BAILY, John (2010), “Afgan music in Australia”, in CÔRTE-REAL, Maria de São José (ed.), Migrações Journal - Special Issue Music and Migration, October 2010, no. 7, Lisbon: ACIDI, pp. 157-176 Afghan music in Australia John Baily* Abstract Based on research carried out in Melbourne and Sydney in 2009, this paper discusses Afghan migration to Australia, the emergen- ce of the multicultural society, the civic promotion of the Afghan Bazaar Precinct in Dandenong (Melbourne), the genres of Afghan music performed in Australia, with brief biographies of some of the musicians, and a survey of CDs produced in Australia. The pa- per concludes that the Afghan-Australian community (less than 25,000 overall) is too small to support a fully-fledged Afghan mu- sic profession. The result is a vigorous amateur music scene cate- ring for a community of music lovers. The work of three contem- porary Australian composers influenced by Afghan music is also discussed, to show how the culture of this immigrant community has enriched Australian culture. Keywords Afghanistan, Australia, multiculturalism, recordings, professiona- lism, keyboards. * Emeritus Professor of Ethnomusicology, Head of the Afghanistan Music Unit, Department of Music, Goldsmiths, University of London (
[email protected]) Migrações _ #7 _ October 2010 157 Afghan music in Australia John Baily Introduction My research on the music of Afghanistan began in the 1970s, with two years of eth- nomusicological fieldwork, most of it in the provincial city of Herat, and to a lesser extent the capital, Kabul. My research in Herat was wide-ranging, looking into the performance of various genres: urban and rural; folk, popular and art; vocal and ins- trumental; traditional and modern; professional and amateur; female and male; and also at various forms of religious singing that did not fall clearly into the category of music, such as Sufi zikr, Shiah lamentations and Quranic recitation.