KOSTIMA - Counterhegemonic voices in music archives
Political Readings, Contextualizations, and Contemporary References
About KOSTIMA
The project KOSTIMA - "Counterhegemonic Voices in Music Archives" is dedicated to researching and digitizing music archives that contain politically and culturally significant messages. The focus is on the collections of the Archive for the Music of Africa (AMA) in Mainz, the European Center for Jewish Music (EZJM) in Hanover and the Center for World Music (CWM) in Hildesheim. The aim of the project is to identify and analyze political messages in music from different historical and geographical contexts. The music archives document the experiences of exile, diaspora and persecution, particularly of Congolese, northern Nigerian and German-Jewish people. They contain songs, texts and audiovisual materials that reflect resistance against hegemonic structures or represent threatened art itself.
Another aspect of the project is the critical examination of archival practices, in particular the question of how music recordings were created, how they are preserved and how they are re-analyzed. As part of the project, discussions will also be held with contemporary witnesses (oral history interviews) in order to better understand the historical contexts and social interdependencies. An important focus of KOSTIMA is the question of restitution and the provision of digitized archive materials for the "source communities", i.e. the communities from which the music originally came. These topics will be explored in a traveling exhibition planned together with the Weltkulturen Museum Frankfurt and in an online format (Scrollytelling).
KOSTIMA is thus committed to the protection and development of musical traditions that convey not only culturally but also politically significant messages. It reflects the importance of music as a form of resistance and brings marginalized voices back into the public discourse.
KOSTIMA is made possible by the funding line "Networking - Exploring - Research. Alliance for University Collections II" of the BMFTR (project duration: 01.07.2023 to 30.06.2027).
KOSTIMA Projects
Subproject Mainz Political messages in Congolese music of the Mobutu era - Congolese archive holdings at African Music Archives (AMA)
The Mainz sub-project focuses on analyzing the lyrics of Congolese music preserved at African Music Archives (AMA). The aim of the research is to examine the linguistic strategies used in Lingala-language songs. For example, love songs were often used by musicians to formulate hidden and coded political messages and protests against the authoritarian regime.
Involved persons: Dr. Hauke Dorsch, Antonia Fendt, Emilia Kaufhold, Marko Knepper, Jan Knipping, Merle Meier, Prof. Dr. Nico Nassenstein, Michael Restorff, Dr. Lisa Marie Roemer
Subproject Hanover Musical-Dramaturgical Compositions from the Estate of the German-Jewish Composer Peter Ury
The aim of the Hanover sub-project is to examine and process the estate of Peter Ury in the context of the ambivalent concepts of exile, postexile, displacement and extraterritoriality in a contemporary light characterized by diversity and complexity. The focus here is on the analysis of the processes involved in the creation of Peter Ury's works. Strategies of negotiating social roles are taken into account, especially against the background of counter-hegemonic power structures.
Involved persons: Christoph Hölzel, Samuel Mund, Prof. Dr. Sarah Ross, Dr. Katharina Talkner, Mengjie Zhang
Subproject Hildesheim Endangered Court Music of Northern Nigeria
The Hildesheim-based Subproject is processing the legacy of Raimund Vogels with field research from Borno State in Nigeria. Raimund Vogels researched music at the ruling courts of Maiduguri and investigated hegemonic narratives on dynastic succession, changes of rule and colonial power structures. The material collected in the 1980s and 1990s contains significant statements on power relations between Christians and Muslims in Borno State as well as on intra-Nigerian power imbalances in general and will be re-examined in the spirit of archival restudies and questioned with regard to statements of political resistance.
Persons involved: Prof. Dr. Michael Fuhr, Prof. Dr. Christopher Yusufu Mtaku, Dr. Naomi Andrew Haruna, Dr. Oluwagbemiga Ogboro-Cole
Visions Goals
Visions Goals
KOSTIMA aims to discover political and counter-hegemonic voices and messages hidden in music archives and make them accessible to the public. By indexing and digitizing these musical treasures, the project aims to contribute to bringing marginalized, suppressed and forgotten perspectives back into the collective memory. This not only highlights the historical significance of these collections, but also their relevance for today's political and social discourses.
Make historical and suppressed voices audible and bring them back into society's consciousness.
Scientific development and digitization of historical music collections.
Research and processing of musical archive holdings containing counter-hegemonic messages.
Make music collections and historical music recordings accessible to the public.
Participating Institutions
Practice Partners and Advising Institutions
“Our songs are our archive. If we stop singing, we forget who we are.”
“Music is a mirror of society – even if the censors only hear a love story, the people know what we're really singing about.”
“Sounds cannot be silent. Even in silence, resistance resounds.”
“I can't help but sing what I see. And what I see is injustice.”
“Music is a mirror of society – even if the censors only hear a love story, the people know what we're really singing about.”
“I can't help but sing what I see. And what I see is injustice.”