Katia Chornik: Collecting and archiving music histories from political detention centres in Pinochet's Chile (1973-1990)

Event details

Speaker: Katia Chornik (University of Manchester and Surrey County Council)

Date: 5.15 - 6.15pm.  

Venue: Lecture Room A, Alison House, 12 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9DF

Hosted in conjunction  with Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies at the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures. 

Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies at LLC.

Abstract

Over 1000 political detention centres operated in Chile during the dictatorship led by General Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).

Music was commonly present in these places, in which thousands were tortured, "disappeared" and executed extra-judicially.

In this talk, Katia Chornik (University of Manchester and Surrey County Council) discusses her work of collecting and archiving music and testimonies on musical experiences from survivors, perpetrators and other witnesses.

Focusing on the bilingual digital project Cantos Cautivos / Captive Songs, Chornik discusses the process of creating the archive, the opportunities and challenges of exhibiting materials dealing with difficult topics, and aspects of social responsibility and reciprocity. 

Biography

Katia Chornik is a music scholar, cultural historian and qualitative researcher working across government and academia. In her current research post at Surrey County Council, she has worked on research ethics, unaccompanied refugee children and cultural strategy. She previously held academic posts at the Universities of Manchester, Salford and the Open University, and worked as a violinist with the Santiago Philharmonic Orchestra (Chile). She directs the testimonial digital project Cantos Cautivos (Captive Songs), part of her research on music in political detention centres in Pinochet's Chile, and currently featured in the British Museum's I Object exhibition. She is the author of the books Alejo Carpentier and the Musical Text (MHRA / Maney, 2015;republ. Routledge, 2017) and Cantos Cautivos: Music in Political Detention Centres in Pinochet’s Chile (forthcoming with OUP). Katia is also a keen freelance journalist, having worked for various sections of the BBC, The Guardian and The Economist, among other media outlets. 

Related links

Cantos Cautivos / Captive Songs project (external link)