Dr Pramantha Tagore, Neubauer Family Foundation Doctoral Fellow, Dept. of Music, Hon. Fellow and Ass. Dir. Centre for Nineteenth Century Studies International (CNCSIBorderland and Objects: Indian Musical Instruments in the Age of Empire

Title: "Borderland Objects: Indian Musical Instruments in the Age of Empire"

Presenter:  Dr Pramantha Tagore, Neubauer Family Foundation Doctoral Fellow, Dept. of Music, Hon. Fellow and Ass. Dir. Centre for Nineteenth Century Studies International (CNCSI)

Abstract: In the late nineteenth century, significant global exchanges were seen most notably in the World’s Fairs and International Exhibitions (1850-1940). These were spaces where diverse cultures, technologies, and ideas intersected, inspiring cross-cultural and cross-border connections among nations and people worldwide. Among these exchanges, the transnational movement of musical instrument collections between India and the West is a compelling, yet understudied aspect of sonic and cultural history. In this talk, I examine the importance and impact of musical instrument collections sent from India to Australia, Europe, and the United States by the Bengali musicologist, Raja Sourindro Mohun Tagore (1840-1914), with a particular focus on border crossings that facilitated the transfer of sound between regions and colonies. The talk examines how musical instruments from India functioned not only as objects of cross-cultural exchange, but were crucial in the development of scholarly fields such as Organology, or the scientific study and classification of musical instruments in the West. To better understand these exchanges, I situate Tagore’s musical instruments as "borderland objects," linking the notions of borderland and sonic objects within a network of symbolic, relational, and structural meanings that transcend physical borders into the realm of the aesthetic and auditory. This conceptual framework will enable us to account for the emergence of multiple translations and meanings of sound in the period of Empire.