African Female Musicians
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Pictures on the cover: Left corner up: Jessica Kiil, Right corner up: Hannah Kvam Left corner down: Haddy N’jie Right corner down: Busi Ncube Pictures from the internet To my baby Xiluva May you never be a guest, No matter where life takes you to. 3 A munhu i munhu hikota ya vanhu kuloni.1 Thank you! Thank you to all those who have supported me through these two years of studying, especially to my beloved daughter, Hedda Xiluva, for her support, her pride in me, and her patience. Together we made it! I want to especially thank my supervisor, Knut Kjeldstadli who has taught me lessons of humanism, humility and who has guided me through this journey. I highly appreciate the discussions we have had through the process. Without him, this study would have never been finished. Thank you to Stan Hawkins, from the Department of Musicology, for guiding me on the definition this study, and for our insightful discussions. I humbly thank my informants for their availability and enthusiasm. Last but not least, I wish to thank my family, relatives, friends and colleagues, both in Norway, in Mozambique and elsewhere who have encouraged and assisted me in all imaginable manners. 1 A Van’hu/Bantu philosophy (known as Wu mun’hu/ Ubuntu), according to which an individual exists because of the other people (community). 4 Index Title Page Chapter 1: Are they there? 01 Introduction 01 Relevance of study 02 Background and choice of informants 03 Norway and Immigration – a Historical Perspective 07 Who is the immigrant? 08 Integration, Multiculturalism and Diversity 11 The Policies: Integration and Multiculturalism 12 Multiculturalism 13 Multiculturalism policy index 13 MCP index and Norway 15 Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) 16 MPC and MIPEX, a comparison 17 Multiculturalism or Diversity? 18 Immigration policies 19 Ethnicity 20 Female African Musician Who is African? 24 Popular Musicians 25 Positivism 26 Successful musicians 27 Gender and forms of capital 29 Methodology and sources 31 Summary of chapters 32 Chapter II: Music, institutions and programs 34 A look into existing bodies 34 Member based organizations Norwegian Musicians Union 36 Numbers and representation 39 Access to information about the organization 40 Membership as a form of capital 40 Exposure 41 Summarizing 41 Samspill International Music Network 42 Access to information about the organization 43 Membership as form of capital 43 Summarizing 45 Funding programs for musicians 5 Arts Council Norway 46 Mosaikk program 47 Some numbers 50 Access to information 51 Is getting money from NK a form of capital? 51 Summarizing 52 Fund for sound and image 53 Access to information 53 Capital 53 Fund for performing artists 54 Access to information 55 Capital attached to FFUK grants? 55 Culture fund of Oslo municipality 56 Competitions Queen Sonja music competition 57 Information about the competition 58 Winning and capital 58 Princess Astrid music prize 58 Access to information 59 Winning and capital 59 Telenor Culture prize 59 Honor prize of the Norwegian Arts Council 60 Capital 60 Spellemanns prize 61 Summarizing 61 A change? 62 Grants The state grants for artists 63 Grants and capital 64 Events 64 Performances and capital 65 Festivals Oslo world music festival 66 Mela festival 66 Afrikan history week festival 66 Festival performance and capital 67 Institutions Rikskonsertene 68 Capital related to working with Rikskonsertene? 69 Conclusion 69 Chapter 3: Who are they 72 Busisiwe Ncube: 72 Personal background 72 Music 73 Music in Norway 73 Integration 74 On ethnicity and music 74 Gender – on being a woman 74 Interpreting Busi 75 6 Capital 76 A successful musician? 78 Jessica Kiil (LPJ/La petite Jessica) 79 Background 80 The beginning 82 Music in Norway 84 On career 85 Jobs 88 On codes 89 On Exoticism 89 Fitting 91 Building up a network 91 Interpreting Jessica Kiil 92 A successful musician? 96 Hannah Kvam 97 Origin 98 Music 99 I, Woman 100 The exotic element 100 Queendom: Production of an album Genre and market 100 Having an album 101 Funding 101 The industry 102 Touring and performance 102 On network 103 Market and quota programs 103 On acting in a production at Nasjonaltheatret 104 On outfit and exoticism 105 Finances 106 Reading Hannah Kvam 106 Capital 107 Exoticism 108 A successful musician? 108 Haddy N’jie 109 Identity 110 Music 110 Music industry 111 Quota system 112 Performances 113 Interpreting Haddy N’jie 114 Capital 115 Music and finances 116 The industry 116 Quota system and quality 116 A successful musician? 117 Chapter IV: Conclusion Information 123 Challenges, capital, threshold and dilemmas 124 Women, African and musicians – they are there! 