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The lavta or politiko laouto is a unique musical instrument from Istanbul. Claimed as a national instrument by Greeks, Armenians, and Turks and played in classical as well as in urban and folk music – the lavta’s hybrid character refuses any attempts to be ethnically, nationally, or even musicologically categorized.

Starting from this central example, in this tour we will use a musicological, anthropological, and historical approach to explore music and musical instruments from the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East, and South and Central Asia. We will learn how musical culture is more than melodic charm or a means of aesthetic pleasure – music has been a way of forging and dismantling divisive identities throughout modernity, and it has simultaneously been a universalizing culture of resistance against identities of division.

The tour will include live demonstrations and performances of select instruments by the guides.

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