Difference between revisions of "El Mastaba Project"

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'''El Mastaba Digital Repository Project:  Music for cultural continuity and democratic civil society in Egypt'''
 +
 
This project aims to promote the development of a stable, tolerant, pluralistic, diverse,
 
This project aims to promote the development of a stable, tolerant, pluralistic, diverse,
−
democratic civil society in Egypt through the arts, by supporting El Mastaba, a
+
democratic civil society in Egypt through musical arts, in collaboration with [http://www.el-mastaba.org/ El Mastaba], a
−
prizewinning Cairo-based organization devoted to Egypt’s rich folk music tradition (see
+
prizewinning Cairo-based organization devoted to Egypt’s rich folk music tradition, through documentation, performance, and teaching, in support of cultural continuity and the development of a dynamic, participatory, democratic civil society in Egypt.
−
attachments), and helping the organization realize its powerful social potential by
+
 
−
building a publicly accessible digital multimedia repository. Music is never merely an
+
We seek to partner with El Mastaba in order to help them realize their powerful social potential through the establishment of a well-documented, publicly accessible digital multimedia repository.  
−
end in itself. Its power can be turned towards myriad social, political, and economic
+
 
 +
= Aim =
 +
 
 +
[http://www.el-mastaba.org El Mastaba], an acclaimed non-profit civil
 +
society musical organization headquartered in Cairo,
 +
has played a crucial role before, during, and after the Egyptian revolution, and
 +
continues today as a formidable socio-cultural force promoting participatory
 +
democracy and encouraging a musical voice for the people of Egypt.
 +
 
 +
The current project entails the
 +
systematic description, preservation, and dissemination of El Mastaba’s musical
 +
repository, an invaluable multimedia archive and infrastructure lying at the core
 +
of their social and educational mission.
 +
 
 +
This project forms one component of a broader music/development initiative called [[Music for cultural continuity and civil society]].  By supporting traditional, participatory music, especially in mediated form, we hope to help ensure its continuing relevance in ensuring vertical and horizontal social solidarity:  forging links across time and social space.  Ironically, mediated traditional music is essential in order to compete with commercial media, rendering traditional music more accessible to more people, raising its stature, and enabling its injection into broadcast media space, where it displaces--however slightly--the dominance of commercial, westernized, passivating pop.
 +
 
 +
In this way, music helps foster cultural continuity and civil society, weaving a stronger social fabric and cultural identity during a period of rapid economic-technological change.
 +
 
 +
= Background =
 +
 
 +
Music is never merely an end in itself. Its power can be turned towards myriad social, political, and economic
 
functions in any society, a fact well-known to ethnomusicologists, as well as musicians
 
functions in any society, a fact well-known to ethnomusicologists, as well as musicians
 
themselves. Beyond profit and politics, such power may be harnessed towards general
 
themselves. Beyond profit and politics, such power may be harnessed towards general
−
social progress. Along these lines, El Mastaba has been effectively working since 1995
+
social progress.  
−
to develop music as a catalyst for social change, and promotion of a stable, democratic,
+
 
 +
El Mastaba has been working effectively, since 1995, to develop socially engaged music as a catalyst for positive social change, and promotion of a stable, democratic,
 
civil society in Egypt. Beyond preservation or dissemination, El Mastaba takes an active
 
civil society in Egypt. Beyond preservation or dissemination, El Mastaba takes an active
−
role towards positive social change through education, performance, and awarenessraising at the grassroots level, including activities for children as well as media
+
role towards social progress through education, performance, and awareness-raising at the grassroots level, including activities for children as well as media
−
production. They were already active for many years before the revolution, not just
+
production. El Masataba is active throughout Egypt,  
 
researching, recording and presenting community music genres (“folk”) in concerts and
 
researching, recording and presenting community music genres (“folk”) in concerts and
−
published recordings, but also revitalizing a broader “music society” that harmonizes
+
published recordings, as well as revitalizing a broader “music society” that harmonizes
 
through performance participation, by creating and sustaining a number of music
 
through performance participation, by creating and sustaining a number of music
−
groups, and especially by involving children. During the revolution itself El Mastaba’s
+
groups, and especially by involving children.  
−
various groups (there are 12 altogether, including groups especially for children) took on
+
 
 +
During the revolution itself El Mastaba’s
 +
many performing groups (12 in all, including groups especially for children) took on
 
an active musical role in Tahrir Square, raising awareness about social injustice and the
 
an active musical role in Tahrir Square, raising awareness about social injustice and the
−
need for change (see http://bit.ly/snarvid, in which they are featured). Now, more than
+
need for change (see the second episode of the video documentary, [http://bit.ly/snarvid Songs of the New Arab Revolutions], featuring El Mastaba's crucial performances in Tahrir Square (watch from 16:05).
−
ever, with Egypt’s body politic in a molten and fragmented state, their activities are
+
 
