Paper short abstract:

Sistema-inspired music education programmes offer a unique opportunity to understand how young people experience the relationship between music and social change. Collaborative ethnographic filmmaking enhances this by inviting young people to participate in knowledge production and representation.

Paper long abstract:

In March 2017 I started a new, 3-year visual ethnographic project exploring the social impacts of three charitable organisations that provide free Sistema-inspired orchestral music education programmes in low-decile schools in Wellington, New Zealand. El Sistema is a Venezuelan music and social development initiative which began in 1975 and is today one of the world's largest orchestral music education programmes. Sistema-inspired orchestral music education programmes operate in over 60 countries worldwide, providing opportunities to children with the aim of transforming their lives, their families' lives, and their wider communities. In New Zealand, these programmes often fill a gap left by the state in terms of access to music education in low-decile schools, which are in areas of high socioeconomic deprivation. Many of the young people attending music lessons provided by the three organisations I am working with are Māori and Pasifika, reflecting the demographics of the urban areas in which they operate. This project lends itself well to a visual approach due to its focus on the experiential, intersubjective nature of music-making. In this paper, I discuss my efforts to craft a collaboratively-designed and produced film documenting young people's experiences of these music education programmes. I discuss the decolonising orientation that guides my project, reflect on my experiences in making a film about music and social change with young Māori and Pasifika people, and make some suggestions about the emancipatory potential of collaborative ethnographic filmmaking.