Look beyond – make a difference Experiences from a music project in Lebanon Vegar R. Storsve & Brit Ågot Brøske (Eds.) Look beyond – make a difference Experiences from a music project in Lebanon Vegar R. Storsve and Brit Ågot Brøske (Editors) NMH Publications 2020:4 NMH Publications 2020:4 © Norwegian Academy of Music and the authors Cover photo and all photos except chapter 10: ©Vegar R. Storsve ISSN 0333-3760 ISSN 2535-373X (online) ISBN 978-82-7853-279-9 (printed) ISBN 978-82-7853-280-5 (pdf) Norwegian Academy of Music PO Box 5190 Majorstua 0302 OSLO Phone: +47 23 36 70 00 [email protected] nmh.no Typesetting and printing: Bodoni, Oslo, 2020 Contents Preface 5 Chapter 1 What is the Lebanon project? 9 Project development, content, participants and future aspirations Vegar R. Storsve Chapter 2 Partner organizations in the Lebanon Project 41 Vegar R. Storsve Chapter 3 NMH student music teachers in Lebanon 57 Professional placement for bachelor students on the music education programme at the NMH Vegar R. Storsve and Brit Ågot Brøske Chapter 4 Educating teachers – the X-art programme 87 Brit Ågot Brøske Chapter 5 Past R&D activities on the Lebanon project 105 Brit Ågot Brøske Chapter 6 The music project in the Rashidieh refugee camp 127 as a focus area of research and development projects Geir Johansen Chapter 7 The Lebanon Project as a Master’s thesis theme 149 Vegar R. Storsve and Geir Johansen Chapter 8 The significance of intercultural music activities: 171 A study of Norwegian Palestinian cultural exchange Kim Boeskov Chapter 9 Music outreach in Lebanon 197 What do the concerts on the Lebanon project mean to the local participants, and what are their views on the pupils’ involvement? Signe Kalsnes Chapter 10 Music for Health, Development and Conflict Resolution: 219 Photo Documentation from Lebanon Text and photos: Even Ruud Chapter 11 Creating a Ripple Effect. Higher music education ­ 253 institutions as agents for development Ingrid Maria Hanken Preface The book Look beyond – make a difference presents developments, experiences and outcomes on the Lebanon project, focusing on 15 years of music activities. This edition of the book is a translation of the Norwegian edition from 2013. Chapter 1 and 5 are revised in 2017. The Lebanon project involves developing music tuition in the Rashidieh Palestinian refugee camp, the introduction of music as a subject in several Lebanese schools, skills development and training of local music teachers in Lebanon, project practice for music education students from the Norwegian Academy of Music (NMH) including both teaching and outreach practice, and research and development (R&D) at both master and senior research level. With the texts contained in the anthology, we aim to highlight the complexities and correlations in the project while also shedding light on its individual components. The contributions are written by authors examining different aspects of the project from a variety of perspectives. One thing the writers have in common is that they have visited Lebanon at least once for shorter or longer periods. The anthology is published by the NMH, and the Lebanon project is therefore examined from the viewpoint of the academy. However, we have also sought to convey the voices and roles of the project partners by describing the different roles of our partners on the project and presenting the views of individuals representing the various organisations. As a whole, the chap- ters provide a comprehensive picture of the music activities on the Lebanon project and should be viewed in context. However, the format of the different chapters also means that they can be read independently of each other. Part 1, Chapters 1–4, contains presentations and contributions which together paint a broader picture of the Lebanon project and can almost be seen as background mate- rial. Chapter 1 describes the development of the project through its different stages. The chapter offers the reader an insight into how the different components in the tuition in the Rashidieh Palestinian refugee camp to the successful introduction of project relate to each other. It follows the project from the first attempts at music Rashidieh and in several Lebanese schools. The Lebanon project would not have been music tuition as a permanent weekly fixture with permanent music teachers both in possible without good partners both in Norway and Lebanon. Chapter 2 introduces all the organisations and enterprises involved in the project. Since 2005, the Lebanon project has also served as an arena for work experience for music education students 5 at the NMH. Chapter 3 presents the students’ teaching practice in Rashidieh, focu- sing on planning, execution and evaluation. It also discusses the students’ teaching experiences on the project. To promote music