by SCOTT C

Last year the SAHC (Students for the Advancement of Hip Hop Culture) did a great job in introducing Montreal to its first annual Symposium on Hip Hop Culture, with the promise that they would be back the following year with even more to offer. Well, it’s that time again, and the Symposium is in full swing this week with a bunch of different events all designed to deconstruct, discuss and celebrate the multifaceted world of hip hop.

The whole point of the symposium is to offer dialogue and debate on specific topics aimed at furthering hip hop culture above and beyond the confines of music lovers and into the world of academic communities. In the presentation portion of the symposium, participants can look forward to talks on hip hop and feminism, hip hop and creative art therapy, hip hop and the importance of the peer group in youth cultures as well as Islam and hip hop.

I got a chance to sit in on one of the roundtable discussions last year, and it’s quite interesting hearing several points of view on the same topic. It can get a little hairy at times, but the moderator at the table makes sure that everyone gets their say. I remember filling out a questionnaire regarding my feelings about the first symposium, and my only criticism was that there weren’t more people directly involved with the different aspects of hip hop culture that were being discussed. It’s always nice to have somebody in the hot seat, I guess.

In addition, this year’s symposium will include a series of screenings that illustrate hip-hop culture’s contribution to cinema. Movies like Wild Style and 8 Mile are scheduled for show, as well as some independent, lesser-known works. The whole week winds down at Bonkif (in Concordia’s Hall Bldg, formerly known as Reggie’s) with celebrations and performances from Thursday, Feb. 27, to Thursday, March 8, starting at 10 p.m. every night. All of this will hopefully someday translate into a definitive course of study at Concordia University, focusing on the many social, political, economic, artistic and historic aspects of hip hop. :

For more info go to http://hiphop_academix.tripod.com

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