International Multidisciplinary Symposium MUSIC AND MINORITIES: (TRANS)CULTURAL DYNAMICS IN SLOVENIA AFTER 1991

Two decades have passed since the 1st symposium of the Study Group on Music and Minorities of the International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM) took place in Ljubljana, tracing the systematic ethnomusicological research of minority issues on a global scale. After Ljubljana in 2000, biennial symposia were organized in Poland, Croatia, Bulgaria, Czechia, Vietnam, Israel, Japan, France, and Austria. One of the most recent markers of the international recognition of this study field is the Music and Minorities Research Center (MMRC) in Vienna under the leadership of Professor Ursula Hemetek, winner of the prestigious Wittgenstein Award for her ethnomusicological studies of minority communities and individuals.

In Slovenia, we are involved in a three-year research project titled Music and Ethnic Minorities: Music and (Trans)cultural Dynamics in Slovenia after 1991, supported by the Slovenian Research Agency. This symposium counts to the final parts of the project. Within the symposium, which will be complemented by concert events of the Nights in Old Ljubljana Town festival, we will discuss both theoretical and methodological aspects of the study of minority music in the past two decades, and the dynamics of their changes in Slovenia after independence in 1991. The articles resulting from the symposium presentations will be published in a special volume later in 2020.

Special attention should be paid to Friday’s roundtable. Musicians born in different parts of the world who created their new homes in Slovenia will share their experiences. How do they view “minority” issues? Do the perceptions of the majority population and opportunities for interactions affect their senses of identity and their musical choices and decisions?

Prof. Dr. Svanibor Pettan

SYMPOSIUM PROGRAMME

27 August 2020, City Museum Ljubljana

9.00 Svanibor Pettan:
Music, ethnic minorities, and (trans)cultural dynamics in Slovenia after 1991

9.30 Mojca Kovačič:
Two views on the immigrants and their musical activities

10.00 Ana Hofman:
Music, activism, and self-organization on the example of »refugee crisis«

11.00 Alma Bejtullahu:
Music, dance, and identifications of the second-generation post-migrational ethnic minorities in Slovenia

11.30 Drago Kunej:
Specifics of the activities of folklore ensembles within minority ethnic communities in Slovenia

12.00 Vesna Bajić-Stojiljković:
Music and dance affirmation of the members of the Serbian community in Slovenia after 1991

15.00 Leon Stefanija & Katarina Habe:
Ethnicity of Slovenian professional musicians since 1991

15.30 Urša Šivic:
Connotations of musical expressions of members of minority ethnic communities in Slovenia

16.00 Lasanthi Manaranjanie Kalinga Dona:
Transcultural dynamics in the experiences of a Sri Lankan musician in Slovenia