Electronic Music Goes to the Museum: Legacy and Representation in Contemporary Contexts

Although electronic dance music has spent much of its history in the underground, recent years have seen an increasing number of museum exhibits focusing on it. These have included “Electro: De Kraftwerk à Daft Punk” at the Philharmonie de Paris (2019) as well as Carl Craig’s “Party/After-Party” at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles (2023); a much earlier example was the exhibit “Techno: Detroit’s Gift to the World” at the Detroit History Museum (2003–4). In addition, several permanent museums devoted to electronic music have opened. These include the installation Our House in Amsterdam, inaugurated in 2021, and – in Germany – the Museum of Modern Electronic Music (MOMEN), which opened its doors in Frankfurt am Main in 2022.

            The first days of MOMEN were not without controversy, however. The mayor’s invitations to the opening party contained text that invited guests to “the middle of Frankfurt, where techno has its origins” (quoted in T. M. Brown 2023). This error completely overlooks the actual origins of techno in Detroit, where it was pioneered by African American musicians – yet the mistake can be understood to stand in for a more widespread misreading. Additionally, the museum’s director, Alex Azary, mistakenly claimed that MOMEN would be the first museum space devoted to popular electronic music; this neglected the long-standing (since 2002) Exhibit 3000 museum in Detroit, organized by members of Underground Resistance. These mistakes were quickly corrected, but they are telling nonetheless.

For this excursion we will visit MOMEN, considering questions around legacy,  historiography, and representation in the telling of electronic dance music’s histories. We will also avail ourselves of experiential opportunities on offer at the museum, such as DJ workshops and artist talks. In addition, we will visit the Robert Johnson nightclub in nearby Offenbach, which will afford firsthand experience as well as an opportunity to think about nightlife ethnography. In the seminar leading up to the excursion, we will explore the histories of German popular electronic music and Detroit techno, discuss nightlife fieldwork, and consider what might happen when museums and electronic music meet.

            Enrollment will be strictly limited to 20 students maximum. To register, send an email to Professor Mark Butler (mark.butler@hu-berlin.de) by no later than April 2, 2024. The enrollment list will be compiled on a first-come first-serve basis. Participation in all seminar sessions is required.