Eksotik Müzik Symposium

Western markets have set the tone for decades when it comes to musical taste. Anything that doesn’t fit into the consensus of the Western charts quickly ends up in the universal container of world music. After all, markets have to provide orientation and, according to their logic, music has to fit into pigeonholes. For decades, gatekeepers from the West were needed to lift a non-Western music genre into the mainstream. And they were made up of the usual professions in the industry: Radio DJs, record label operators, music journalists and curators are just a few examples.

However, a global network of small labels, promoters and agencies has now been established both within and outside of Europe, which are certainly in a position to help shape the discourse: Music from Anatolia to Indonesia, bands from the African continent and South America are enjoying hipness. Many of them have long since outgrown the world music pigeonhole. Instead, they have become pop phenomena on a global scale.

Old migrant companies are experiencing a revival. In the early years of labor migration, they created a huge parallel music market in Europe that catered to their own clientele. Türküola, Uzelli and Minareci from Germany sold millions of records back then and yet were not recognized by the majority society. Filmmakers and specialists of migrant origin claim the narratives of the music with which they were socialized, write books and run online platforms.

Let’s take a closer look: At Habibi Kiosk, we invite you to a themed day, the Eksotik Müzik Symposium. With lectures, lecture performances and discussion rounds with exciting guests, we will focus on narratives and perspectives. At the same time, we are also trying to gain an overview of the work that has been done so far. What will the global mainstream canon of the future look like? Can this process be democratized? Who is telling the stories of the new pop phenomena? Do intersectionality and gender equality play a role in this?

Anil Oezdemir

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Florian Bachmann

Kornelia Binicewicz

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Italo Rondinella

Miriam Schickler

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Ali Malak

Sebastian Reier

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Mohammad Poori

Sinem Arslan

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Anton Kaun

Tuncay Acay

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Christel Hayoz

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