Eckehard Pistrick, Senior Researcher, GMPU
keywords: space, ethnomusicology, hybridity
Since Homi Bhabha coined the concept in 2004 with a post-colonial context, scholars, educators and artists alike have searched for this space. Originally, referring to the uniqueness of each person, actor or context as a "hybrid" it was quickly applied to denote also culturally “neutral” places in which cultural experimentation and hybridization is possible. This paper discusses the difficulties to find such a physical place in a world of power-led institutions with ritualized teaching practices. It argues however that the mental idea of a “third space” as a space for articulation has been inspiring for cultural practices. Taking as example teaching projects which took place in unusual urban spaces such as desacralized church spaces in Dortmund, Germany or the underground music studio of the West African community in Hamburg for a collaborative music production, the paper argues that space makes a difference in teaching. Third spaces unlock creative thinking and "authorize" a playing-space (Spielraum) (de Certeau 1984) which allows for utopian thinking, dreaming and teaching.
References
Florian Bachmeier
Eckehard Pistrick
Eckehard Pistrick is professor in ethnomusicology at the Gustav Mahler Private University in Klagenfurt, Austria. He served from 2017-2023 as an assistant professor at the Institute for European Ethnomusicology at the University of Cologne and has extensively researched about music in Southeast Europe and music and migration. Additionally he has worked as a curator, author and broadcasting editor in non-academic environments.