s
 
Title Sounding Conflict: A Performance in Five Acts 
Description Film of the project. 
Type Of Art Film/Video/Animation 
Year Produced 2022 
Impact The film was screened in the QFT in January 2022 and reached an academic and general audience giving insight into a new way of conceptualising sound through performance. 
URL https://queensfilmtheatre.com/Whats-On/Sounding-Conflict
 
Title Storymap of Sound, Place, Image and Conflict-related Issues 
Description ? During the initial research period in April, we furnished the participants with a list of 'Sound Activities' aimed at generating creative reflections relating to the project's key themes. The options for sound activities were outlined to participants and they were invited to think about what contributions might be possible. In order to coordinate and connect their responses in a meaningful dialogue and as a comparative methodology, we created a structure for the contributions, using Storymap. Storymap allows users to arrange text, audio and visual materials on a map, which is particularly pertinent to the project's emphasis on sense of place connected to sound 
Type Of Art Artefact (including digital) 
Year Produced 2018 
Impact The impacts of this story map are ongoing and in train as the materials are in development with the participants. We intend to review the impacts of these materials over the project. 
 
Title Tony Wright - Music and Conflict 
Description Tony Wright considers the impact of Northern Ireland's Changing Political Landscape on his Music 'Tony Wright is a Belfast-based singer-songwriter (originally from the North Coast). He previously played in rock and post-rock bands such as Zombie Safari Park, Pepperbook, and most recently And So I Watch You From Afar, but now plies his trade as a solo artist. The songs featured in this interview are 'Our Truth Could be Their Lie' and 'No One As Lonely As Us'. On 2nd February 2018 at the Oh Yeah Music Centre in Belfast, the 'Take Back the City - Post-Ceasefire Songs' event was hosted by music journalist Stuart Bailie as part of the 4 Corners Festival. The event brought together four songwriters from Northern Ireland to play their music and discuss how their songwriting has been affected by a changing political landscape. This event resonated strongly with research themes of the 'Sounding Conflict: from Resistance to Reconciliation' project. Dr Jim Donaghey spoke in more detail with two of the event's participants, Ursula Burns and Tony Wright. The interviews incorporate two songs by each of these songwriters, bringing their musicality directly into the discussion of their creative practice in a post-conflict context. In this interview, Tony talks about how his music has been affected by the conflict and post-conflict context of Northern Ireland.' 
Type Of Art Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) 
Year Produced 2018 
Impact This recorded performance and interview connects the research project to the local musical landscape. 
URL http://soundingconflict.org/ResearchFindings/ResearchOutcomes/MWBDerryLondonderry/TonyWright-Musican...
 
Title Ursula Burns - Music and Conflict 
Description Ursula Burns Reflects on her Music and Northern Ireland's Arts Scene Ursula Burns is a harpist and pianist with a speciality in theatrical comedic performance. During the interview she plays two pieces: on the harp, 'Being Born'; and on the piano, 'Summer Dress' (which has not previously been recorded). On 2nd February 2018 at the Oh Yeah Music Centre in Belfast, the 'Take Back the City - Post-Ceasefire Songs' event was hosted by music journalist Stuart Bailie as part of the 4 Corners Festival. The event brought together four songwriters from Northern Ireland to play their music and discuss how their songwriting has been affected by a changing political landscape. This event resonated strongly with research themes of the 'Sounding Conflict: from Resistance to Reconciliation' project. Dr Jim Donaghey spoke in more detail with two of the event's participants, Ursula Burns and Tony Wright. The interviews incorporate two songs by each of these songwriters, bringing their musicality directly into the discussion of their creative practice in a post-conflict context. In this excerpt, Ursula shares her reflections on growing up in West Belfast during the Troubles and the post-conflict arts scene in the city. 
Type Of Art Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) 
Year Produced 2018 
Impact Published on the project website, helping to attract public attention to the project in general, and connects us with the musical landscape in our local vicinity. They involve the musicians playing songs that relate to the project themes in the local context of Northern Ireland and speaking in detail about the inspiration for the songs, and the process of creating them. Reflecting on her engagement with project, Ursula Burns said: 'it was interesting for me to observe how much my work and life has been impacted by my childhood in Belfast the questions did provoke a reflection when I turned to face the keys for writing my next body of work.' 
URL http://soundingconflict.org/ResearchFindings/ResearchOutcomes/MWBDerryLondonderry/UrsulaBurns-Musica...
 
Description In the Sounding Conflict project, thus far, we have conducted different periods of ethnographic fieldwork in Europe, the Middle East, Brazil and Northern Ireland. We have engaged in various international conferences and workshops, delivered international policy briefings and two team members have been appointed to international advisory roles. These arenas of global scholarship and public debate have enabled us a). to consolidate and deepen our key questions; b). to situate our ethnographic research findings in comparative global perspective; c) to explore the effects of new sound research methodologies in collaboration with partner organisations and research participants; and d). to increase and enhance our research networks, thereby developing wider impact opportunities with scholars, professionals and practitioners in these and other countries. Our research findings, in general, reveal how participants use sonic environments and how these can transform memory and experience; their perceptions and practices of inclusion/exclusion through sound; and how musical processes of intercultural/intergenerational exchange are differentially shaped between conflict and post-conflict settings. As our project is entitled 'Sounding Conflict: From Resistance to Reconciliation' we have a specific remit to develop interdisciplinary approaches to sound to explore its related socio-cultural dynamics. In addressing this issue, we have generated a complementary suite of sound research methodologies from social science practices, together with new research tools that have been devised specifically for creative arts and sound analysis that we are currently employing in evaluations with research participants.

Findings from the Palestine, Northern Ireland and Netherlands fieldwork with Musicians without Borders include, how participants use sonic environments and how these can transform memory and experience; perceptions and practices of inclusion/exclusion through sound; musical processes of intercultural/intergenerational exchange, including gender and ethnicity; how emotions are transformed through creativity for professional facilitation practice in conflict/post-conflict zones; the challenges of introducing music and creative practice to youth in large scale conflict/post-conflict settings; participatory and presentational techniques; and accessibility for those with disabilities, vulnerable groups in relation to specific refugee settings.

