I-STREAM
Climate-related Disasters and the Rhythms of Caribbean Music Scenes

About

The I-STREAM project aims to understand the impact of climate-related disasters on the rhythms of musical activity in three tourism-dependent cities in the Caribbean:

  • San Juan, Puerto Rico
  • Kingston, Jamaica
  • Havana, Cuba

To achieve this, the project will combine ethnographic research with the analysis of online videos of live concerts, examining the locations, frequency, and content of live music performances.

The research will provide valuable insights into processes of change and recovery in the wake of climate-related disasters, complementing on-the-ground studies and incorporating feedback from local stakeholders.

The project will achieve this objective by focusing on the following questions:

  1. What is the relationship between the temporalities of climate disasters and the long-term rhythms of musical activity in Caribbean music scenes?
  2. How do live music performances intersect with processes of privatization and touristification following climate disasters, and how do these processes shape the types of music performed and how they are experienced?
  3. How do changing spatial, temporal, and sonic configurations of live music performances in disaster-affected contexts affect their accessibility to local, diasporic, and tourist populations?
Hurricane tracks and strength category across time, 2001-2021. created by Souha Ouni, Data source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. National Hurricane Center.

Scientific approach

The I-STREAM team will implement an interdisciplinary approach, incorporating innovative methodologies from ethnomusicology and media studies. This approach combines ethnographic research with online video analysis, facilitated through a custom platform design.

Ethnography

The team will conduct participant observation with musicians and audiences at live music events in five contexts:

  1. small bars or restaurants
  2. concert halls and arenas
  3. free public events such as carnival, religious celebrations, or political gatherings
  4. hotels or resorts
  5. commercial music festivals

Following Gazit’s concept of the “rhythm of a scene” (2024), specific locations and recurring performance events will be identified in the early stages of the research to delineate one or more “scenes.” In addition to participant observation, researchers will conduct interviews and informal conversations with affected musicians, venue owners, event producers, and government officials to discuss their experiences in responding to and preparing for recurring climate events.

Musicians playing Bomba – a Puerto Rican music and dance practice – during a rain storm in La Perla, San Juan, May 2023. Credits: Ofer Gazit.

Online media research and digital platform

Spatial, temporal, sonic, and economic factors significantly impact the accessibility of cultural events for diverse populations across racial, gender, and socio-economic lines. To examine the long-term impact of climate events on Caribbean music scenes, this project will compile a database of publicly available online live music videos, covering ten years (2015–2025) of concerts in each participating city. The videos will be coded for venue, location, time, infrastructure and technical setup, genre, artist/group, ensemble, and repertoire based on what is visible in the video and discernible from metadata.
Together, this database and associated platform will allow stakeholders to observe interactions between zones of tourism development and changes in the availability of live music in response to climate events over the last decade. The platform’s design will be developed collaboratively with stakeholders, including musicians, music industry professionals, and cultural administrators.

Team

Ofer Gazit

Principal Investigator

Ofer Gazit is an Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology in the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage at Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy. Gazit teaches and writes about migration, borders, and mobility in the US and the Caribbean from a musical perspective, contributing to publications in sound and media studies, ethnomusicology, and jazz studies.

Laura Burighel

Project manager

Laura Burighel works as Project Manager in the Research Office of the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage at Ca' Foscari University of Venice. She is supporting the implementation of EU-funded projects through budget monitoring and financial report preparation. She studied International Cooperation and Music Education.