The African Music Special Interest Group is pleased to invite submissions for this weblog, which, along with the mailing list, serves as a central communication site for members. Any items of interest to members of the Special Interest Group, including conference announcements, calls for abstracts, events, descriptions of research or publications, and similar newsworthy items, can be sent to the web master, Nicol Hammond, at africanmusicictm (at) gmail (dot) com, and/or posted directly to the mailing list by sending an email to ictmamsg (at) googlegroups (dot) com, or by visiting the google group at http://groups.google.com/group/ictmamsg. You can join the google group by visiting http://groups.google.com/group/ictmamsg.

Monday 19 December 2011

BAPMAF

Our members may by now know that John Collins' BAPMAF archive in Accra was seriously damaged by floods in October. The loss of many valuable items is a tragedy, however more items remain at risk as John struggles to recover and restore his property.
Please read more about the archives and the floods at the Afropop blog
John also read a fascinating paper at the IASPM conference in Grahamstown in July, and his paper is available on Philip Tagg's website

Sunday 24 July 2011

Call for Abstracts:

Funds have been secured to publish selected papers presented at the 2009 and 2011 ICTM conferences on the music and dance of Africa. Therefore we are soliciting abstracts for papers from ICTM participants and other Africanists on the following suggested themes:
    a) Music and Dance
    b) Gender
    c) Transmission
    d) Modernity
    e) Popular Music
    f) Art Music
    g) Diaspora
Abstracts should be 250 words and are due 8 August 2011. Abstracts should be emailed as a .doc or .rtf attachment to africanmusicictmpublications@gmail.com. If your abstract is selected, you will need to submit a paper of 8 000 - 10 000 words by 17 October 2011. Articles will be peer reviewed by an editorial committee, and the collection will be publishes in early 2012.

Tuesday 19 July 2011

Draft Constitution

Dear Study Group members,
As promised, here is the draft constitution for your perusal and comments. Please post your suggestions, thoughts and ideas below in the comments, and please include your real name if at all possible so that we can keep track of contributions. Please email me if you have any difficulties. The deadline for comments is midnight, 2 August 2011. We look forward to hearing from you.


Proposed African Musics Study Group of the International Council for Traditional Music

DRAFT CONSTITUTION

1        Mission Statement

The key function of the African Musics Study Group (AMSG) shall be to promote, preserve disseminate and protect African musics and dance in all their aspects, functions and geographical locations, in Africa and in the diaspora; with a particular emphasis on indigenous/traditional African musics in sub-Saharan and diasporic Africa.

2        Organizational Plan

2.1     Executive Committee

All members of the Executive Committee shall be bona fide members of ICTM.

The Executive Committee shall comprise a Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and Vice-Treasurer.

All members of the Executive Committee shall serve 2 terms of 2 years.  The present Executive Committee’s term begins July 2011.

2.2     Responsibilities of the Executive Committee:

2.2.1  Chair

The Chair serves as liaison between the AMSG and the Executive Board of ICTM. The other key tasks include the following:

  • Co-ordinate and chair the AMSG meetings;
  • Report on the activities of the AMSG to the Executive Board of ICTM through the Secretary General;
  • Prepare quarterly reports to members of the Study Group;
  • Ensure that the Rules and Memorandum of the Study Groups as set out by ICTM are observed.
  • Sets the agenda for both Executive Committee meetings and General Assembly in consultation with the Vice-Chair and Secretary

2.2.2  Vice-Chair

The Vice Chair shall deputize for the Chair
  • Co-ordinate fundraising and publication activities
  • Supervise the activities of the sub-committees
  • Assures quality and manages disciplinary matters


2.2.3    Secretary
The Secretary shall serve as communications officer to both the Executive Committee and members of the AMSG
  • Schedule meetings of the Executive Committee in consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair
  • Distributes the agenda for both the Executive Committee and the AMSG
  • Records and distributes minutes of meetings within two weeks of the meeting date after approval of the Chair and Vice-Chair
  • Prepare study group report for the ICTM bulletin in consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the AMSG

2.2.4  The Treasurer shall:
  • Be in charge of all financial matters concerning the AMSG.
  • Submit quarterly statements of accounts to the Executive Committee. Submit annual financial reports to an auditor
  • The Treasurer and Chair are to open a bank account bearing the name African Music Study Group, with the Chair, Treasurer and Vice-Treasurer as co-signatories. Each transaction must include the signature of either the Chair or the Treasurer and one other signatory.

2.2.4    Deputy Treasure shall deputize for the Treasurer
  • In consultation with the Treasurer shall spearhead fundraising.

2.3    Members
·        Members shall pay membership dues as set annually by the Executive Committee
·        Members shall be encouraged to be bona fide members of the ICTM
·        Members shall have voting rights within the AMSG
·        Members are entitled to serve on the executive committee

2.4    Co-options
·        Members shall be co-opted to undertake various tasks as deemed necessary by the Executive Committee
·        Co-options to be supervised by the Vice-Chair

3           Subcommittees
Each sub-committee will be chaired by one or two members of the Executive Committee
·        Publications – Patricia Opondo, Marie Agatha Ozah
·        Fundraising – Mandy Carver, Marie Agatha Ozah
·        Collaboration and Patnerships – Rose Omolo-Ongati
·        Website – Alvin Petersen

Sunday 17 July 2011

mailing list on Google Groups

If you are a member of the African Music Study Group and you haven't yet received an invitation to participate in the Google Group mailing list, please visit the group at http://groups.google.com/group/ictmamsg and request to join. Please indicate when you sign up that you are a member of the group, and what your name and institutional affiliation is. This will help us to keep track of membership and keep the group secure.

Prof. J. H. Kwabena Nketia

In celebration of esteemed Prof. J. H. Kwabena Nketia's recent 90th birthday, the proposed African Music Section would like to invite birthday wishes from its members. These will be presented to Prof. Nketia at the Feschrift in his honour at the University of Ghana in September. Deadlines for messages to be presented is 31 August 2011, however you are welcome to continue to post messages after this date, recognizing that they will not be included in the formal presentation. Messages should be posted as comments on this blog post.

Welcome

Welcome to the new weblog for the proposed African Music Study Group of the International Council for Traditional Music.
This blog will be used as a first access point for information on the developing study group, and a site for discussion of documents and arising issues, as required. Please check back often, and email africanmusicictm (at) gmail (dot) com with questions.
You may post comments on any posts, and for the time being comments will remain open. If we encounter any problems we may decide later to moderate comments.