−
required to help advance the process of building a civil society. Their massive media
+
Now, more than
−
archive supports and documents all that they do, and its careful preservation is essential
+
ever, with Egypt’s body politic in a molten and fragmented state, El Mastaba is needed to help advance the process of building a civil society. Their massive media
−
to their mission. Through metadata documentation, permanent data archiving, and
+
archive supports and documents their work, and its careful preservation and accessibility is essential
−
digital dissemination, we propose to establish a partnership with the University of
+
to their mission.  
−
Alberta/CCE by supporting El Mastaba on two levels, local and global: (a) assuring a
+
 
−
stable permanent platform for El Mastaba’s precious archive, in support of their local
+
A number of new NGO arts organizations have sprung up in Egypt of
−
educational and social initiatives, towards a stronger, more stable Egypt ; (b) raising
+
late, but many appeal mainly to the educated and intellectual middle classes. El
−
awareness and concern about Egypt internationally. El Mastaba comprises a set of
+
Mastaba is uniquely positioned due to their focus on performing arts, and their
 +
grassroots activism, building from rural and working classes upwards.
 +
 
 +
El Mastaba comprises a set of
 
groups, published recordings, and an extensive archive, and is active in cultural
 
groups, published recordings, and an extensive archive, and is active in cultural
 
education as well as performance. The archive, however, is at present dangerously
 
education as well as performance. The archive, however, is at present dangerously
Line 33: Line 61:
 
inaccessible to the general public, and is incompletely documented. El Mastaba wishes
 
inaccessible to the general public, and is incompletely documented. El Mastaba wishes
 
to make this rich resource available to a broader public, both in Egypt and
 
to make this rich resource available to a broader public, both in Egypt and
−
internationally. A number of new NGO arts organizations have sprung up in Egypt of
+
internationally.  
−
late, but many appeal mainly to the educated and intellectual middle classes. El
+
 
−
Mastaba is uniquely positioned due to their focus on performing arts, and their
+
Through metadata documentation, permanent data archiving, and
−
grassroots activism, building from rural and working classes upwards. They have
+
digital dissemination, we propose to establish a partnership with the University of
−
enjoyed tremendous successes (with a prize from WOMEX, major grants from Ford
+
Alberta/CCE by supporting El Mastaba on two levels, local and global:
−
Foundation, and other honors.) but there is now an opportunity to establish a unique
+
 
−
partnership with the UofA, thanks to personal contacts, to help advance their goals,
+
* assuring a stable permanent platform for El Mastaba’s precious archive, in support of their local
−
while involving the UofA in important international work in the Middle East.
+
educational and social initiatives, towards a stronger, more stable Egypt, and
−
Significance to overall research program and discipline: Since 1992, my research has
+
* raising awareness and concern about Egypt internationally.
−
centered on the folk, religious, and popular music of Egypt. This project combines also
+
 
−
two of my applied media projects: (1) documenting the crucial role of music in postrevolutionary
+
= Objectives =
−
Egypt (see http://bit.ly/snarvid); (2) “songs for sustainable development
+
 
−
and peace”, a project centered on the role of music in social and material development,
+
During the period November 2013 to March 2015, we will carry out three critical tasks in support of the
−
which has centered thus far on West Africa (Ghana and Liberia) in a series of audio and
+
repository infrastructure:
−
video media productios (see http://bit.ly/gv2hwikia). Finally, the project integrates my
+
 
−
long experience in media technology, digital repositories and virtual exhibits (e.g.
+
* Metadata completion. During a one-month trip to
−
http://fwa.wikia.com/wiki/MuDoc_system , http://bit.ly/vmctm) Such applied work aligns
+
Cairo, I will oversee the systematization and translation of the collection’s
−
with current thinking in ethnomusicology, as well as with the University of Alberta’s
+
metadata—tags fully describing El Mastaba’s extensive archive, in both English
−
stated missions to "raise up the whole people," and encourage global citizenship
+
and Arabic.  
 +
 
 +
* Data redundancy. While the vast bulk of El Mastaba’s audiovisual
 +
archive is digital, it remains dangerously at-risk without systematic backup in a hot,
 +
humid, dusty, unstable environment. We will back up data to a high-capacity 12 terabyte (TB) RAID
 +
storage, serving thereafter serve as El Mastaba’s primary data center, in
 +
partnership with the UofA, then copy it to portable hard drives, to be conveyed back to Canada.
 +
 
 +
* Data permanency and access. El Mastaba’s data and metadata will be safely stored on the University of Alberta Library’s [https://era.library.ualberta.ca) ERA digital repository system], providing robust, durable, redundant data storage and protection.  
 +
 
 +
* Ultimately, this ERA backend will serve as the basis for a searchable, browsable front-end digital
 +
repository interface.