These findings have been presented at a wide variety of academic and public conferences, symposia, workshops and policy settings. They include two themed co-organised conference panels in Oxford at the Association of Social Anthropologists conference (18-21 Sept 2018) entitled 'Sounding and Performing Resistance and Resilience'. https://nomadit.co.uk/conference/asa2018/p/6778 and the Australian Anthropological Society conference (4-7 Dec. 2018) at James Cook University, Cairns entitled 'Performing Heritage, Sustaining Livelihoods'. From these panels, Magowan has co-edited a 2019 special volume of Music and Arts in Action with Donnan, 'Sounding and Performing Resistance and Resilience', https://musicandartsinaction.net/index.php/maia/issue/view/sounding%20and%20performing%20resistance%20and%20resilience
In September 2018, Milton-Edwards met with various Syrian Hip Hop and Rap stars. She conducted fieldwork in Amman, Jordan at a Hip, Hop and Rap festival organised by Institute Francaise Amman and interviewed Rap and Hip-Hop artists, producers, DJs, dancers, promoters and festival organisers. Audience research was also undertaken. Initial findings revealed (i) important gendered dimensions about music, accessibility and space (ii) links to resistance and youth sub-cultures perceived by social and governing authorities as constituting one dimension of the wider exclusion and marginalisation of youth(s) in Jordan (iii) audience participation and 'performance' within performance becomes an improvised music intervention and act of resistance. Some of these findings are informing a book chapter 'Hip Hop and Rap: Improvising Music in Amman' for a collection entitled Sound Changes: Improvisation, Social Practice and Cultural Difference.

Research conducted by Rebelo and Magowan in the Maré favela in Rio de Janeiro in August 2017 reviewed the impact of a sound art installation. Findings from the sound installation, together with techniques used in this strand of the project, were published in a co-authored chapter by Rebelo 'Som da Mare and Participatory Sonic Arts: Towards a socially engaged art of sound in the everyday (In S. Emmerson (ed.) The Routledge Research Companion to Electronic Music: Reaching out with Technology. London: Routledge. These findings are currently being prepared together with those of the other work streams for the final sound art installation to be showcased in Derry/Londonderry and Brazil. Due to the Covid pandemic the sound art installation is being produced as a film. Sounding Conflict: A Performance in Five Acts was premiered as a film at Queen's Film Theatre, Belfast in January 2022 followed by a discussion panel with Rebelo, Magowan and Lehner and is planned for screening in an installation format in Museu da Maré, Rio de Janeiro (June 2022) and Jardins Efémeros, Viseu Portugal (July 2022). The work brings together insights from each case study and articulates themes through a thirty minute performance, sound materials from fieldwork and quotes from participants. The work was led by Rebelo with Matilde Meireles and in collaboration with Tinderbox Theatre Company. The collective findings from the project have been prepared for a co-authored monograph, Sounding Conflict: From Resistance to Reconciliation which is under review with Bloomsbury Academic.
Exploitation Route Our research impacts are being disseminated and adopted through invitations to participate in range of international research networks, conferences and workshops not only in the countries participating in the project but also in new linkages with other projects in Brazil, Africa, Japan and Australia. In the Middle East, for example, research findings are feeding into policy agendas on the use of sound and music for social intervention, justice and peacebuilding. Our research methods have already been taken up by other arts and community organisations for their own use, as evidenced in the adoption of insights from the Musicians Without Borders report and the successful application for funding between Min On Music Research Institute and Beyond Skin. As a result of our engagement, Musicians Without Borders have further employed academics working in other countries to develop evaluations in relation to the research methods which we have been using. We have published our insights into the impacts of MWB methods in an evaluation report. Our theoretical insights and research methods for the whole project are being prepared for book publication which is under review with Bloomsbury Academic.
Sectors Communities and Social Services/Policy

