International conference “Tradition nowadays, in the world music”

Saturday, September 23, 2023 / 11 a.m.

RTS Club – Radio Belgrade Gallery (Hilandarska 2, entrance from Svetogorska)

The conference is organized with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Radio Television of Serbia and  Radio Belgrade 3.

Although folk music has been used and processed since ancient times, in different musical epochs and genres, the concept of world music, as a specific, branched music tree, has been developing since the very moment of naming the genre, that is, from the second half of the 1980s. Since then, the vast musical cosmos has been constantly developing and in it the most diverse approaches to tradition as a source of inspiration. All these fusions, simpler and more complex, closer to pop or rock, jazz or experimental music, attract different fans, which only confirms the polyvalence of the world music genre, both in terms of musical languages and in terms of audience.

At the same time, the traditional expression itself is tough, and also fell under the umbrella term world music, albeit with its own, globally accepted sublabel: roots. In Europe alone, we witness numerous contemporary ensembles from urban areas, who cultivate an authentic rural song or concert, and in Serbia we have at least four such groups: Moba, Rodjenice, Svetlana Spajić Group and Crnućanka (a youngster of the famous original traditional rural group).

Traditional music has its fans, but, as expected, that circle is narrower than the circle that prefers tradition passed through modern filters. Although, there are always some current questions, related in general to the audience of the polyvalent world music genre: is it younger or older, eager for knowledge and challenges or dance and fun, in love with local or global, close and familiar or unusual and unknown?

Apart from the artists themselves who nurture traditional expression within world music, there are various initiatives across Europe focused on culture heritage. Some projects focused on the promotion of heritage are designed, parts of some world music festival programs are set aside for roots content, radio presenters from the world music milieu are happy to broadcast traditional music from different countries, and the European Folk Network has been active for several years, too.

So, what is the place of traditional music nowadays, on the world music scene? This is a topic that – in different ways, from different angles and based on different professional and life experiences – will be discussed by the participants of the  INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE „TRADITION NOWADAYS, IN WORLD MUSICˮ, which will be held in Belgrade, in the RTS Club – Radio Belgrade Gallery, on September 23, 2023, on the European Folk Day, which was recently powered by the European Folk Network and which will be celebrated across Europe for the first time this year. The conference Tradition nowadays, in world music – now already the third one organized by the Ring Ring Association (previous: Women in the world music (2021) and Music on the move (2022), will bring together ethnomusicologists, musicians, scholars, festival organizers, journalists and other cultural workers.

The event is intended for all, so anyone interested can attend. Entrance is free.