DkIT researchers Dr Niall Coughlan, Dr Ciarán Ryan and Dr Kayla Rush from the Department of Creative Arts, Media and Music recently presented papers at the International Council for Traditional Musics and Dance Conference hosted by Dublin City University.

Ciarán's paper: 'Hope and Memories: Documenting punk fandom' examined recent publications by the Dublin-based Hope Publications, a do-it-yourself (DIY) gig promoter that was particularly active in the 1980s and 1990s. The publications, produced to financially support various humanitarian causes, elicited written accounts of their contributors’ favourite concerts and albums. These recollections do not just focus on the technical or performative aspects of the music but the emotive and personal context, positioning music as central parts of their identities and within their own life stories.

Kayla presented findings from her ongoing interview research into contemporary cassette practices, focusing on collectors’ economic logics and language, which exhibit an ambivalent relationship with capitalism. Following the research presentation, Niall, an electronic music producer and cassette collector, will presented a new electronic music composition entitled 'Ferrous Reel' reflecting on and responding to the research findings.

These papers represent new research that has been recently developed in the Creative Arts Research Centre (CARC) at DkIT. In addition to the papers presented, DkIT doctoral student Darren Culliney, currently Education Officer for ICTMD (Ireland) was to the fore in the organising of the conference and Kayla was elected to the committee at the AGM when current Honorary Secretary, Dr Daithí Kearney, co-director of CARC, concluded his term in office.