Creative Economy

Government

Democracy and Justice

URL http://soundingconflict.org
 
Description 1. Media Impacts The project was first published and showcased at the Research Impact Showcase at QUB on 16 February 2017. It was part of Volume VI of Pioneering Research, Global Impact, bringing awareness to the public of the potential impacts of the research. https://www.qub.ac.uk/about/Filestore/Filetoupload,754590,en.pdf Our Sounding Conflict website has been completed with all social media platforms available for dissemination and further impact developments http://www.soundingconflict.org/ The two-day Sounding Conflict Symposium, 28-29 November 2019 was reported on by Shared Future News: https://sharedfuture.news/2019/12/02/musicking-for-peacebuilding/ Magowan and Donaghey have been invited to discuss the research on radio, Drive 105.3 FM. 2. Socio-Cultural Impacts with Stakeholders, User groups and Focus Groups. Our research on participatory music-making with the two partner organisations, Sounds of Palestine and Musicians without Borders based in Palestine, Derry/Londonderry and the Netherlands has elicited a range of impacts upon facilitators, youth, directors and groups with whom music facilitators work. Across workshops, focus groups and interviews, we have documented the changing perspectives of participants through their involvement in different types of sound, music and arts engagements. These key themes were highlighted in the course of participatory evaluation workshops, in interviews and in focus groups with facilitators and trainees. Sounds of Palestine: Norman spent three weeks in March 2017 in Bethlehem with Musicians without Borders, Palestine and Sounds of Palestine. She observed over 30 hours of varied programming, recorded multiple sound samples, and conducted interviews with project staff. Her research focused on the following themes: music as therapeutic/transformative in conflict; music as a tool for engaging marginalized groups such as refugees, youth, women in conflict; the importance of a conflict trajectory/context in which music in Palestine is used for resilience and for peacebuilding within the Palestinian community; the effects of music on youth musicians, audience, families, teachers/trainers; the accessibility of music often limited by conflict but also by socioeconomic conditions; the balance between western classical training and traditional practice in local and international perceptions and priorities, as well as understanding gender and religious sensitivities. The findings of the research in both regions are being prepared for journal articles relating to music/sound-based programmes in protracted and post-conflict situations. We also remain in discussion with Musicians without Borders for various options to pursue with them within and beyond the programmes with which Norman, Magowan and Donaghey have been involved. Musicians Without Borders Northern Ireland/The Netherlands: We have established further impact through the following methods and reports. In April and May 2017, Magowan and Donaghey conducted two periods of fieldwork at Musicians without Borders' training programmes in Derry/Londonderry, during more than 80 hours of programming, which included innovative surveys and digital tools co-developed with the NGO. These facilitated participant reflections on emotional transformation through musical practice over time. The fieldwork also comprised of interviews with all participants and MwB staff, focus groups with participants, as well as audio/visual recordings of sessions and surveys evaluating the training. The second fieldtrip provided multiple audio/visual samples of practice and a new set of surveys. We have further sought to follow participants post-training and we are in the process of developing a digital map of place-specific accounts of the impact of music and creative practice in their own areas and the impacts of these practices upon their own groups. In October 2017, Donaghey conducted fieldwork at the Netherlands' Musicians Without Borders Training of Trainers' programme in Ede. Magowan and Donaghey's 2018 'Musicians without Borders Music Bridge and Training of Trainers Final Survey Report' compares MwB's Training of Trainer's programme held in Ede with that of the Music Bridge programme in Derry/Londonderry. In Northern Ireland, Musicians without Borders have since adopted some of the tools, methodologies and evaluative analyses generated by this project into their evaluation forms and surveys. The findings have helped to advance their organisation's theory of change. Musee da Mare, Brazil: Rebelo and Magowan conducted research in the Maré favela in Rio de Janeiro in August 2017 to review the impact of a sound art installation created by Rebelo in 2014. Rebelo briefed the Maré favela participants on the installation and invited reflections upon their involvement in it and the impact of sounds in the favela upon their daily lives. Magowan conducted interviews with these favela participants to assess the ongoing effects and transformations of sound and creative practice in this conflict area. As a result of this research, Rebelo and Magowan were invited to discuss the project at a postgraduate ethnomusicology research seminar at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Middle East (Jordan, Qatar): In a series of meetings in October and November 2017 and in ongoing consultation, Milton-Edwards was invited to brief Project Managers and the Country Director for Action Aid ARI Jordan on refugee communities, youth and music/sound interventions. This included expert advice on music programming and interventions by NGOs specifically with youth constituencies and their link to youth cohesion and wider social/political and security programming as NGOs and government interface. AA ARI subsequently invited Milton-Edwards to undertake an assessment and give policy recommendations on the effectiveness of their music programming interventions with refugee youth in Jordan. In November 2017, Milton-Edwards met with Al-Jazeera in Doha Qatar to discuss the possibility of making a programme or filming a programme segment on Arab Hip-Hop/Rap and youth narratives, identity formation and resilience among displaced communities and their new diasporic belongings. Middle East (Lebanon): Norman's 2018 project with Syrian refugees on the Sounding Conflict grant built on her earlier research on Syrian refugee youth resilience published in the Forced Migration Review (February), entitled 'Refugee youth, unemployment and extremism: countering the myth', providing complementary research on non-traditional approaches to building resilience in refugee communities. In August 2018, Norman facilitated a soundscape workshop with Syrian refugee youth in Tripoli, Lebanon, to explore sound as a marker of place and identity. Twelve youth (six boys and six girls), ages 10-13 years old, participated in a sound walk (listening to and recording sounds in the neighbourhood); making a sound map (drawing a community map based on the sounds recorded); creating a sound poem (using sound to build a narrative of the past, present, and future); and telling sound stories (drawing and sharing personal stories using sound). Research themes included: sound as a tool for engaging marginalised groups such as refugees and youth in conflict; sound as a tool for storytelling, especially for sharing difficult memories; sound as a method for transcending language barriers and limitations for refugee communities; sound as a tool for changing perspective and understanding of self and place; sound recording/production as a tool for resilience and expression. The findings of the research will be triangulated with those from Palestine (and Brazil) for comparative analysis in a journal article. At this time, Norman also conducted several interviews with rap and breakdance artists in Lebanon to complement the work of Milton-Edwards. In June-July 2019, Norman conducted interviews with members of Laban, a community theatre company in Beirut, and also with members of Fighters for Peace (FFP), a Lebanese NGO comprised of former fighters now working for peace, who have collaborated with Laban. Norman also observed several of Laban's performances, including a playback theatre performance on women and gender and a participatory performance with Syrian refugees. The interviews focused on the role of storytelling and theatre in resilience and reconciliation in relation to Lebanon's civil war and also the ongoing conflict in Syria. Norman will return in March 2020 for follow-up interviews regarding the role of storytelling and theatre during Lebanon's revolution that began in November 2019. Impacts of Creative Outputs: In 2018, Donaghey worked with participants from the Musicians without Borders training programmes to create StoryMaps addressing the project themes. These StoryMaps have been published on the project website. The participants were invited to write about the effects of the creative process for their own work and the impacts that engaging with sound, place and memories of conflict had upon them. One participant noted, "I found it challenging, personally and creatively, but I enjoyed the act of reflecting creatively and engaging with where I live in this way. It made me feel that my reflections were valued and validated." "I enjoyed using sound as a medium and will definitely think about using it in the future." Another wrote, "I did a lot of reflecting the entire process completely changed my perspective on the wide reaching effects of