RIVER CHANTS - BEHIND THE SCENES

RIVER CHANTS: behind the scenes House of Music, Trieste Saturday 28 September 2024, 6.30 p.m. An in-depth meeting with: Ana Shametaj, Giuditta Vendrame (Authors of River Chants) Bishawjit Mallick (Associate Professor of Climate Change, Utrecht University) Marjeta Pisk (Associate Professor, ZRC SAZU, Institute of Entomusicology, Lubljana). Moderator: Costanza Sartoris (Postdoc, Ca' Foscari, Venice).

On the occasion of the finissage of the exhibition RIVER CHANTS (Spazzapan Gallery, Gradisca d'Isnzo), the artists are organising this meeting to deepen and unveil the behind-the-scenes research, thanks to the intervention of Professor Bishawjit Mallick and Professor Marjeta Pisk. Professor Bishawjit Mallick will illustrate his research on the decisions of people living in areas affected by climate change on whether or not to migrate, showing the complexity of this phenomenon.

He will speak specifically about communities in Bangladesh, one of the most affected and most climate migrant countries in the world. Bangladeshi communities are, in fact, among the most numerous in Monfalcone, one of the sites where Shametaj and Vendrame conducted their research and recorded some songs. Prof. Mallick's speech also introduced the future development of the River Chants project, which includes a chapter in Bangladesh. 

The second speaker, Prof. Marjeta Pisk, will present her research on songs and folk tales related to border territories and how these can be seen as unifying elements between communities often in conflict. She will talk about the poetic and folkloristic elements of the present songs and how their language is contaminated by a multiplicity of cultural references across borders. She will also explain how his experience was included in the research process by Shametaj and Vendrame. This will be followed by a debate and a time for questions from the audience.