Fernando: Revolutionary Spirit in Popular Music

Join us for an evening celebrating the launch of “Fernando”, a new book from Kay Dickinson which explores tensions between revolution and global commodification in popular music, through ABBA’s hit song.

Kay Dickinson will introduce us to the world of the book and then be joined by popular music expert Matt Brennan to unpack the intersections of song, commodification, and social struggles in times of revolution. We'll end the evening with a live music performance by Ankna Arockiam.

This event is supported by Thinking Culture, a cultural programme from the School of Culture & Creative Arts, and the Cultural Industries subject area.

Event Timings

• 7.00pm: Doors
• 7.15pm: Intro to book by Kay Dickinson
• 7.30: Kay & Matt Brennan in conversation + Q&A
• 8.00: Performance by Ankna Arockiam
• 8.30pm: Drinks/Networking

Kay Dickinson convenes the MA Creative Arts and Industries programme at the University of Glasgow. Her latest monograph, Fernando - A Song by ABBA (Duke University Press 2025) brings into alignment longstanding research interests in both popular music and popular revolution. She is the author of Off Key: When Film and Music Won’t Work Together (Oxford University Press, 2008), Arab Cinema Travels: Syria, Palestine, Dubai and Beyond (BFI, 2016), Arab Film and Video Manifestos (Palgrave, 2018) and Supply Chain Cinema: Producing Global Film Workers (BFI, 2024).

Matt Brennan is Professor of Popular Music and Convenor of the MSc Music Industries degree at the University of Glasgow. He has authored and edited several books in the field of popular music studies, with his most recent book Kick It: A Social History of the Drum Kit (Oxford University Press) being named one of the "best music books of 2020" by the Financial Times.

Originally from Hyderabad, India, Ankna Arockiam moved to Glasgow in 2011 to study music. A graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Vocal Performance, she later completed a PhD at the University of St Andrews exploring the musical, cultural, and social identities of young Western classical musicians in Indian cities. She is currently a Lecturer at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and a Fellow at SOAS, University of London.

A versatile singer, composer, and performer, Ankna works across Indian and Western classical traditions and thrives on cross-genre collaboration. She has performed extensively across Scotland, the UK, and India, appearing at festivals and events including Glasgow International, Celtic Connections, Glasgow Mela, Edinburgh Fringe and Counterflows Festival. Her creative practice also includes composing music and sound for film, theatre, and dance.

Deeply interested in the voice as a site of identity, power, and resistance, she is drawn to projects that explore the tensions between tradition and modernity. Alongside her artistic and research practice, Ankna is the founder of Glasgow Sitare, a singing group for South Asian women, co-founder of Shared Narratives, an initiative supporting researchers of colour in the performing arts, and Artistic Director of Westbourne Music. She is also an active advocate for equity and inclusion in the music sector, serving as Vice Chair (Scotland and Northern Ireland Region) of the Musicians’ Union and as a member of the European League of Institutes of the Arts (ELIA) EDI Working Group.

Information on the Alchemy Experiment's accessibility can be found here.

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