war..." Additionally, Donaghey worked with local musicians to create recordings of their songs and stories titled 'My Music Life', published on the project website. The musicians performed their own songs about issues relating to conflict and peacebuilding in Northern Ireland and reflected on the effectiveness of this process in preparing for the next project. Theatre Northern Ireland: From June to August 2018, Stefanie Lehner organised a series of workshops with communities in Rathcoole and Poleglass in collaboration with David Grant. They met leaders of youth projects and community organisations and held a total of three workshops with a variety of groups in Rathcoole. Each had a spread of age-ranges and gender balance. The workshops focused on creative responses to three productions - 'Those You Pass on The Streets', 'Green & Blue' and 'Lives in Translation' - by the theatre company Kabosh. The workshops explored the role of drama in conveying participants' experiences and understandings of the Northern Irish conflict and other forms of violence. David Grant used techniques from Augusto Boal's Image Theatre to tease out individual and group responses to theatrical representations of the ethno-national/sectarian 'other' and his/her experiences. The workshops highlighted the role of drama in creating empathy and understanding of experiences of trauma, violence, bullying and policing, thereby impacting participants' understandings of post-conflict Northern Ireland. In August 2018, Lehner worked with TheatreofplucK and The Rainbow Project on the production of their immersive audio theatre walking tour, 'So I can Breathe This Air', which is based on interviews with the Rainbow Project's Gay Ethnic Group (GEG). She participated in two workshops with GEG organised by the leader of GEG and Theatreofpluck on (i) the role and importance of storytelling and music for healing and conflict transformation; (ii) the experience of being LGBT and moving to/living in Northern Ireland; and (iii) listening to the audio journeys and analysing the impact they have on audiences' understandings of others' experiences and their own perceptions of post-conflict Belfast. Lehner also conducted interviews with the playwright, sound engineer and the leader of GEG on these issues. She will compare the findings of these workshops with the insights to sound in conflict transformation for a journal article. In January and February 2019, Lehner worked on a sound project associated with the Tinderbox Theatre Company's adaptation of Ubu the King (original Ubu Roi by Alfred Jarry 1896) with a group of 14 QUB Sonic Arts Research Centre students for four weeks. The play was written around sound atmospheres that evoke narratives of conflict and the usurping of power in this contemporary restaging. The group recorded five rehearsals, five to six full productions and a post-show discussion. The discussion included questionnaires and explored audience reactions to the play and its belliphonic sounds. The findings are currently being evaluated for a journal article. 3. International Expert Advisory Meetings and Symposia i). From 1-2 Nov. 2017, the first Sounding Conflict advisory meetings were held with our international expert advisor, from Min-On Music Research Institute, Tokyo and partner organisations. Following presentations by the team in the 1 November workshop, our international expert advisor offered critically constructive input and feedback on sound and rhythm in conflict transformation processes and peacebuilding theories as they pertain to the overall goals and aims of the project. On 2 Nov. we hosted a larger partner forum to facilitate dialogue among our key arts' partners from the spheres of music, dance, theatre, creative practice and arts policy who had not met together before for this kind of debate. Participants included the Musicians Without Borders' director, project manager and Music Bridge facilitator, four Directors of Northern Ireland theatres, the Arts Director of Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin and the Director of Min-On Music Research Institute, Tokyo. These two days of workshops stimulated energetic cross-cutting debate about the current state of the arts internationally and comparatively. They specifically highlighted the value of the arts in both speaking about conflict issues, as well as offering a medium through which to ameliorate their effects. We collectively reviewed issues of language use, interpretation and the impact of sound and the arts in conflict and post-conflict settings, as well as input into planning for the sound art installation. Our partners offered key directions and advice on further developments in each area and in the integration of the research. These stakeholders variously expressed how encouraging, thought-provoking and productive it had been to exchange ideas across different arenas and to view the issues in comparative global perspective. They also expressed a desire to further their collaborations between themselves regarding theatre practice as well as sound, music and arts facilitation. Our discussions generated new ways of thinking around developing policy recommendations about arts and social justice, which we are intending to take forward in future forums. ii). On 6 Nov. 2018, we held our annual expert advisory meeting with our international advisor, Dr. Urbain, (Min-On Music Research Institute, Tokyo) as well as a team review meeting. This was followed on 7 Nov. 2018 with our annual symposium hosted by the Mitchell Institute. Entitled, 'Sounds of Affect and Innovation: Conflict Transformation in the Arts' six speakers and the director of the Min-On Music Research Institute, Tokyo, Dr. Urbain, gave presentations across two panels. Theatre directors from Kabosh and TheatreofPluck joined with the directors of two Northern Ireland music/arts organizations, Beat Carnival and Beyond Skin. During the symposium, we explored changing sound practices over time and their effects on the development of arts' programmes locally and internationally. To close the event, Rebelo screened his film arising from GCRF funded research in Mozambique entitled, 'Behind the Performance' for the participants at the Sonic Arts Research Centre. iii). On 27 Nov. 2019 we held our annual expert advisory meeting followed by a two-day 'Sounding Conflict Symposium', 28-29 Nov. The event comprised a series of discussion panels, creative workshops and films to an international audience including c60 postgraduates, academics, the public, arts' practitioners and representatives from international NGOs, as well as UK and regional county councils. Beginning with a keynote by our international expert advisor, Dr. Urbain (Min-On Music Research Institute, Tokyo) and presentations of research findings by Magowan, Rebelo and Lehner, the symposium examined the diversity of sonic processes in conflict and post-conflict contexts, considering some of the challenges they present for academics, practitioners and organisations. https://sharedfuture.news/2019/12/02/musicking-for-peacebuilding/ The next panel brought together our international partners and NGO directors, from Lebanese Theatre (Farah Wardani), the Derry Playhouse (Elaine Forde) and Beyond Skin (Darren Ferguson). This discussion was chaired by Dr. Katy Radford, (Vice Chair of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Project Manager of the Institute of Conflict Research). The issues raised in these discussions highlighted some common critical concerns about the role of the arts as well as generating new insights about how the arts being applied in forum theatre in the current situation of conflict in Lebanon. The afternoon finished with a film discussion on hip hop and graffiti art in Derry/Londonderry with the filmmaker and producer. The second day began with a session on creative theatre practice, inviting the 40 audience members to generate their own collaborative responses in sound and movement to theatre practitioner, Orla McKeagney's directions, further facilitating an immersive experience of the effects of forum theatre practice. Over lunch, Rebelo screened the film Behind a Performance about the Tufo women of Mozambique which performatively and sonically analyses this traditional repertoire. The afternoon brought the audience on a participatory soundwalk through the streets of Belfast in a film 'So I can Breathe this Air' produced by TheatreofPluck followed by lively discussion between the scriptwriter, producers and audience. A final closing session led by the research team invited feedback from the audience on their experiences and what they considered to be the impact of the event. Many noted how it had brought new understanding and radical engagement with sonic processes in ways they had not experienced previously. Others requested further information and follow up meetings, some with the view to presenting and developing the research insights shared at this event within their own communities. 