Latest revision as of 22:08, 7 April 2014

El Mastaba Digital Repository Project: Music for cultural continuity and democratic civil society in Egypt

This project aims to promote the development of a stable, tolerant, pluralistic, diverse, democratic civil society in Egypt through musical arts, in collaboration with El Mastaba, a prizewinning Cairo-based organization devoted to Egypt’s rich folk music tradition, through documentation, performance, and teaching, in support of cultural continuity and the development of a dynamic, participatory, democratic civil society in Egypt.

We seek to partner with El Mastaba in order to help them realize their powerful social potential through the establishment of a well-documented, publicly accessible digital multimedia repository.

Aim

El Mastaba, an acclaimed non-profit civil society musical organization headquartered in Cairo, has played a crucial role before, during, and after the Egyptian revolution, and continues today as a formidable socio-cultural force promoting participatory democracy and encouraging a musical voice for the people of Egypt.

The current project entails the systematic description, preservation, and dissemination of El Mastaba’s musical repository, an invaluable multimedia archive and infrastructure lying at the core of their social and educational mission.

This project forms one component of a broader music/development initiative called Music for cultural continuity and civil society. By supporting traditional, participatory music, especially in mediated form, we hope to help ensure its continuing relevance in ensuring vertical and horizontal social solidarity: forging links across time and social space. Ironically, mediated traditional music is essential in order to compete with commercial media, rendering traditional music more accessible to more people, raising its stature, and enabling its injection into broadcast media space, where it displaces--however slightly--the dominance of commercial, westernized, passivating pop.

In this way, music helps foster cultural continuity and civil society, weaving a stronger social fabric and cultural identity during a period of rapid economic-technological change.

Background

Music is never merely an end in itself. Its power can be turned towards myriad social, political, and economic functions in any society, a fact well-known to ethnomusicologists, as well as musicians themselves. Beyond profit and politics, such power may be harnessed towards general social progress.

El Mastaba has been working effectively, since 1995, to develop socially engaged music as a catalyst for positive social change, and promotion of a stable, democratic, civil society in Egypt. Beyond preservation or dissemination, El Mastaba takes an active role towards social progress through education, performance, and awareness-raising at the grassroots level, including activities for children as well as media production. El Masataba is active throughout Egypt, researching, recording and presenting community music genres (“folk”) in concerts and published recordings, as well as revitalizing a broader “music society” that harmonizes through performance participation, by creating and sustaining a number of music groups, and especially by involving children.

During the revolution itself El Mastaba’s many performing groups (12 in all, including groups especially for children) took on an active musical role in Tahrir Square, raising awareness about social injustice and the need for change (see the second episode of the video documentary, Songs of the New Arab Revolutions, featuring El Mastaba's crucial performances in Tahrir Square (watch from 16:05).

Now, more than ever, with Egypt’s body politic in a molten and fragmented state, El Mastaba is needed to help advance the process of building a civil society. Their massive media archive supports and documents their work, and its careful preservation and accessibility is essential to their mission.

A number of new NGO arts organizations have sprung up in Egypt of late, but many appeal mainly to the educated and intellectual middle classes. El Mastaba is uniquely positioned due to their focus on performing arts, and their grassroots activism, building from rural and working classes upwards.

El Mastaba comprises a set of groups, published recordings, and an extensive archive, and is active in cultural education as well as performance. The archive, however, is at present dangerously susceptible to loss—many recordings are not backed up offsite, or at all — is inaccessible to the general public, and is incompletely documented. El Mastaba wishes to make this rich resource available to a broader public, both in Egypt and internationally.

Through metadata documentation, permanent data archiving, and digital dissemination, we propose to establish a partnership with the University of Alberta/CCE by supporting El Mastaba on two levels, local and global:

  • assuring a stable permanent platform for El Mastaba’s precious archive, in support of their local

educational and social initiatives, towards a stronger, more stable Egypt, and

  • raising awareness and concern about Egypt internationally.

Objectives

During the period November 2013 to March 2015, we will carry out three critical tasks in support of the repository infrastructure:

  • Metadata completion. During a one-month trip to

Cairo, I will oversee the systematization and translation of the collection’s metadata—tags fully describing El Mastaba’s extensive archive, in both English and Arabic.

  • Data redundancy. While the vast bulk of El Mastaba’s audiovisual

archive is digital, it remains dangerously at-risk without systematic backup in a hot, humid, dusty, unstable environment. We will back up data to a high-capacity 12 terabyte (TB) RAID storage, serving thereafter serve as El Mastaba’s primary data center, in partnership with the UofA, then copy it to portable hard drives, to be conveyed back to Canada.

  • Data permanency and access. El Mastaba’s data and metadata will be safely stored on the University of Alberta Library’s ERA digital repository system, providing robust, durable, redundant data storage and protection.
  • Ultimately, this ERA backend will serve as the basis for a searchable, browsable front-end digital

repository interface.

Retrieved from "https://www.artsrn.ualberta.ca/fwa_mediawiki/index.php?title=El_Mastaba_Project&oldid=3445640"