The event Spiritual Poetry and Folk Singing, explores the way in which within traditional culture, folk song is a link between generations, registering memories, reflecting life trends, the lives of specific people and of society. Participants are intent upon revealing how a more accurate image of folk-Russia differs from the popular “varnish-thin” version, represented by the Russian Matryoshka doll. The authentic Russian folk tradition of spiritual poetry and folk song can help us see the depth of the Russian people’s Christian worldview.
Programme:
- Workshop discussion with Andrey Kotov, the founder and artistic director of the Sirin Ensemble – an ancient Russian folk music ensemble.
Questions for Discussion:
- What qualities or characteristics, typical of the Russian person, come out in folk music and spiritual poetry? What traditions have we lost and which are important to revive?
- Authentic tradition: is it our grandmothers’ business or the property of scholars and ethnographers?
- In our current atmosphere of globalization and destruction of traditional values, can folk music be a transfiguring force, bearing the spirit of authentic peace, forgiveness and reconciliation?