18th International Meeting

StubickeToplice
Croatia

13-17 April, 2011

at the invitation of

Institut za etnologiju i folkloristiku

Irena Miholić, 
Institut za etnologiju I folkloristiku, Zagreb, Hrvatska
irena@ief.hr
irenamiholic@gmail.com

Looking for "rural" instruments in the 21st Century – few Case Studies from Northern Croatia

Following the research from various periods and authors of the 20th century (Širola, Bezić, Galin) as well as my own, in this paper I will try to sketch a life line of some aerophone (various flutes) and chordophone (tambura, dulcimer) instruments which were made by craftsman and played in private and public occasions in the Northern part of Croatia.
As Jerko Bezić said: "If a folk instrument loses its role in the music-making of a specific community, motivation for the making of such instrument is regularly also lost" (Bezić, 1989). Keeping that in mind, I am bringing up a few questions: are "rural" instruments still made by handcrafts and for whom; if they are produced only as souvenirs, can we still call them "musical instruments"; what are norms and what individual adherences in modern times? Looking for the answers, I will try to point out the local communities view on heritage, as well as the view of individuals such as craftsman, players and researchers. Finally, following the UNESCOs policy, I wonder if putting the knowledge of building and playing an instrument listed on UNESCOs Intangible Heritage Representative List is helping "rural" instruments to survive in 21st century?