UNESCO has consistently emphasized Africa as a global priority region for cultural development, knowledge equity, and the safeguarding of both tangible and intangible heritage. Its policy frameworks highlight the need to strengthen research capacity, support African knowledge systems, and ensure the full participation of African institutions and scholars in global cultural and scientific dialogue.
In line with these commitments, RILM & AMI convene researchers, educators, librarians, and cultural policy actors engaged in music studies across Africa and the African Diaspora. The pan-African conference aligns with UNESCO’s emphasis on fostering equitable North–South and South–South cooperation, strengthening African-led scholarship, and supporting inclusive infrastructures for knowledge production and dissemination.
By bringing together participants from diverse regional and disciplinary contexts, this initiative advances UNESCO’s objectives of promoting cultural diversity, reinforcing heritage protection, and supporting sustainable, locally grounded research ecosystems across the African continent and its global diasporic networks.
Call For Papers
- Tunis Leg: 31 March–2 April 2027 (no registration fee)
Convened by Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale International Center, New York, and RILM Europe, Frankfurt am Main, and the Higher Institute of Music of Tunis, Université de Tunis, Tunisia
Local Organizing/Arrangements Committee:
- Higher Institute of Music of Tunis (ISMT), Université de Tunis, Tunisia
- Iyadh El Kahla, Universität Hildesheim, Germany / Université d’Aix-Marseille, France
- Kenya Leg: Kabarak University, Kenya: 11–13 October 2027 (registration fee: USD150), Convened by the African Musicological Institute and Kabarak University
Local Organizing/Arrangements Committee:
- African Musicology Institute, Kabarak University
- Directorate of Research, Innovation and Outreach, Kabarak University
Conference Overview
This pan-African conference seeks to create a sustained, transformative dialogue on the histories, practices, and futures of music studies centered on Africa and its global diaspora. Building on the success of transnational collaborations, we aim to bridge geographical and epistemological divides by staging linked gatherings in Tunis and Nakuru, Kenya.
We invite scholars and educators from all disciplines to engage with the complex tapestry of music studies in and about Africa and the African Diaspora. The conference will critically examine established narratives, elevate emergent methodologies, and foster networks for collaborative research that looks both to the past and the future of African music studies.
We welcome proposals for individual papers (20 minutes, followed by 25 minutes discussion), organized panels (3–4 papers), and roundtables that address, but are not limited to, the following subtopics:
I. Revisiting the Past: Historiography, Archives, and Recovery
- The history of African music studies and its key figures
- Oral histories, griot traditions, and Indigenous knowledge systems
- Pre-colonial and early colonial approaches
- Archival sources: silences, presences, and ethics
- Decolonizing music histories and canon formation
- Recovering lost or marginalized figures, traditions, and trajectories
II. Navigating the Present: Practice, Theory, and Circulation
- Institutionalization: African music studies in universities, archives, and cultural organizations
- Contemporary methodologies across the continent and diaspora
- Studying popular music in the digital age
- Ethnography in the 21st century: positionality, collaboration, and reciprocity
- Critical theorizations from African and Black diasporic perspectives
- Music studies in the face of migration, conflict, and environmental change
- The politics of global circulation
III. Disciplining the Future: Innovation, Pedagogy, and Sustainability
- Towards African music studies as a discipline
- New technologies in creation, preservation, and analysis
- The future of music education: curricula, institutions, and community practices
- Cultural sustainability, heritage safeguarding, and UNESCO frameworks
- Interdisciplinary and transcontinental research models
IV. Dialogues Across Waters: Diaspora, Return, and Transnationalism
- African music studies in the Americas, Caribbean, Europe, Asia, and beyond
- African music studies: Heritage, innovation, and contemporary transformations
- Future perspectives on African music studies
- The role of music studies in diplomatic and soft power initiatives
- Digital diasporas and virtual communities
The conference languages are English and French.
Kindly submit proposals via this form: https://tinyurl.com/57v7vx57
Deadline for submissions: 1 September 2026; notifications of acceptance will be sent by 15 December 2026.
Logistics:
Participants are expected to attend and present at one leg of the conference. While we are actively seeking funding, participants should also explore institutional support for travel and accommodation. We intend to publish selected papers. Further details regarding registration, visas, and local logistics will follow upon acceptance.
Organizing Committee:
RILM International Center & RILM Europe | Higher Institute of Music of Tunis, University of Tunis| African Musicological Institute | Kabarak University |
Scientific Committee:
- Daniel Avorgbedor, University of Ghana, Ghana
- Emna Beltaïef, Université de Tunis, Tunisia
- Antonio C. Cuyler, University of Michigan, USA
- Wilhelm Delport, University of Cape Town, South Africa
- Luise Fischer, Universität Leipzig and The Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Germany
- Abdelhamid Hénia, Tunisian Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts Beit al Hikma, Tunisia
- Rémy Jadinon, Royal Museum for Central Africa and Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
- Rim Djemal, Université de Tunis, Tunisia
- Philip Nyawere, Kabarak University, Kenya
- Magdalena Pycińska, Jagiellonian University, Poland
- Mellitus N. Wanyama, Kabarak University, Kenya
Scientific Committee Coordination:
- Tina Frühauf, Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale, CUNY Graduate Center, USA
- Alla El Kahla, Independent Scholar, Germany / Tunisia
- Iyadh El Kahla, Universität Hildesheim, Germany / Université d’Aix-Marseille, France
For inquiries, contact conferences@rilm.org.
This conference is organized under the framework of RILM’s commitment, as a UNESCO-accredited NGO, to the international and equitable dissemination of music scholarship