This initiative has been conceived after the realization of the essential role played by audiovisual recordings in fieldwork as well as all other areas of ethnomusicological studies. The camera has now replaced the audio recorder in most documentation activities, and digital technology has made high-quality audiovisual production accessible for archival, analysis, teaching and dissemination purposes. The great proliferation of audiovisual technologies is not supported, however, by adequate training for researchers. In universities, the small number of teachers and the limited resources mean that, in most cases, audiovisual fieldwork methodologies and in particular audiovisual production techniques are not taught as needed.

 

Within this context, in 2018 the Intercultural Institute of Comparative Music Studies (IISMC) developed “Eyes on Music”, an initiative focused on audiovisual ethnomusicology, coordinated by Giovanni Giuriati, Marco Lutzu, and Simone Tarsitani. The initiative is articulated in three distinct but complementary parts.

 

1) An annual research scholarship of 5,000 euros in memory of Diego Carpitella, to be awarded to a young researcher to produce an audiovisual product of ethnomusicological interest. Projects received in response to the call for applications will be assessed by a panel of three experts. The winner will undertake to produce the work, which will be premiered in Venice. A copy of the material produced during the project will be kept in the IISMC Archive.

 

Download the 2024 Carpitella Scholarship announcement here:

 

Carpitella Scholarship_Call2024
Carpitella Scholarship_Application2024

 

Deadline for application: 1 April 2024 

 

Winners and related projects from 2018:

 

2018-2019 | Christopher Ballengee
Sweet Tassa: Music and Tradition of the Indo-Caribbean Diaspora
2019-2020 | Dario Ranocchiari
Videomaking Al-Andalus
2020-2021 | Petr Nuska
Blood, Sweat and Tearful Music
2021-2022 | Daniele Zappatore
Calung Banyumasan: Shaping Bamboo, Sounding Identities

 

2) A workshop in the field of audiovisual ethnomusicology. Two experts hold an intensive workshop each year with a selected number of participants on a relevant topic of audiovisual documentation in ethnomusicology. Here are the topics covered to start from 2018:

 

All workshop’s editions listed as follow:

12-16 June 2018
The audiovisual documentation of field research
17-21 June 2019
The audiovisual documentation of field research: planning and editing
26-27 September 2020
The Carpitella Fellowship: past, present and future projects 
14-18 June 2021
Visual ethnomusicology and online platforms 

12-15 July 2022
Audiovisual Documentation of Music Performance

3-6 July 2023
The audiovisual documentation of field research: planning and editing

 

*The workshop is realized in collaboration with Durham University’s Department of Music and ARCHiVE – Analysis and Recording of Cultural Heritage in Venice

 

3) An ethnomusicological film festival. The purpose of this series is to promote the circulation of audiovisual products of ethnomusicological interest through screenings, discussions and meetings with the authors. Films by the winners of Carpitella Scholarship are premiered during the festival.