4. Public Lectures and International Workshops In June 2017, Rebelo gave a keynote address, "Sounding Conflict Aural Experiences in the Everyday" at the International Symposium for Electronic Arts, Columbia. The presentation highlighted the use of sonic arts as a medium of social intervention, documentation and change in a conference which brought together theoreticians, researchers, managers and creators of electronic arts to discuss and showcase their work. In August, Rebelo, also gave a keynote address at the 17th ANPPOM Congress (the National Association for Research and Graduate Studies in Music) in Unicamp, Brazil on 'Participatory Sonic Arts'. The audience included researchers, staff, students and music professionals. In August 2017, Magowan gave a keynote address, "Creativity in Conflict Transformation: Issues and Approaches for the Local Musicking FAPESP Study Group Network, Unicamp, in Sao Paulo, Brazil followed by a half-day workshop. These events were attended by a mix of around 50 staff and postgraduate researchers as well as professional musicians. Four new musical pieces were composed during the workshop. Participants were invited to reflect on sounds and senses of place and identity in relation to conflict transformation and peacebuilding. The process was filmed by the Study Group for their promotion and the success of the compositions and the workshop resulted in the group deciding to continue working on this theme for their following meetings. In October, Magowan presented a keynote address, 'Shaping Peace through Sound Practices', at the Tokyo Min-On Concert Association. This public address was part of week-long invitation to participate in a series of research workshops with the Min-On Music Research Institute. The presentation was streamed and it was reported in a Tokyo newspaper with an estimated readership of five million people. On 3 May 2019, Magowan presented a paper on 'Dance, Art and Drama in Conflict Transformation' to health practitioners, academics and the general public at the Global Health Symposium, http://ghs.qub.ac.uk/programme.html On 3 Feb. 2020, she presented findings to the QUB interdisciplinary workshop 'Health in Conflict and Humanitarian Settings' on the potential for empowering wellbeing for youth through sound and music. In August 2019, Lehner gave the keynote, "From Stage (Northern) Irish Ubu to New Queer Belongings: Sounding Conflict and Performing Reconciliation in Post-Agreement Theatre from Northern Ireland" at the EFACIS (The European Federation of Associations and Centres of Irish Studies) conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The talk presented findings from her work with two theatre companies, Tinderbox and TheatreofplucK and provided examples and detailed analyses of the impact of their sonic interventions on audiences. The conference was attended by c70 European academics and postgraduate researchers, as well as Irish writers and members of the Irish Embassy in Slovenia. 5. International Policy Advice In October 2017, Milton-Edwards was invited by the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to give a confidential one-to-one policy briefing session to the Swedish Ambassador in Jordan about Youth cohesion, challenges and security in Jordan. This briefing also included an outline of Sounding Resistance in Jordan/Syria/Levant and policy implications of refugee youth identities and the role of music interventions in resilience building. The Ambassador's portfolio includes policy advice to the Swedish government on humanitarian and development assistance including the role of Swedish development institutions in Jordan and Lebanon. In November 2017, Milton-Edwards gave a keynote talk on 'Youth cohesion in Jordan' in Amman, Jordan to Action Aid, ARI and Danida, which has led to ongoing policy advice and evaluation plans. In 2018, Norman was invited as an expert speaker on youth and resilience at the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF) in Geneva. The address was part of a two-day workshop with policymakers, practitioners, and academics to share insights on preventing violent extremism via community-based approaches such as youth engagement. In November 2019, Norman was invited as an expert speaker on 'Resilience in Fragile Contexts' at the Bond NGO Conference in London, a consortium of humanitarian aid and development practitioners. 6. International Advisory Panels The PaCCS research has provided a platform for creating new international networks in sound, music, storytelling in relation to conflict and peacebuilding. In October 2017, Magowan was invited to contribute to the work of the Min-On Music Research Institute in a week-long series of workshops, presentations and discussions with staff of the Research Institute and in meetings with the Min-On Concert Association. As a result of this engagement, she has since been appointed as international expert advisor to the Min-On Music Research Institute in Tokyo. In April 2019, Magowan presented a paper at the inaugural meeting of the Nordoff Robbins' Institute of Music Therapy on 'Music and Prevention' and was an advisory at an international day-long workshop at the Institute. 7. Networks and Influences upon other Funded Projects In November 2016, Magowan attended the PaCCS project meeting in London and discussed interconnections with the other PaCCS project leads. Her presentation on sound and the arts was noted by the Refugee Hosts project and, as a result, their PI included a creative arts dimension by appointing an artist-in-residence on sound, art and poetry to the Refugee Hosts PaCCS project. In September 2017, Rebelo and Magowan attended the second PaCCS project meeting in London. This resulted in plans to develop PaCCS interlinkages by further involving PaCCS grant holders at the symposia/conference. In November 2018, Donaghey attended the closing symposium of the 'Art and Reconciliation' PaCCs funded project at King's College London. Donaghey was invited to join a panel of other PaCCs funded projects in discussing the impact of their methodologies, speaking about our research with Musicians Without Borders' community music making initiatives and training, which led to knowledge exchange around the emotion methods we have employed. 8. The insights exchanged during this symposium led to the development of a funded collaborative project between Dr. Urbain and Beyond Skin with a series of visits between the directors in Japan and Northern Ireland in 2019. The project is to develop a music video between Japanese and Northern Irish high school pupils on the theme of healing the planet, the biosphere and humanity and how music can enable them to grow and connect. 9. Mozambique: Rebelo and Magowan's related project, The Role of Music in Conflict Transformation, has revealed a link between the PaCCS project partner Museu da Maré and IVERCA, the partner for the Mozambique project, in the context of broader comparative work between the Maré Favela and the Mafalala neighbourhood in Maputo. This link represents additional international reach in terms of impact and is being explored further. In February 2018, Magowan was awarded a GCRF DfE grant on 'Dance, Art and Empathy in Conflict Transformation'. Magowan, Rebelo and three QUB academics from Geography, Cognition and the Mitchell Institute, together with a South African artist, undertook a week of workshops on empathy and the arts in conflict transformation in Mozambique. These workshops involved a rapper, singer, artist and a dance company with two NGOs and resulted in a public performance in the main town square in Xipamanine. A short film and photographic artwork were produced from these activities for the two NGO's, as part of their new creative hub. 10. Magowan's research with Musicians without Borders (MWB) in Derry/Londonderry and Palestine led to further interconnected fieldwork that she conducted in Sydney and Brisbane, Australia, in 2017 and in Dec-Jan 2018- 2019, with two music groups working with refugees. The Brisbane group had previously been involved with an international MWB music day. Interviews were conducted with musicians, music facilitators, filmmakers, refugee NGO support workers and music producers. Findings from this research were presented at a keynote lecture in June 2018 for the U2 World Conference, with academics, practitioners and music NGOs entitled 'Can Music End Conflict? Ethnomusicology and Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Politics of Persuasion and Peacebuilding'. The research further resulted in two associated conference panels (2018), two journal articles (2019). Magowan also produced a video interview about the documentary available on the website, http://www.soundingconflict.org. 11. From September - Nov. 2020 Magowan ran a research-led module with academics and practitioners working on performance in conflict related contexts. The Politics of Performance: From Negotiation to Display module involved weekly workshops with musicians, music producers, researchers and performers who shared their experiences of music around the globe from music therapy in the US to Malian rap, British Grime, Rap and Trap, the Afghan women's orchestra, Colombian youth and music making to men's mental health in parading. Students produced creative work and a blog in collaboration with these musicians and artists which can be viewed at http://soundingconflict.org/research-centres/SoundingConflict/NewsEvents/RelatedProjects/PoliticsofPerformance/ 12. In November 2020, Sounding Conflict: From Resistance to Reconciliation was one of six projects shortlisted for the Times Higher Education Awards Arts and Humanities Research Project of the Year. 13. In March 2022 Rebelo was a panel member for a roundtable on music and conflict for two radio programmes in the series 'Música de Invenção e Pesquisa" for the Portuguese national broadcaster RTP2 which includes an excerpt from the soundtrack of Sounding Conflict: A Performance in Five Acts.
Sector Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Government, Democracy and Justice,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections
Impact Types Cultural

