Pushpa Palanchoke Residency October 30 – November 1, 2023

Events, Visiting Scholars
Pushpa Palanchoke Events

The Center for South Asian studies and the UHM Department of Music are pleased to host Pushpa Palanchoke from October 30-November 1, 2023 at the UH Mānoa campus.

Pushpa Palanchoke is a charismatic vocalist and ethnomusicologist from Nepal who exhibits a dedication to community work, scholarship, history and revival. She grew up in a home in which music was part of a spiritual practice. In addition to her strong musicianship as a singer, Pushpa runs a community program called Folk Lok, where she creates collaborative modules which breathe new life into community music traditions.

An applied ethnomusicologist, she uses her work to educate, support, and uplift other women within indigenous and traditional music spaces. Very few women are in her field and she is a standout as an activist and artist. Grounded in social awareness and community empowerment, Pushpa stands out as an activist and artist in fields with very few women leaders. Pushpa is inspirational in her dedication to promoting women in indigenous music, her depth of knowledge about traditional music, the way she draws inspiration from personal experiences and culture to compose new music, and her strong work with youth through Folk Lok.

Her residency will address diversity’s dimensions of culture, ethnicity, race, and gender through musical and poetic expression and discussions of indigenous and community empowerment through shared artistic practice of community arts work, and provide a forum for discussing its implementation beyond Pushpa’s own practice.

Pushpa’s residency will include a public presentation on her work with the indigenous Newa community’s dāphā music tradition, a workshop (registration required) on dāphā singing, and a 45 minute performance, “Bhavanas from the hills,” highlighting musical and poetic expressions of feelings including genres from Nepal’s hill regions and Pushpa’s own songs rooted in these traditions.

Schedule of Events

Tuesday, October 31, 12-1:30pm at Center for Korean Studies Auditorium

(Livestream on CSAS YouTube Channel)

Presentation: Folk Lok & the Dāphā Music Tradition.

Tuesday October 31, 6-7pm: at Orvis Auditorium

Performance: Bhavanas from the Hills.

Wednesday November 1, 6-7 pm:

Singers’ Workshop: Dāphā Music & its Musicality.

Sign up for details at csas@hawaii.edu

You can view Pushpa’s remarkable documentary here:

More information about Pushpa Palanchoke and Folk Lok

Folk Lok is a community based arts program run by Satori Center for the Arts and Quixote’s Cove that responds to the needs of indigenous music groups in Nepal. It supports the continuation of endangered intangible heritages, builds community linkages, and initiates conversations on current problems to explore collaborative solutions and build collective agency. It also works with indigenous cultural groups to document, record, and pass down indigenous knowledge and practice through their own systems of learning, teaching, and sharing.