NordicMusicDays

“The Nordic Music Days is the mirror of the Nordic composers’ community. At the same time, it also represents a broader symbol of Nordic collaboration which, despite its challenges in reconciling different interests that sometimes feel insurmountable, can be seen as an example of a universal opportunity for collaboration between nations. As an added bonus, the festival occasionally enables access to interesting music.”

Issues of gender balance, diversity and cultural appropriation have become increasingly prominent in many areas recently, and art music is no exception. Lauri Supponen discusses these issues, using certain Nordic contemporary music festivals and projects as case studies.

The huge tide of humanity that almost overwhelmed the 2017 NMD was also its triumph: a characteristic gift from London, European capital of creative curiosity and of the big crowd.

Is it OK for a Finn of the majority population to put on a fake Sámi costume bought in a joke shop and perform a Sámi yoik? Or to put on a feather headdress and dance a Native American dance? Where do we draw the line between cultural interaction and cultural appropriation?

"The Kalevala, which has since been translated into 61 languages, has harnessed this metre into something particularly Finnish, as well as stifling it into a literary form over the course of time. Every single Finn has sat at school bored stupid while reading a book that was meant to be sung. Even so, Kalevalaic runo singing metre is still alive in our culture – it can even be found in today’s singing. At least in contemporary folk music."