Crossing Borders Music (CBM) (ACC 2024) is a multicultural organization of color that shares the stories and music of those whose voices are suppressed because of race, ethnicity, disability, gender, sexual orientation, other identity, or related trauma. CBM does this through free, accessible programs in community spaces in service and affirmation of their communities and collaborators.
CMB's mission is to use music to promote the dignity of people from all cultures, and Tom Clowes is their Co-Executive Director. CBM’s Organization Grant through ACC brought Clowes from the U.S. to Kutupalong Refugee Camp in Bangladesh to meet Rohingya refugee musicians, learn about Rohingya music, and exchange ideas about music education.
Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Soundcloud
ACC: Briefly describe your ACC grant fellowship experience to Bangladesh
TC: Thanks to ACC, I was able to go to Bangladesh to spend time with and learn from Rohingya Refugee musicians in Kutupalong.
The Rohingya are an Indigenous people who have lived in what is now the Rakhine State of Myanmar (Burma) for over 1000 years. As ethnic and religious minorities, the Myanmar (Burma) government has suppressed their fundamental human rights for generations. Eventually, they were stripped of their citizenship. Myanmar authorities inflicted systemic violence on the Rohingya. In the face of this violence, Rohingya Refugees were forced to seek refuge in Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, in the world’s largest Refugee community, Rohingya Refugees live in close proximity. Most are not allowed to use permanent materials to build their homes, and they are vulnerable to natural disasters. Security officers can seize people’s personal items if they believe those items show evidence of crimes, or assess fines if they believe people have taken part in criminal activity. In the face of this suppression, Rohingya musicians are keepers of their people’s stories, carrying history, identity, and resilience in their melodies.
Having received permission from the Bangladeshi government to enter the Refugee camps during specified hours on weekdays, I met with nine Rohingya musicians in the camps for all the time I was allowed to do so. In that time, I learned about Rohingya music, its role in community life in Myanmar, the suppression of Rohingya music in Myanmar, the effects of the Rohingya Genocide on Rohingya music, and how Rohingya music continues to evolve in the camps in Bangladesh despite restrictions and challenges. Although I received so much more knowledge than I was able to give, I did share with the community of musicians about pedagogy techniques, sound waves and tuning systems, and about Western music cultural practices and how they were similar to or differed from Rohingya practices.
ACC: What did you get out of this ACC fellowship experience?
TC: For some years now, in accordance with the wishes of the Rohingya community, CBM has been working to arrange Rohingya music for a combination of Rohingya musicians - on video when they can’t be present in person - plus live string quartet. Through this music we hope to help the international community to “see the Rohingya with their hearts,” as one community member put it.
Over the course of work on this first project, the Rohingya Refugee musicians in Bangladesh asked us for help to preserve their Rohingya musical tradition and help to pass it down to future generations so it continues to be known in the world. By going to Bangladesh, meeting people in person, learning daily about the Rohingya music tradition and the Rohingya culture more broadly, I now feel like I’ve learned what I’ve needed to to help start a Rohingya music education program, which seemed impossibly daunting before the travel! I also better understand why they asked for help, and the privileges that CBM has that aren’t available to the Rohingya Refugees. For example, I was able to arrange a meeting with the Bangladeshi authorities in charge of the Rohingya camps and attain formal permission for a music education program - a privilege the Rohingya musicians themselves don’t have.
Additionally, while I was in Bangladesh going through an “informed consent” process with the musicians, they made it clear that they wanted me to share as widely as possible about them, their stories, and the story of the Rohingya people more broadly. “Share it to Mars, if possible,” said musician Liyakat Ali. So, I began documenting all I could about the musicians, recording hours of their music-making, writing down and double-checking the translations of the stories they shared with me, and generally documenting Rohingya musical practices, including how it’s changed because of the Rohingya Genocide. I didn’t realize just how important the musicians considered this until one remarked “I can die now” after information about the history of Rohingya music and its role among Rohingya people had been recorded to be shared with the world. The results of these efforts are the Rohingya Music Online Library.
Finally, in collaboration with ART WORKS Projects and the National Cambodian Heritage Museum, through support from the Simmons Center for a Global Chicago, we’ve been using this collaboration with Rohingya musicians as a “case study” for ethical practices in sharing people’s life stories, especially when the stories are traumatic. Our focus is on centering the wishes of the storytellers themselves - in this case, the musicians - rather than the story sharers (in this case, Crossing Borders Music) or even worse, the funders. I’m happy to share that ACC was supportive of decisions that centered the needs of the Rohingya musicians themselves.
ACC: How do you view the importance of cultural exchange? Do you have a memorable story you’d like to share that speaks to your experience?
TC: Cultural exchange involves cultural learning. The opposite of learning is ignorance. For example, in my ignorance, one preconception I had was that I would not encounter openly transgender or gender-non-conforming individuals in this conservative Muslim culture. I learned that preconception was wrong. Khaleda, a musician in the cohort I worked with, is transgender. Another musician in the cohort has a musical role model who is transgender. In fact, I learned that openly transgender people (hijra) have been a part of Rohingya culture and South Asian culture for generations. Khaleda, I know you don’t read English so it’s unlikely you’ll ever read this, but I loved meeting you and I still don’t know how you managed to dance in such a tiny space!
ACC: From your perspective, what is the impact of ACC and its Organization Grants?
TC: I think I can best speak to our own experience, which is that the exchange has made possible a myriad of other activities that would not have been possible without it - including, God-willing, helping to preserve the Rohingya music tradition in the face of the Rohingya Genocide.
ACC: What are you looking forward to as a result of completing this ACC fellowship experience?
TC: It’s honestly quite life-changing to have people experiencing genocide ask for help. It’s also quite inspiring to see the faith, hope, and love that the musicians share every day through their music, even after all they’ve been through. I now feel a profound responsibility to the community to use what I was taught and share it with others.
ACC: Is there anything else you’d like to share?
TC: In describing all the oppression the Rohingya face, it can be easy to lose sight of the beauty of Rohingya culture. While I mentioned Crossing Borders Music’s Rohingya Music Library, the Rohingya Cultural Memory Centre is probably the biggest single online resource for exploring Rohingya cultural treasures. Musicians Osman and Taher have highly successful YouTube music channels. I encourage everyone to explore these and other resources!
Learn more at crossingbordersmusic.org
Images in order of appearence:
- Crossing Borders Music logo
- Tom Clowes going to the Rohingya Cultural Memory Centre
- Liyakat Ali, Tom Clowes, and Abdul Mujib
- Tom Clowes and Osman
- Liyakat Ali playing mandolin
- Musician Khaleda with stylish cat
- Rohingya musicians gather in Kutupalong Refugee Camp
ACC New York
ACC Tokyo
ACC New York
ACC New York
ACC New York