A
report on the third international conference
"Researching Rebetika: Present Projects and Future Prospects"
held on the
By tradition I offer a report
on the activities of the last year's Hydra Rebetiko Gathering. Partly for those
who were unable to be with us this year. Partly for our sponsors. And partly
for people who might like to join us next year.
PLEASE
NOTE: Our next conference will be held in Hydra on 13-17 October 2004. Its
theme will be "MODES AND ROADS, TAXIMIA AND MAQAMS".
Since this will be of interest to people outside the field of Greek music, I
would ask you to circulate this mailing to others who may be interested.
If
you wish to present a paper at the 2004 conference, please send your proposal
to rebetology @ yahoo.com
AIMS AND
OBJECTIVES
The
Hydra Rebetiko Gathering is now a consolidated annual event – a major event in the
social calendar of Hydra, and a focal point for people with an interest in
Greek music. This year we had 65 registered participants, and over 450 for the
Saturday night performance at the Douskos Restaurant. We have not yet reached
the point where we have to limit the number of participants in order to keep
the Gathering intimate, but that time will soon come.
The
conference is held in the third week of October, on the
The
Conference has several aims:
(a) To create and develop
international academic collaboration in researching Rebetiko music. To this end
we invite leading academics in the field to come and contribute papers.
(b) To make that research
available in the English language. This is important, because it means that
non-Greeks – and also the many Greeks in the diaspora who do not read or speak
Greek – can have access to these materials. Where possible, Greek papers are
translated into English.
(c) To publish materials from
our Conference in printed book form. Together with Yannis Zaimakis I have begun
editing a book of rebetiko research materials, and we have set about seeking a
publisher.
(d) To place our
Rebetiko-related research materials on a dedicated Internet website so that
they can be accessed from around the world. Our website, located at www.rebetology.com/HydraGathering,
has proved to be a useful mobilising tool.
(e) To create a RebetikoForum
discussion list, where conference members can exchange opinions and generally
keep in touch. This list has now been established at topica.com, and can be accessed
through our website.
(f) To use the "new
technologies" (Internet, e-mail, MP3, digital video etc) to build a
horizontal network of communication between rebetiko researchers, musicians,
singers, film-makers and music-lovers. The participants at the conference have
again exchanged e-mail addresses, and once again new creative projects are
arising out of the fruitful encounter that we had.
(g) To create a
publicly-accessible archive of articles, journals, sound-recordings, film etc,
which can be used by researchers. In a very exciting development, the British
Library at St Pancras has agreed to provide facilities to house the archives of
the
(h) To locate Rebetiko within
the broader musics of the
(i) To invite the islanders of
Hydra to share the experience of our Conference. For this purpose we organise
open-access film shows and concerts, and we organise one big free concert – our
"Saturday Night Rebetiko Supper" – where we bring some of
The Free
University of Hydra
The Rebetiko conference is
part of a wider initiative known as “The Free University of Hydra”, which will
develop cultural and intellectual activities during the coming years. See
details at the end of this Report
The success
of this year's conference:
Let me say at the start
something which might sound stupid but is true. The strongest aspect of this
conference is love. Not only love of the music and its songs, but also love and
respect between the participants. In not many other conferences will you find
both the speaker and the chairman and various members of the audience crying
with the beauty and emotional content of what is happening… We have created a
fine and beautiful thing here. Respect to our rebetis Nikos from
To continue: After the death
in Paris in September 2003 of the man widely viewed as the father of Rebetiko
studies, Elias Petropoulos, an “anti-homage” was presented by Ed
Emery. Not so much fine words, more a project to continue rebetiko research
in keeping with the spirit that characterised that fine man.
By common consent, this
year’s Saturday Night Rebetiko Supper at the Douskos Restaurant was the
best yet. This year we had the finest violinist in
Also present were our guests
from
and guests from Hydra: Irene
Daskalaki, Sophia Kabadaï and Paschalia Latra.
As
promised last year, Ivi conducted a women-only singing workshop on “The
Women’s Voice in Rebetiko”, which culminated in a public performance
accompanied by Cathie Whitesides from
Again
we chose the “To Steki” Restaurant as our venue for the Thursday and Friday
evenings, where we had two amazing musical sessions, which were particularly
special because of the participation of the poly-instrumentalist Maria
Kotsiri from Athens (politiko laouto) and the lads from Drama – Vangelis
Tsikouridis, Lefteris Tsikouridis, Kyriakos Sfoungouris and Panayiotis
Christodoulou. Watch these boys – they’re dangerous!
On Thursday Ruth
Margraff and Nikos Brisco from
From
This year we had
husband-and-wife team Anna Melissinos and Jason Melissinos performing
Karaghiozis for us. They performed shows at both the Bratsera and the Douskos
Restaurant, and Jason gave us an accompanying talk about the women in the
shadow theatre tradition. Their performance was accompanied by various of our assembled musicians, from both
For many musicians, the most
important part of Hydra is the informal "jam sessions" that take
place in hidden corners around the island during the conference. Once again
Pavlos and Nadia from Moosootoo led the way, with a through-till-morning
session on the stone steps of the
The concert was recorded on
8-track digital sound by the indefatigable Nikos Dionysopoulos (by the
way, a noted ethnomusicologist in his own right, who may present a paper next
year), and was filmed by our director of photography Emilio della Chiesa.
