Curatorial Statement

Art and culture are a living part of us and are testaments to our humanity. The curatorial direction for this year’s conference focuses on showcasing artists who intentionally use their art as forms of healing and unapologetic manifestations of inquiry and freedom. Please make sure to witness and engage with their works on our website prior to and after the conference.

Our keynote artists, in order of appearance are Darlington Theodore, an internationally recognized master drummer who specializes in the Djembe West African drum and Dr. Norah Lorway an internationally-renowned coding composer and producer who will share their artistry with us.

As curatorial chair, my idea behind creating the title for the panel, “Timeless Technologies of Healing Vibrations” was to play with popular notions of the traditional drum, in this case the Djembe, as an ancestral instrument coming from the past and artificial intelligence robots, in this case Autopia, as a musical tool from the future. However, the drum is the heartbeat of all music.

The Djembe and Autopia (AI robot) are both technologies, meaning, they are both methods of music-making that use materials that have been altered. What happens when traditional percussion meets digital resonances? What is the conversation between the two? There is a tendency to create an opposition between the traditional and the digital, yet they are in constant conversation. In the worlds of music, drums built of wood and skin and robots made of steel, aluminum and other materials are both technologies that use patterns or algorithms to produce healing vibrations.

Both the drum and the robot have roots in the past, their place in the present and possibilities for the future and to hold our communities in healing and solidarity. In what ways does music heal the human body? We invite you to witness, exchange, grow and heal through these multiple languages.

Emilie Jabouin, Curatorial Chair

IS|CS Conference, March 2022