Sentienla Toy Threadgill (New York University)
I will not weep

(Präsenz-Veranstaltung; Achtung - veränderter Veranstaltungsort, Details siehe unten)

“I Will Not Weep” is a new exhibit designed for the listening space of the Ethnological Museum in the Humboldt Forum. This work is based on sound recordings of the Nagas in Nagaland. Nagaland is a state in the northeastern tip of India above Myanmar once colonized by the British and now under Indian administration, a region that was also missionized by the American Baptist missionaries. The Nagas have been waging an armed struggle for an independent sovereign homeland, one of the longest running insurgencies in Asia, ever since India’s independence from the British in 1947 when Nagaland became annexed to India against the wishes of the Nagas.  With colonization and missionization, the Naga sound transformed over time, and while many Nagas try to recuperate lost songs and sounds, the Naga voice continues to be resilient and clear in its many contemporary forms. The core of song has never been lost despite the socio-political complexities and the profound loss of cultural practices and song. One could find many reasons to weep loss—Nagas have wept in song for the loss of freedom, loss of traditional practices and music. “I Will Not Weep” is an attempt to deconstruct perceptions of what Naga music is. I play with a metaphor of the voice in the box. The box exemplifies limitations—particularly those imposed by coloniality and Christianization. How does one find their voice out of the box, and what does it mean to weep no more?

Senti Toy Threadgill is a musician and an ethnomusicologist. Born and raised in Kohima, Nagaland, Senti has been living in New York City since 1994. Her work has focused on the theorization of affect or feel in music, based on ethnomusicological research in Nagaland, where she examines affect as a key element of musical transformation and sound. What began as a hobby in high school and college recording old Naga traditional music as she was fascinated by the sound and sonic resonance of that music, her work has been evolving as she continues to explore sound art, to try and disrupt notions of space and sound. Senti was the producer and curator for a sound installation piece at the Bard Gallery in New York City in 2013. Senti is also a singer songwriter and has recorded and performed in theater and recording projects with her husband, Pulitzer prize-winning composer Henry Threadgill. In 2011, Senti’s debut album was picked as one of the top ten pop albums of the year by the Wall Street journal.