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What Work Does Music Do? A free programme of short films about music

What Work Does Music Do? A free programme of short films about music

Fri 9 Oct · 19:00

Birkbeck Institute for the Moving Image

15°C · 59% rain

Rain likely — worth a coat for the walk in.

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About This Event

**BOOK YOUR FREE TICKETS HERE:** https://www.bbk.ac.uk/events/event/64773/what-work-does-music-do-four-films-on-music-labour-belonging-and-displacement As part of a new strand of public activities, the Royal Anthropological Institute Film Office has been inviting external collaborators to explore its catalogue and bring new perspectives to it. **[What Work Does Music Do?](https://raifilm.org.uk/events/what-work-does-music-do-four-films-on-music-labour-belonging-and-displacement/)** was curated by Birkbeck MA Film Programming and Curating student **Mariana Lafratta** during her placement at RAI FILM, where she researched the collection and selected four films that approach music as a social and cultural practice. The films in this programme approach the work that music does from very different places and perspectives. In *Singing Pictures – Women Painters of Naya*, songs accompany the painted scrolls of women in West Bengal, carrying knowledge while contributing to changes within their community. *Mind, Hands, Work – Fidel Sambou Builds an Ekonting* follows a Senegalese musician and sculptor as he makes an ekonting, revealing the relationship between craft, sound, memory and tradition. In *The Beat Goes On*, samba brings generations together through the shared practice of carnival. Finally, *Ghetto PSA* portrays a young migrant in Turin who uses hip hop to reflect on his past, his displacement and his place in his new surroundings. Moving between South Asia, West Africa, South America and Europe, the films reveal music as something deeply connected to everyday life. It can be a form of work, a repository of knowledge, a means of belonging, an expression of resistance, or a way of making sense of who we are and where we come from. **What Work Does Music Do?** invites us to listen differently – and to ask what music makes possible.

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Frequently asked questions

What Work Does Music Do? A free programme of short films about music takes place on Friday, 9 October 2026 at 19:00.

What Work Does Music Do? A free programme of short films about music is held at Birkbeck Institute for the Moving Image in London (43 Gordon Sq, London WC1H 0PY, UK, London, WC1H 0PY).

The forecast for What Work Does Music Do? A free programme of short films about music is Light drizzle · 15°C. Rain likely — worth a coat for the walk in.

Yes — hotels within walking distance of Birkbeck Institute for the Moving Image can be compared using the accommodation search further down this page.

Tickets for What Work Does Music Do? A free programme of short films about music can be booked via meetup.com using the "Check Tickets & Live Prices" button on this page, which opens the official booking site in a new tab.