Speaker: Pushpa Palanchoke (She/her)

Doctoral Researcher, MuTri Doctoral School, Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts
Helsinki
Research Assistant, amplifyHer, funded by the Research Council of Finland
(2023-2026, decision number 358072)
Email: pushpa.palanchoke@uniarts.fi, pushpapalanchoke@gmail.com

Heritage preservation narratives often celebrate musical traditions, particularly outside
Western contexts, as socio-politically neutral monoliths that should resist change. Much
music heritage, however, maintains highly regulated gender roles and excludes women
from public music making, thus exacerbating women’s social exclusion in society. This
paper advocates for gender-inclusive activist placemaking, which fosters equitable
participation in the music ecosystem, supporting the longevity of heritage while driving
transformative societal change towards social inclusion. It presents a case of the
male-exclusive Dāphā music heritage of the Newa people in Nepal, in which men play
an active role of parrhesia in response to an activist intervention, and women previously
confined to domestic societal roles step into the public sphere with a passion for music
learning and making, forging new identities as culture-bearers becoming public
pedagogues for driving social transformations. The paper combines interdisciplinary
perspectives to explore women’s critical role in reshaping cultural narratives concerning
heritage, and advancing social equity and sustainability in Nepal and South Asia.