Visiting Artists and Practitioners

Indigenous Way of Listening: Irula Traditional Music Trailer

About the Visiting Artist and Practitioner Program

Oberlin Shansi is thrilled to announce "Adivasi Arts: Indigenous Embodied Learning from South India to Ohio." For this two-week residency, two Adivasi (indigenous) musicians and one Adivasi community-based researcher from the Irula tribe in Tamil Nadu will travel to Oberlin, Ohio to give a series of lectures and performances. They will also engage in artistic collaboration and exchange at Oberlin College & Conservatory and with a range of communities in Northern Ohio. Lectures and performances will highlight the intersections of art and community survival, explore the ways that Irula music reflects the soundscapes of the natural forests they inhabit, and discuss the role Irula women play in preserving cultural expression.

This program is among the first of its kind. Unlike traditional residency programs that feature professional performers of established artistic traditions, Shansi's Visiting Artists Program broadens definitions of "expertise" by working with musicians who are currently engaged in the process of translating intimate, sometimes ritualistic music and dance practices to staged contexts. This program has the potential to disrupt eurocentric ways of thinking about arts, preservation, and social change. In addition to serving as artists, the invited Irula musicians are grassroots community organizers who engage with social issues relevant to their communities, including the loss of land, opportunity, and livelihoods.

The residency will last from March 21st until April 5th. Oberlin Shansi is collaborating with Oberlin College and Conservatory, The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Oberlin Public Library, the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Kendal at Oberlin, the Oberlin Indigenous People's Day Committee, and several other partner institutions and community-based groups in Northern Ohio. 

See schedule of programming below.