Social media is flooded with videos of (usually older) people cooking, embroidering, singing, dancing, or telling stories to the camera. Perhaps never before has there been such great public interest in the “little stories” of the people around us. Now, with a mobile phone in hand, each and every one of us is potentially an ethnographer of his/her everyday life.
But what exactly is “ethnography” and what an ethnographic interview? How can we approach the people we wish to interview, but also conduct the interview in a scientifically and ethically correct manner? How do we collect, analyze and present data? Are there examples from Cypriot ethnography that we could discuss?
Cyprus Music Archive organizes a series of twelve interactive workshops on the fundamentals of ethnography and ethnographic interviewing, led by ethnomusicologist Nicoletta Demetriou. The workshops take the form of a university “101” course – that is, an introduction to a specific topic – and are offered as a package of twelve sessions. As part of the workshops, participants will be invited to conduct an ethnographic interview.
The workshops are open to musicians, singers, poets, students, researchers, but also teachers who have a special interest in traditional music or poetry, folklore or ethnography. They are also open to those without any prior knowledge of the subject, who would like to find out more. The ability to read music is not a prerequisite for attendance.*
PLEASE NOTE THAT, AT PRESENT, THIS COURSE IS ONLY AVAILABLE IN GREEK
Where: The Writing Room, 20 Ektoros, Nicosia 1016
Dates: Tuesday, 14 October, to Tuesday, 20 January (see description in Greek for details on dates and themes)
Time: 6-9pm
Cost: €200 for twelve workshops
Information and registration: [email protected]
The workshops are sponsored by the Deputy Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Cyprus, through the ‘Politismos II (Culture II)’ programme.
* Addressing the wider public, irrespective of age, gender, social, educational, or financial background, is one of CMA’s basic goals. CMA advocates the democratization of knowledge around traditional culture and intangible cultural heritage, so that the Cypriot public can feel that their culture belongs to them.
