A presentation about this project was awarded the prize for best student paper at the British Forum for Ethnomusicology 2024 annual conference in Cork, Ireland. Read more about the award and the judges' comments here.
Female Kurdish Musicians in Germany: Life Stories and Livelihoods
This research project investigates the life histories and working conditions of female Kurdish musicians living in Germany. The diversity of Kurdish life in the diaspora is reflected through these stories of migration, artistic production, and forging a career in Germany’s music industry.
Research questions include:
- What are the life stories of female Kurdish musicians in Germany?
- How do these musicians address their audiences in Kurdistan and Europe?
- What challenges do these musicians face here?
This project is also about co-production in ethnographic research. The researchers come from different backgrounds and have experiences within and beyond the academy. They take inspiration from previous collaborative ethnographies to (1) produce knowledge with marginalised groups and (2) use this knowledge to improve their status within Germany.
The researchers use ethnographic methods to generate material. This includes participant-observation and semi-structured interviews, as well as document and literature reviews. Research outputs will include academic as well as public-oriented texts. Additionally, concerts and exhibitions with the protagonists of the ethnography are planned.
Project timeframe: January - December 2024
About the researchers:
Sheyda Ghavami is a Kurdish singer based in Cologne. She is an activist for women’s rights and an advocate for Kurdish culture. She was born in Sanandaj, Rojhalat (Kurdish region of Iran) and has lived in Germany since 2015.
Rose Campion is an academic researcher at the Institute for European Musikethnologie. She researches how migrants navigate the world music scene in Germany. She is also interested in how academic research can have a broader impact in policy and community activism. She was born in California and has lived in Germany and England since 2018.