tuition, one important aspect of the project has been to train music teachers. One of the initiatives to that end is the X-art education programme described and discussed in Chapter 4. The chapter highlights discussions surrounding the choice of teaching materials on the education programme, exemplified by statements made by some of the X-art participants. Part 2, Chapters 5–7, describes some of the numerous aspects of the Lebanon project that have been the subject of Research & Development (R&D). There has been increas- ing R&D activity since 2009. Chapter 5 gives an overview of past research and develop- ment initiatives on the Lebanon project. Although there has been an increase in R&D activities on the project, there is still room for more. This is the subject of Chapters 6 and 7, where Chapter 6 discusses how music provision in the Rashidieh camp could provide a springboard for R&D in general and Chapter 7 examines potential future master theses based on the project. Part 3, Chapters 8–11, presents contributions that in various ways highlight and build on experiences from the project while also discussing new opportunities for both research and development. Based on the experiences gained from an 8-month-long stay in Lebanon, the author uses Chapter 8 to discuss how cultural exchanges between Palestinian children and Norwegian children and students can enable Palestinians to feel a sense of recognition and see their cultural identity strengthened. Chapter 9 investigates the impact of the NMH students’ concert activities in Lebanon on the weekly music activities taking place within the different partner organisations. The photoessay in Chapter 10 offers an insight into the diverse and unpredictable world that we met on our travels to Lebanon. It also looks at the value of music in terms of children’s health. In conclusion, Chapter 11 of the anthology offers a number of getting involved in an aid project such as this. perspectives on possible justifications for a Norwegian higher education institution It is with a certain degree of pride that we look back at the years we have been involved in music-making with Palestinians and Lebanese in Lebanon. It is our hope and wish that even more children and young people will be offered music education or participation in music activities. That even more students can gain experience in Lebanon through various types of practice projects, that even more music teachers will be trained locally in Lebanon, and that the R&D activities associated with the project will expand in both scope and content. We hope and believe that in the future 6 the Lebanon project can help reinforce the social perspective in music education by stimulating the students’ social conscience, by helping to enable participation in cultural activities by marginalised groups, and by strengthening their cultural rights. Oslo, May 2020 Vegar Storsve and Brit Ågot Brøske 7 Chapter 1 What is the Lebanon project? Project development, content, participants and future aspirations Vegar R. Storsve In 2002, I had the pleasure of being invited to an event at Algarheim Elementary School in Ullensaker municipality in Norway. This elementary school had a group of Palestinian refugee children visiting from Lebanon, and the school’s music teacher probably knew that this might interest me. The event was to be the conclusion of the visit to the school, and the pupils were going to show what they had been working on. I must admit I was somewhat sceptical, as it would not have been the first time I in a gymnasium in a Norwegian school. In addition, it was springtime, the roads were had had to endure noisy, foul smelling and fluorescent-lit low-budget arrangements free of snow and ice and the sun had started to warm the air. My mode of transport was a bicycle, and it was with a sense of freedom I wheeled down from the Jessheim bridge and across Gystadmyra on a brand new bike and a pedestrian trail on my way to the school this April afternoon. Should I whiz straight past or stop by for a short work and leisure, I am sure. visit? It was not the first time a music teacher has considered the relationship between In a packed gymnasium, I was greeted with a tremendous show, a mix of Palestinian and Norwegian dance and music performed by children who had practised together and exchanged cultural knowledge for a whole school week. They were bursting with energy and the joy of playing. It looked as if they wanted to give it their all, and they demonstrated to me that friendship and being together in play, song, dance and music could not be prevented by huge differences in culture and in social and ethnic backgrounds. Neither was the lack of a common verbal language a hindrance to these - cent lighting. Sometimes, noise is a positive thing in a broader perspective. An entire children.