Towards an alternative history of Sound Art and Electronic Music: Carmen Barradas and Jaqueline Nova (1888-1975).

Abstract

This paper addresses a critical gap in the global histories of media arts by investigating the life and work of two Latin American female composers whose career paths traversed well known global networks of music and experimental art production during the 20th Century. In a broad sense, it seeks to unpack how female artists born or working in the region of Latin America have been double excluded from these histories due to the patriarchal configurations of the art milieu as well as the ambivalent position that the region occupies as neither entirely western nor entirely modern. Focusing on the contributions of Carmen Barradas (Uruguay, 1888-1963), and Jacqueline Nova (Belgium, 1935 - Colombia, 1975) in the fields of graphic musical notation, sound installations and other experimental and electronic music techniques, I propose an alternative narrative of the interconnected histories of music, experimental art and technology that positions a genealogy of self-defined women composers as crucial players in the development of 20th century avant-gardes.