Michigan Music Festival

During this festival an artist was going to perform “original music for traditional music” but was requested from an aboriginal women that she would stay away from performing this music using an aboriginal wind instrument called a “didjeridoo”. As this piece of instrument is scared in her culture, that only an aboriginal would have the right to play it. The artist Gwen Jones respectfully accepted this request as she had made her own “didjeridoo” that mimics the same sound as the instrument. The fact that the artist composed a piece of didjeridoo indicated that has a pure intention of respect and love for the culture. The artist meant no harm. This situation rises a long range of questions, such as “that no one should learn songs in other languages? Is it wrong to make our repertoires diverse? Is each of supposed to stay in our little cubicle and never try to exchange cultures? Under what circumstances is it just to incorporate the music or the instruments of other cultures into ones own music.”  Perhaps the answer that if you give as much as you borrow, and you identify where it came from, you’re playing fair.  Most cultures have some form of drumming, connected with dance or war. At the Michigan festival there was a certain space at night where each night until after midnight with a very diverse group of women that drummed together. This occasion made it possible for people to enjoy something that can be so open to anyone. It created an opportunity, especially for white women that can have pleasurable experience. If a white woman wanted to drum, she may do so but if she was pretending to be a native person or trying to belong in a different group she would be disrespecting the opposing culture.