We are slowly moving ahead with our plan to produce a CD of the musics of the
Hydra Gathering.
As one result of this
recording activity, we have now produced a 50-minute film of “The Hydra
Rebetiko Gathering – 2001-2002”, which will shortly be available for sale.
The film was shown in a working version at the Amalour Bar, and on the
Thursday we were able to show Luc Bongrand’s film “On a Moonless
Night” in its newly-dubbed English-language version, which is now available
for sale.
Our speakers for the October 2003 Conference were:
[in alphabetical order]
ALI
FUAT AYDIN with CENK GURAY of
IVI
DERMANCI of
MARK DRAGOUMIS of the Centre for
ED
EMERY of the Institute of Rebetology,
KRINI
KAFIRIS of
DIMITRA LASPIA of
RUTH
MARGRAFF and NIKOS BRISCO from
PAVLOS
MELAS of moosootoo.com: "Rebetiko in Today's World –
Mapping a Musical Movement"
JASON
MELISSINOS of
NADIA MINTILOGLITI of
MADELYN
YANNIS
ZAIMAKIS of the
CRITICISMS
Once again
we had difficulties in finding funding for the conference. Again this year we
had no money from the Ministry of Culture or from the local provincial
government (Nomarchia). On the other hand a number of individuals have
given generously from their own pockets, and that has been a great help. They know
who they are, and on behalf of the Gathering I extend heartfelt thanks to them.
It has once
again been clear that many Greek academics in the "rebetology"
community will not attend such a conference unless their expenses are paid. In
my opinion this is pitiful behaviour, and contrasts with the generous attitude
of our non-Greek participants, who generally pay all their own expenses (air
fares, ferries and hotels) and also pay registration fees.
THANKS
Many
people helped to make the Hydra Rebetiko Gathering a success. We would like to
thank the Mayor of Hydra Constantinos Anastopoulos and the Municipality
for their support. [Waiting outside his office for seven hours on Tuesday was
not exacly an enjoyable experience, but in the end it appears that he is keen
to support our activities.] And once again we thank Anna Rousi of the
Hydra Development Office and her colleagues. Without Anna’s help this
conference would never have happened.
For
travel arrangements once again we thank Olympic Airways, and in
particular Kostas Konstantinidis (
This
year the organiser of our musicians, Andreas Tsekouras, was not able to
attend, but in the run-up to the conference he assisted greatly with his usual
imagination and creativity. Thanks are again due to our cinematographer Emilio
della Chiesa, who has laboured long and hard in shooting and editing the
film of the Gathering. And last but not least, thanks again to the Modern Greek
Section of the University of Cambridge and David Holton who provided the
original seed sponsorship.
¶
Our next conference will be held in Hydra on 13-17 October 2004. Its theme will
be "MODES AND ROADS, TAXIMIA AND MAQAMS".
We shall be looking at the theories and techniques of Arabic, Ottoman and
Anatolian music, and the ways in which they are represented in Greek music and
in Rebetiko in particular. This promises to be a most stimulating and
challenging project. We welcome contributions from all persons wishing to
contribute to the conference. If you wish to attend the 2004 Gathering, please
send your contact details to the conference organiser, and a Registration Form
will be sent by return.
Full
details of the Hydra Gathering are on our website at
http://www.rebetology.com/hydragathering.
To
register for the conference, please send your details
by
e-mail to rebetology@yahoo.com
by
mail to:
Ed
Emery
[Hydra
Rebetiko Gathering]
Peterhouse,
FURTHER
INITIATIVES
The
Hydra Rebetiko Gathering is part of a wider initiative entitled THE FREE
UNIVERSITY OF HYDRA. This organisation is dedicated to the study and
research of all matters concerning the culture, economics, history and social
life of all the countries which border the
For
October 2005 we are planning a conference, to be held on Hydra, on “THE ROLE
OF THE DONKEY IN THE CULTURE OF THE MEDITERRANEAN”. Contact details as
above.
For
October 2006, we are planning a major event, also to be held on Hydra – a “PAN-MEDITERRANEAN
FIDDLERS’ CONVENTION”. The programme is currently in preparation, and
details will be circulated to you.
You
may also be interested in the second of the REBETIKO SUMMER SCHOOLS, to
be held at the
Francesco
Martinelli’s report on the Hydra
Gathering is at http://www.rootsworld.com/rw/
STOP
PRESS: A late item of news. The Mayor’s Office has notified
me that in 2004 the Municipality will support the Hydra Rebetiko Conference financially.
A suitably uplifting note on which to end this Newsletter…
With
rebetological greetings,
Ed
Emery