126 7 Bibliography Annex A: Table on Spellemanns prize Annex B: Grants for Professional Artists Annex C: Interview guide for informants Annex D: Interview guide for people working with institutions 8 Foreword In 2004, when I moved to Norway, from Mozambique, I had my life very well planned. I moved to Norway for family reunion, to my Norwegian. We were both in our twenties, and had the future ahead of us. Being an independent working woman, I was sure the process of integration in Norway would be smooth. We calculated that it would take me about two years to get to learn the language, and work within culture projects. Besides, I was a very flexible hard working person, it would be easy. After all I spoke five languages and had lived and worked abroad before. Once in Norway And despite my commitment, I was not feeling part of the society, especially when professionally. Was there any veiled discrimination? At the same time, a social network was difficult for me to establish, both with Norwegians and Africans. I eventually changed strategies and through a volunteer work, I got a stimulating job with a festival. By then I had become a mother, whilst my marriage had deteriorated. After 6 years of persistence as a musician in Norway I started to get doors opened. Sometimes, by the same people who had turned me off years before! I was astonished! I realized that it had taken me 7 years to learn the codes and the “who was who” in the music field in Norway. If in one hand separation and rethinking of my life was allowing me to invest more in music in Norway, certainly knowing better the country at its rules, allowed me knock the ”appropriate” doors, using the ”correct” language, and through the ”right” people. This new context in which I rather suddenly found myself in was the foundation of the therapy post-divorce. Amidst my despair, there were my child and my music, keeping me alive, and giving me joy. The gigs started coming, and soon enough I was invited to share a cheaper facility for rehearsals, in a permanent basis. This got me thinking. I started wondering whether I was alone in such a situation. Whether there was a pattern. I looked around, searching for other women in my situation: who had moved to Norway as adults, who were working as musicians. That is how I came to choosing this theme for my master degree. 9 CHAPTER I: Are they there? Introduction This study is about presence of female musicians with African background in Norway (2000-2010), and their music careers. It focuses on gender and immigration/integration within music in Norway – and more concretely those of Africans. I think that it is important that Africans in the Diaspora themselves become active in the quest of understanding their social environment, and that they gain a voice. For me the uniqueness of this study lies on the fact that I am of African background, and am, therefore, studying an object that is familiar to me. Starting questions included the following: 1) Whether there have been female musicians with African background in Norway? If the answer is “yes”, then 2) Where have they been in terms of visibility? 3) How was the process of their integration into the mainstream music landscape? 4) Were there social, economical, emotional, institutional (and other) professional challenges specific to her, due to her background of immigrant and to her condition of a woman? 5) May main question is: How did an African, especially a female musician, integrated into society as artists, and thus develop successful career?2 The starting point was the assumption that a male music professional, naturally integrated to society by birth (being born from two ethnic Norwegian parents) had challenges that were different from those faced by a female counterpart, with a “natural”, maybe a biological connection with Africa, or another immigrant background. Ethnic background and gender may have had an impact on an individual’s career development in Norway. It is this set of challenges that I intended to look closer at. I hope to find answers to these questions. Gender element, social tags like “immigrant”, “ethnic minority”, and more concretely “African” are to be taken into account. It is important to underline the last tag “African”, as it seems to exist a pre-conceived image of “Africa” and” African” in Norway. A search on the newspapers, and an analyse of current in online debates on race and immigration in Norway (2000-2010) can give an idea of this statement. The aim of this thesis is: 2 Significant or successful career will be defined throughout this study according to the elements what are part of a music career. I have called these elements “criteria of success”. 10 i) To investigate into and to contribute to the understanding of the politics and dynamics of integration facing female musicians of African background, within a Norwegian context. With this study I seek to contribute towards: a) Setting a focus on eventual dilemmas facing female artists with immigrant background to Norway b) A better understanding of the impact of the policies and programs of integration in Norway for musicians and artists in general, as well as to possibly come with contributions; c) A better understanding of cultural policies and programs and their impact on musicians with immigrant background.