Societal

Policy & public services

 
Description Conflict and International Development Innovation Awards
Amount £100,000 (GBP)
Funding ID AH/P00816X/1 
Organisation Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 03/2017 
End 12/2017
 
Description Global Challenges Research Fund
Amount £28,984 (GBP)
Organisation Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 08/2017 
End 03/2018
 
Description Action Aid ARI Refugees and Rap Assessment of Programme 
Organisation ActionAid
Department Arab Regional Initiative
Country Jordan 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution Action Aid ARI, Amman, Jordan ran a 6 month programme working with Refugee Youth using opportunities to engage with hip hop and rap music in a number of youth hubs and centres across Jordan in 2017. The programme was conducted by Turning Tables. I am going to conduct a programme assessment and deliver policy recommendations to Action Aid ARI on this project impact and outcomes within a wider framework of assessment on Refugee youth, youth cohesion and youth resilience. In November 2017 Action Aid ARI asked me to deliver a keynote speech in Amman Jordan at a one day workshop for government policy-makers, NGOs, donors and civil society organizations on youth cohesion issues in Jordan. The Ministry of Youth and Sport also asked me to input into their National Strategy making process on youth in Jordan, including refugee youth.
Collaborator Contribution Contribution thus far has been a series of policy advice briefings to Action Aid ARI staff, including regional director, key-note speech, advise to the Jordanian government, advise (on request) to the Swedish Ambassador in Amman, Jordan.
Impact Meeting minutes (AA ARI), agreements. The collaboration is not necessarily multi-disciplinary but it is policy-focused
Start Year 2017
 
Description Collaboration on final project installation 
Organisation Tinderbox Theatre Company
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution Working with Professor Rebelo on the devising of a performance and filming. This will provide the materials for the design of the final Sounding Conflict installation.
Collaborator Contribution Direction and performance of actions reflecting project field work.
Impact Installation
Start Year 2020
 
Description Expert Advisor for Min-On Music Research Institute 
Organisation Min-On Music Research Institute
Country Japan 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution As a direct collaboration between our expert advisor, Dr. Olivier Urbain and myself, I was invited to present a keynote at the Min-On Music Research Institute's public Annual Report Conference and to participate in a week of workshop planning for their new Music institute. I was then invited to be the first of two expert advisors to the Min-On Music Research Institute.
Collaborator Contribution Our international expert advisor, Dr. Urbain, Director of the Min-On Music Research Institute is a renowned figure in the field of music in peacebuilding. He established the Min-On Music Research Institute in 2014 to develop research collaborations and programmes to enhance peacebuilding activities through music. Our collaboration with the Min-On Music Research Institute began in 2015 and he subsequently held a Leverhulme Visiting Research Professorship in the Mitchell Institute in 2016. On 1 November 2017, we welcomed Dr. Urbain to our first annual themes and methods workshop. He reviewed the project goals to date and he offered critical input to our overall project goals, thematic interconnections and peacebuilding theories. He then participated in a day long workshop with all of the partner organisations and presented on issues of resistance and resilience in Japanese music contexts.
Impact Media newspaper report in Soka news of the keynote presented at the public Annual Report Conference.
Start Year 2017
 
