{"id":1509,"date":"2026-07-02T15:10:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T12:10:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mla.gr\/open-call\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T12:35:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T09:35:04","slug":"open-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mla.gr\/en\/open-call\/","title":{"rendered":"OPEN CALL"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"2\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/figure>
\u00a0<\/div>

From Archives to Algorithms: Memory, Digital Infrastructures, and Ethnomusicological Research on the Musical Traditions of the Greek World<\/strong><\/h2>

The Musical & Folklore Archives (Centre for Asia Minor Studies) and the Music Library of Greece Lilian Voudouri (The Friends of Music Society) invite submissions for an international conference dedicated to examining the present state and future directions of research on the traditional and urban musical cultures of the Greek world.<\/p>

Over the past century, music archives have served as fundamental infrastructures for the documentation, preservation, and interpretation of musical traditions. Today, however, they are undergoing profound transformations. The digitization of archival collections, the development of digital repositories, advances in computational methods, and the emergence of Artificial Intelligence are reshaping not only archival practices but also the epistemological foundations of ethnomusicological research. Archives are increasingly understood not merely as repositories of historical materials, but as dynamic sites of knowledge production, public engagement, collaborative research, and cultural innovation.<\/p>

The conference seeks to foster critical dialogue on the evolving role of music archives in the study of the musical traditions of the Greek world, while exploring broader methodological, theoretical, technological, and ethical questions concerning the documentation, interpretation, and circulation of musical heritage in the twenty-first century.<\/p>

The year 2027 marks nearly one hundred years since the landmark field recording project initiated in 1930 by the Greek Folk Songs Association, the precursor of today’s Musical & Folklore Archives. Conducted under the scientific direction of Hubert Pernot and curated by Melpo Merlier, these recordings constitute the first systematic attempt to document the musical traditions of the Greek world through scholarly field recording. Undertaken only a few years after the Asia Minor Catastrophe and the compulsory population exchange between Greece and Turkey, the project reflected a broader intellectual effort to document cultural memory during a period of profound social and political transformation. It also laid important foundations for the development of ethnomusicology in Greece.<\/p>

A century later, the conditions under which music is created, transmitted, documented, and studied have changed dramatically. Migration, global cultural flows, digital technologies, online platforms, computational analysis, and Artificial Intelligence are redefining concepts such as memory, community, authenticity, participation, and cultural heritage. At the same time, archival collections are becoming increasingly interconnected through digital infrastructures, opening new possibilities for interdisciplinary research while raising important questions concerning representation, ethics, intellectual property, and public accessibility.<\/p>

The conference welcomes contributions addressing historical, ethnographic, theoretical, methodological, computational, archival, legal, and practice-based perspectives. Particular emphasis is placed on interdisciplinary dialogue among ethnomusicology, anthropology, musicology, archival studies, digital humanities, music information retrieval, heritage studies, history, media studies, and related disciplines.<\/p>

Themes<\/strong>
Submissions may address, but are not limited to, the following thematic areas:<\/p>

1. Music Archives, Folk, Urban Folk-Popular, Popular, and Cultural Memory<\/strong><\/p>

\u2022 Music archives and the documentation of the musical traditions of the Greek world
\u2022 Archives as sites of cultural memory and heritage-making
\u2022 Politics of tradition and archival knowledge
\u2022 Ideological and epistemological dimensions of collecting, documenting, and classifying music
\u2022 Archives and the production of ethnomusicological knowledge<\/p>


2. Documentation, Digitisation, and Digital Infrastructures<\/strong><\/p>

\u2022 Digitisation and long-term preservation of music collections
\u2022 Metadata standards, documentation practices, and interoperability
\u2022 Linked Open Data, semantic technologies, and knowledge organisation
\u2022 Digital repositories and research infrastructures
\u2022 Computational approaches to music archives
\u2022 Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for music analysis, classification, transcription, retrieval, and discovery
\u2022 New forms of access, listening, dissemination, and public engagement<\/p>


3. Methodological and Theoretical Perspective<\/strong><\/p>

\u2022 Ethnomusicological approaches to archival research
\u2022 Interdisciplinary methodologies
\u2022 Collaborative, participatory, and community-based research
\u2022 Relationships between researchers, archives, cultural institutions, and music communities
\u2022 Contemporary theoretical perspectives on traditional and urban popular music<\/p>


4. Musical Traditions and Social Transformation<\/strong><\/p>

\u2022 Tradition, modernity, and globalisation
\u2022 Migration, displacement, refugee experiences, and diaspora
\u2022 Rural and urban popular musical cultures
\u2022 Musical networks, cosmopolitanism, and transcultural exchange
\u2022 Authenticity, reviPval, folklorisation, and heritage-making<\/p>


5. Sound Recording, Recorded Music, and Technologies of Documentation<\/strong><\/p>

\u2022 Historical field recordings
\u2022 Commercial recordings as sources for ethnomusicological research
\u2022 Recording technologies and changing listening practices
\u2022 Sound industries, media, and the circulation of musical styles<\/p>

6. Ethics, Law, and Politics of Archival Research<\/strong><\/p>

\u2022 Representation, inclusion, and access
\u2022 Safeguarding intangible cultural heritage
\u2022 Copyright, intellectual property, and rights management
\u2022 Community archives and participatory documentation
\u2022 Ethical challenges in digital and AI-assisted archival research<\/p>


7. Creative and Public Uses of Music Archives<\/strong><\/p>

\u2022 Archives as spaces for research, education, and cultural practice
\u2022 Artistic reinterpretations of archival materials
\u2022 Exhibitions, publications, digital platforms, and public humanities
\u2022 Archives as sites of public dialogue and cultural reflection<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

The conference aims to create an international forum for critical discussion on the changing relationships between archives, technology, musical traditions, and cultural memory. By bringing together scholars, archivists, musicians, information scientists, and cultural practitioners, it seeks to explore how archival collections can continue to inform ethnomusicological research while responding to the methodological, technological, and societal challenges of the twenty-first century.<\/p>

Formats
The conference welcomes proposals for:<\/strong><\/p>