Biographical note
Sebastian is an anthropologist, musician and filmmaker from Aotearoa New Zealand. He is currently enrolled in a PhD in Society and Culture at James Cook University, Australia, and Aarhus University, Denmark. His main interests include music and sound, Indigenous rights, filmmaking, ecology, performance practice, experimental anthropology and collaborative ‘mahi tahi’ ethics.
Sebastian is a classically-trained musician having studied performance viola in Aotearoa New Zealand and Bergen, Norway. His art practice has recently moved into experimental film and he has exhibited and showcased his work in film festivals around the world.
Sebastian is co-curator of otis, a community of artists and anthropologists exploring the in between of art and anthropology and co-curated with Victoria Baskin Coffey and Jennifer Deger: www.otismakers.com. He is also a member of the New Zealand Ethics Committee - Te Roopu Rapu i te Tika: www.nzethics.com.
Research topic
Sebastian’s research project, Playing with a Crumbling World, is a cross-cultural exploration of taonga puoro (traditional Māori instuments) along the Whanganui River. Playing to the environment alongside tangata whenua (people born of the land) in Whanganui opens spaces to reimagine and reconfigure our relationships to the world. Through playing together and sharing breath, the project explores understandings of the relationships between humans, non-humans and their environment. Working in collaboration with his colleagues and local communities, Sebastian’s work entangles histories and cultures to give rise to new ideas about how we might live in a crumbling world.
Supervisory Team
- Associate Professor Jennifer Deger
- Associate Professor Christian Suhr
- Professor Ton Otto
- Dr Lily George (Te Kapotai/Ngati Hine, Ngatiwai, Ngapuhi)
Conference papers
Lowe, S. (2015). Towards an ethnography on the renaissance of taonga pūoro” – 40 Years on: Does anthropology really need a theme? Paper presented at the Annual conference of ASAA/NZ (Association of Social Anthropologists of Aotearoa/New Zealand), 25-27 November, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Lowe, S. (2017). Connecting with the inner-landscapes: Taonga pūoro, musical improvisation, and wayfaring through acoustic Aotearoa/New Zealand. Paper presented at the Shifting States Conference of Social Anthropology (combined conference of the Australian, New Zealand and Commonwealth associations of social anthropology), 11-15 December, Adelaide, Australia.
Lowe, S. (2017). Filming Toanga Pūoro: The potential of experimental film in anthropological and ethnomusicological enquiry. Paper presented at Fridolin to the digital age: An audio-visual research symposium on music from around the world, 1-2 June, Aarhus University, Denmark.
Lowe, S. (2018). The risks & rewards of co-creation and collaboration - reconstituting methods to find new ways to dance with life in the age of death. Laboratory on creative practice together with Victoria Baskin Coffey presented at the Australian Anthropological Society Conference,4-7 December, Cairns, Australia.
Lowe, S. (2019). Oh be calm, be calm, and listen to the breath: taonga pūoro, improvisation and a ‘listening in' to a local ethics of care. Conference paper presented at the Association of Social Anthropologists of Aotearoa New Zealand, 28-30th November, hosted by University of Waikato: Whāingaroa Raglan, Aotearoa New Zealand.
Johnson, T. & Lowe, S. J. (2020) Mātauranga Māori and the revitalisation of the tools of our tūpuna presented at the Social Movements, Resistance, and Social Change: Activating Collectivity, Aroha and Power conference in Wellington, November 2020.
Publications
Lowe, S. J. (2017). New website for the Eye & Mind Laboratory for Visual Anthropology at Aarhus University. Newsletter of the Nordic Anthropological Film Association (NAFA), 24(4), 6.
Lowe, S. J., & Crawford, P. I. (2018). Filming Taonga Pūoro: The potential of experimental film in anthropological and ethnomusicological enquiry. Sites: A journal of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies.
Lowe, S. J., & Fraser, A. (2018). Connecting with inner-landscapes: Taonga pūoro, musical improvisation and exploring acoustic Aotearoa/New Zealand. Journal of New Zealand & Pacific Studies, 6(1), 5–20, doi:10.1386/nzps.6.1.5_1
Puke, W.T. & Lowe, S.J. (2020), "What Does a Shared Space Look Like? a Dialogue of a Research Partnership", George, L., Tauri, J. and MacDonald, L.T.A.o.T. (Ed.) Indigenous Research Ethics: Claiming Research Sovereignty Beyond Deficit and the Colonial Legacy (Advances in Research Ethics and Integrity, Vol. 6), Emerald Publishing Limited, pp. 247-260. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2398-601820200000006016
Lowe, S.J., George, L. & Deger, J. (2020), "A Deeper Deep Listening: Doing Pre-Ethics Fieldwork in Aotearoa New Zealand", George, L., Tauri, J. and MacDonald, L.T.A.o.T. (Ed.) Indigenous Research Ethics: Claiming Research Sovereignty Beyond Deficit and the Colonial Legacy (Advances in Research Ethics and Integrity, Vol. 6), Emerald Publishing Limited, pp. 275-291. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2398-601820200000006019
Newsletters
Lowe, S. J., & Buttacavoli, M. (2019). Listening Post at The Cairns Institute, James Cook University, Australia. Newsletter of the Nordic Anthropological Film Association (NAFA), 26 (1). 4.
Lowe, S. J. (2017). New website for the Eye & Mind Laboratory for Visual Anthropology at Aarhus University. Newsletter of the Nordic Anthropological Film Association (NAFA), 24(4), 6.
Teaching Experience
Tutor in anthropology at Waikato University 2008-2011
Contact
Otis: www.otismakers.com
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/user39945401
Linkedin: https://dk.linkedin.com/in/sebastianjlowe
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-9615432