Description Kabosh Theatre Company 
Organisation Kabosh Theatre
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Research and assess past and current productions in terms of their impact on the audience; planning to conduct audience response workshops with a professional faciliatator (ongoing); conduct interviews with members of the company and selected audience members of productions.
Collaborator Contribution Access to materials (play scripts, feedback forms, recordings, etc.) of past productions; consultation and support for planning of workshops and post dicussions.
Impact Still Ongoing.
Start Year 2017
 
Description Museu da Maré 
Organisation Museum of the Tide
Country Brazil 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution Exhibition, collaborative project.
Collaborator Contribution Hosting collaborative project. Coordination of interviews.
Impact Exhibition: Som da Maré
Start Year 2014
 
Description Musicians Without Borders Palestine/Sounds of Palestine 
Organisation Musicians without Borders
Country Netherlands 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution Observed projects in March 2017
Collaborator Contribution Participated in interviews and facilitated visit in March 2017
Impact Still ongoing
Start Year 2017
 
Description Musicians without Borders (Music Bridge Programme Derry/Londonderry) 
Organisation Musicians without Borders
Country Netherlands 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution Prof. Magowan and Dr. Donaghey conducted fieldwork at two MwB training programmes across April and May, totalling around 80 hours of training. The 5-day programme entailed interviews with all participants and MwB staff, audio-visual recordings of sessions and surveys evaluating the training programme. The second fieldtrip provided multiple audio/visual samples of practice and a new set of surveys. The research has led to the production of a final report.
Collaborator Contribution Musicians without Borders provided access to the programme, facilitated liaisons with participants and trainers, contributed their materials for our reflection and analysis and offered ongoing support throughout the research period. We have been collaborating with their training evaluator in relation to developing further their Theory of Change through our research findings. They have also provided audio-visual materials for further analysis.
Impact Magowan, F. and J. Donaghey January 2018. Sounding Conflict: From Resistance to Reconciliation, Musicians without Borders Music Bridge and Training of Trainers 2017 Report.
Start Year 2017
 
Description Musicians without Borders (Training of Trainers, Netherlands) 
Organisation Musicians without Borders
Country Netherlands 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution Dr. Donaghey was invited to carry out an evaluation for Musicians without Borders. In late October 2017, he conducted fieldwork at Eden, the Netherlands for the MwB Training of Trainers' programme. he interviewed 16 of 49 participants and took part in a week long training programme. The results of the surveys were compiled in a draft report in 2017 and constitute part of the comparative Music Bridge and Training of Trainers' final report for Musicians without Borders.
Collaborator Contribution Musicians without Borders provided access to the participants and support with consent and space to conduct the evaluation. Dr. Donaghey was also able to participate in the training programme.
Impact 1. Donaghey, J. 2017 Training of Trainers' Report; 2. Magowan, F. and J. Donaghey 2018. Final Musicians without Borders Report 2017
Start Year 2017
 
Description The Playhouse Derry 
Organisation The Playhouse Derry
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Research and assess past and current productions in terms of their impact on the audience; planning to conduct audience response workshops with a professional faciliatator (ongoing); planning to conduct interviews with members of the company and selected audience members of productions.
Collaborator Contribution Access to materials (play scripts, feedback forms, recordings, etc.) of past productions; consultation and support for planning of workshops and post dicussions.
Impact Ongoing.
Start Year 2017
 
Description TheatreofplucK Theatre Company 
Organisation TheatreofplucK
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution Dr Lehner researches and assesses past and current productions in terms of their impact on the audience; conduct audience response workshops with artistic director; conduct interviews with members of the company and selected audience members of shows. Dr Lehner is acting as Board Member to the company.
Collaborator Contribution Dr Rea (artistic director) facilitated workshops for participants; he is also helping to plan to deliver post show discussions and workshops to evaluate audience response, and provides access to materials (play scripts, feedback forms, recordings, etc.) of past productions, as well as general consultation and support.
Impact Stefanie Lehner, 'Parallel Games' and Queer Memories: Performing LGBT Testimonies in Northern Ireland. Irish University Review, Volume 47 Issue 1, Page 103-118, ISSN 0021-1427 (https://doi.org/10.3366/iur.2017.0259)
Start Year 2016
 
Description Tinderbox Theatre Company 
Organisation Tinderbox Theatre Company
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution Research and assess past and current productions in terms of their impact on the audience; planning to conduct audience response workshops with a professional faciliatator (ongoing). Acting as a Board Member to the company, offer advice and support on their programme.
Collaborator Contribution Access to materials (play scripts, feedback forms, recordings, etc.) of past productions; consultation and support for planning of workshops and post dicussions.
Impact Still Ongoing. P
Start Year 2017
 
Description Dance, Drama and Art in Conflict Transformation 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact As a result of a successful application for further funding for a separate project, Magowan, Rebelo and QUB academics from Geography, Cognition and the Mitchell Institute, together with a South African artist undertook a week of workshops with Machaka dance company on dance, empathy and the arts in conflict transformation in Mozambique 5-14 February 2018. These workshops resulted in a public performance in the main town square in Xipamanine with a rapper, singer, artist and a dance company. A short film and photographic artwork have also been produced.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Day 1 Sounding Conflict Symposium: Research Presentations 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact This two-day international symposium was the third annual event in the Sounding Conflict project. It brought together professional artists, filmmakers, creative practitioners, theatre directors, representatives from the music industry, NGOs to consider the impact of creative practices in conflict and post-conflict settings. Following three research team presentations by Magowan, Rebelo and Lehner a range of audience participants discussed the impact of the research insights in relation to their own areas of work. They also requested further information and requested our participation in other activities.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/SoundingConflict/NewsEvents/SoundingConflictSymposium2019/Sym...
 
