MOVE i 'The Ensamble': Utveksling som verktøy for samfunnsendring
Denne måneden ble musikerutvekslingen vår MOVE løftet fram i 'The Ensamble' – et ledende nyhetsbrev for det globale fagfeltet på musikk for samfunnsendring.
Prosjektleder for MOVE, Siri S. Thorsen, ble forespurt å fortelle om hvordan utvekslingen, som er et samarbeid med Music Crossroads Malawi, Sustenidos Brazil og Trondheim Kommune, brukes for å ruste unge musikk- og kulturledere til å utfordre og skape framtidas globale kulturliv.
Les utdrag fra artikkelen under.
“In their new learning contexts, far away from what’s familiar, we aim to nudge their gaze towards ‘the how’[…]”
Movere fra Norge, Malawi, Brasil og Mosambik på utveksling i Brasil i 2025. Foto: Vanessa Litta
While our daily lives are rattled by increasing global instability, polarization, and apathy, culture workers working toward youth empowerment and social change share many of the same questions. How do we empower young people without transferring unreasonable responsibility? How do we equip and motivate while acknowledging legitimate, sometimes harsh realities? How do we facilitate interconnectedness, in times of global dehumanization?
For Jeunesses Musicales Norway, part of our answer is the Musicians and Organizers Volunteer Exchange (MOVE), which brings together musicians aged 18-25 for nearly yearlong work exchanges. Volunteer participants from three leading music organizations within the JM International network—Sustenidos in Brazil, Music Crossroads in Malawi, and JM Norway/Trondheim Municipality in Norway—exchange places for ten months. The program is centered around intercultural musical collaboration, leadership development, and community music activities.
Our goal is both simple and complex: to give young musicians practical insight into how music and culture can shift power, challenge inequitable norms, and strengthen communities. With the guidance of their host organizations, participants practice the many ways music can function in a community—by teaching, performing, organizing events, and taking part in local cultural activities. Gradually, the familiar role of musical performer merges with new insight into community music-making and social change-making.
Our approach to music for social change is shaped by the conviction that how you do something is a crucial point of entry, rather than merely what you do. Our young emerging leaders have already had valuable experiences in “the what” of many kinds of musical experiences—for example, musical expression, teaching settings, and cultural events. In their new learning contexts, far away from what’s familiar, we aim to nudge their gaze towards “the how,” through a loosely assembled toolkit of principles and methods.
Om The Ensamble:
Since 2011, The Ensemble has been the foremost communications hub for teaching artists, program leaders, educators, funders, researchers, and students and families to share their insights and experiences. With readers and contributors in every continent, we work to connect and inform all those who are committed to inclusive arts education for youth empowerment and social change. Now and always, we seek to amplify, connect, and celebrate their work and build a better world for the next generation.