Description Expert speaker at Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Approximately 60 practitioners and researchers from around the world gathered in Geneva in September 2018 for a workshop coordinated by the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF) on preventing violent extremism through grassroots initiatives such as youth engagement. I spoke on my work on resilience and radicalisation, including insights from working with refugee youth.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Keynote Address at ANPPOM 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Keynote Address at ANPPOM
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Keynote ISEA2017: Sounding Conflict: Aural Experiences in the Everyday 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact International Symposium for Electronic Arts Keynote address (audience c. 300)
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://www.isea2017.disenovisual.com/
 
Description Keynote address at EFACIS conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Keynote entitled, 'From Stage (Northern) Irish Ubu to New Queer Belongings: Sounding Conflict and Performing Reconciliation in Post-Agreement Theatre from Northern Ireland', 12th Conference of the European Federation of Associations and Centres of Irish Studies (EFACIS), University of Ljubljana, 29 August-1 September 2019.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.efacis.eu/event/efacis-2019-stage-irish
 
Description Magowan, F. "Creativity in Conflict Transformation: Issues and Approaches, Local Musicking FAPESP Study Group Network, Unicamp, Sao Paulo, Brazil. August 2017. 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact This event entailed a funded invitation to address professional musicians, postgraduates and undergraduates in both a keynote lecture and workshop facilitation. The topic of the workshop facilitation reflecting on music, memory and conflict transformation led to new the creation of new pieces of music that were performed and filmed for the group's study archive. As a result, they have decided to focus more directly on these issues and to develop further networks and study days on these issues.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Magowan, F. Min-on Music Research Institute, Tokyo Japan. 'Shaping Peace through Sound Practices', delivered for a public audience of the Min-On Concert Association. 19 Oct. 2017 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact This keynote was given to an invited public audience at the Min-On Concert Association, Tokyo, Japan. A summary of the address was published in a Tokyo paper with an estimated audience of 5 million.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://institute.min-on.org/newsandtopics/item/2017-momri-annual-report-conference-transforming-beha...
 
Description PaCCS Advisory Partner Meeting 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Third sector organisations
Results and Impact Nine directors of arts organisations (some international and some regional) met in November 2017 to discuss the findings of the three workstreams in the PaCCS grant to date. Partners offered key directions and advice on further developments across the work streams; they expressed a desire to further their collaborations and it stimulated some new ways of thinking around developing policies.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Partner Workshop 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Third sector organisations
Results and Impact The day long PaCCS partner workshop on 2 November 2017 brought together the main regional (as well as some international) project partners, including the four theatre companies that WS 3b) is working with: the themes highlighted and the topics discussed during the workshop are now shaping the development of the planned audience response workshops with those companies, and all four companies reported increased interest in the project as a whole as well as in contributing to the sound part installation and establish links between each other and with the other project parents (for instance, Musicians Without Borders).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Presentation Reconciliation and The Politics of Friendship 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Presentation of a paper entitled '(In)Differences?: The Politics of Friendship in post-Troubles Literature', at 18th International Conference of the Spanish Association for Irish Studies (AEDEI) 2019, University of the Balearic Islands, 29 May -1 June 2019. Paper sparked discussion of concept of reconciliation in the context of Northern Ireland and beyond.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Public Talk: 'What do we (not) talk about when we talk about Reconciliation?', RES|FEST 2018, Ulster Museum Belfast, 26 October 2018. 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Public Talk on 'What do we (not) talk about when we talk about Reconciliation?', as part of the RES|FEST 2018, Ulster Museum Belfast, 26 October 2018.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.nmni.com/whats-on/resfest-belfast
 
Description Sounding Conflict Artwork Discussion 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Debate focusing on the artwork Sounding Conflict: A Performance in Five Acts after the opening of the show at Museu da Maré, Rio de Janeiro. The debate included the creators of the work, Pedro Rebelo and Matilde Meireles, Museum Director Antonio Carlos Pinto Vieira, and Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Professor Samuel Araújo.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Sounding Conflict Symposium: Day 1: Challenges in Arts and Social Practice 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact This expert panel held on the first day of the Sounding Conflict Symposium raised key debates relating to challenges for practitioners nationally and internationally in delivering the arts. It was attended by professional artists, filmmakers, creative practitioners, theatre directors, representatives from the music industry, NGOs to consider the impact of creative practices in conflict and post-conflict settings. The audience Q&A raised lively discussion and some audience members reported that it had brought new and significant insights to their understanding of the issues.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/SoundingConflict/NewsEvents/SoundingConflictSymposium2019/Sym...
 
Description Sounding Conflict: A Performance in Five Acts 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact 40 audience members attending the screening of the film of the project in Queen's Film Theatre. There was question and discussion afterwards with Professor Rebelo, Professor Magowan and Dr. Lehner which explored the nature of sound in performance.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://queensfilmtheatre.com/Whats-On/Sounding-Conflict
 
Description Sounds of Affect and Innovation: Conflict Transformation and the Arts Panel 1 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact On 25 and 26 October 2018, I organised two Mitchell Institute roundtable sessions entitled 'Sounds of Affect and Innovation: Conflict Transformation in the Arts' with six practitioners and academics. The participants Kabosh, TheatreofPluck, Director Beat Carnival, Beyond Skin and Min-On Music Research Institute, Japan). We explored expressions of sound in conflict transformation in their own practices, as well as in our research and discussed new researcher-practitioner opportunities. In addition to our work with existing partners, we have now been invited to consider future research projects with Beyond Skin and Beat Carnival.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018