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This paper situates ghumot, a membranophone percussion instrument from Goa, in the discourse of heritage making. Using an ethnographic approach, we intend to understand how the community participates in the ritualistic and digital storytelling about a musical instrument, culture, and heritage.

Paper long abstract

The paper traces the story of a membranophone percussion instrument, Ghumot, made from clay and (originally) the hide of a local monitor lizard, now made from goat skin. Goa, located in the western part of India, declared it to be the state heritage instrument in 2019. Goa became a Portuguese colony circa 1510. Even after liberation from Portuguese rule in 1961, Goa, Daman, and Diu formed a part of the union territory of the Republic of India. In May 1987, Goa gained its statehood.

Scholarship on music and sound studies has emphasised nationalistic sentiments, folk and creole imaginations, connected, shared, yet distinct histories of colonial encounters, alongside the global and cosmopolitan aspirations. Furthermore, devotion, labour, and aesthetics find themselves in strange cocoons (Lomax 1972 and 1977; Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett,1995; Jeff Todd Titon, 2009; Harkness, 2015; Feld, 2015; Byl and Sykes, 2020; Weidman, 2012; Krishna, 2020; Sardo, 2020; Kabir, 2021; Sarbadhikary, 2022.

In this paper, through an ethnographic study, we wish to understand 1) how the Ghumot situates itself in the discourse of heritage making and perhaps as a renewable biocultural resource. 2) How does the ghumot sound itself in ritualistic celebrations like the Roce ceremony, compared to that of an experimental music video that brings together various musical styles?

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Paper short abstract

The folk songs of the Croatian region of Međimurje, inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list, preserve rich nature motifs. Despite ecological changes from dense forests to cultivated fields, these symbols remain central to regional identity and cultural representation.

Paper long abstract

The most important element in the oral tradition and literature of Međimurje, a region in Croatia, is its corpus of folk songs. Their significance is affirmed by their inscription on the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Many of these songs are thematically oriented towards the natural world, employing motifs inspired by nature, such as floral imagery ("Međimurje, you are covered with flowers"), avian references ("The golden oriole sings beautifully"), and designations such as "the flower garden of Croatia" and "green Međimurje." They offer insights into all aspects of life in Međimurje from the Middle Ages to today, including ecological and geographic features. Written sources corroborate these representations: different authors have described the lush greenery and untouched nature of the region. The Ottoman travel writer Evliya Çelebi described Međimurje as being densely forested, while the Hungarian ethnographer Ferenc Gönczi emphasized the untamed character of the Drava River. Historical records also show significant ecological transformations: the dense forests associated with the feudal estates of the early modern period were largely cleared in the 19th century under the Feštetić noble family, changing the landscape and nearly eradicating forests. The rivers, once swift and untamed, have since been regulated. Today, greenery is common, yet mainly cultivated through gardens and fields rather than occurring naturally. Despite these changes, nature motifs are still strongly connected to regional and national identity. Their symbolic resonance is evident in the logo of the Međimurje County Tourist Board, which features a green leaf as its central emblem.

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This presentation deals with a Seto folk song in which a girl who desires a magical plant condemns her home. Although the ideology of the song is patriarchal and moralizing, the song's genesis refers rather to the connection between fertility and death, in which the plant element has symbolic value.

Paper long abstract

This presentation deals with a mythological Seto folk song in which a maiden who goes to the forest finds a plant called lemmeleht (the love-leaf) and aupapõr (the paper of honor), and wishes to have it for herself. A dialogue follows between the maiden and the plant, in which the plant sets out its conditions. In order to obtain the desired plant, the maiden promises to renounce her brothers and her home. She gets the plant, but when she returns, she finds a lake instead of her home. In this song, the earliest versions of which were written down at the end of the 19th century, the plant has clearly taken on a demonic character, while the maiden can be described as selfish and vain.

In this presentation, I will examine various possibilities for explaining the agency of the plant. The song intertwines a maiden, a plant (nature), sexuality (fertility), and death. One possible explanation is based on the Finnic concept of lembi. According to this, the song could reflect a summer ritual associated with plants, during which the sexual attractiveness of girls was magically rised, ensuring their success in finding a husband. Another explanatory framework could be the East Slavic rusalnaya nedelya cycle, which features girls (dangerous rusalkas) who have died prematurely, who are simultaneously associated with both fertility and death, and whose attributes are related to plants and water.

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In the history of Estonian folklore studies, various metaphors have been used regarding older song traditions. Metaphors taken from nature, especially botanical ones, have been very common. I study the nature metaphors used by Jakob Hurt, Kaarle Krohn, and their contemporaries.

Paper long abstract

In the history of Estonian folklore studies, various metaphors have been used regarding older song traditions. Metaphors taken from nature, especially botanical ones, have been very common. I study the nature metaphors used by Jakob Hurt (1837–1907), Kaarle Krohn (1863-1933), and their contemporaries. I examine how nature metaphors are used in correspondence between Estonian and Finnish scholars and in popular writings, and what these metaphors mean.

Epic songs, which consisted of different plots, were not suitable for folklorists who typologized songs. When publishing, folklorists were tempted to cut them into pieces. At the same time, the ideal was to leave the songs as they had been collected. The use of metaphors in correspondence reveals the writers' complex choices and ambivalent attitudes toward the songs.

The correspondence between Hurt and Krohn before the publication of Seto Folk Songs, sheds some light on the unexpectedly emerged problem of the systematisation of songs, and uncovers complex issues that arise when living singing tradition is fitted into a system designed by a researcher. Also, the vocabulary and metaphors used in the letters explain the aims and ideology of the created publication as well as the personal relations between the correspondents.

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Paper short abstract

This paper examines the 'Jingrwai Lawbei' as an indigenous practice that links sound, nature, and identity. By analyzing this melodic naming tradition of the people in Kongthong, the study highlights how the practice sustains cultural memory and perpetuates the ethos of an indigenous way of life.

Paper long abstract

Kongthong, a remote Khasi village in Meghalaya, Northeast India, is renowned for its distinctive tradition of melodic naming known as 'Jingrwai Lawbei'. In this practice, every individual possesses two names—one conventional and another expressed through a unique tune, often whistled. Each person’s tune has both a shorter form, used within households, and a longer form, used in the wider community and beyond. Historically, these melodic names served practical purposes, enabling villagers to communicate while hunting in dense forests and believed to protect them from malevolent spirits unable to distinguish between human calls and natural sounds.

This paper explores the cultural significance of 'Jingrwai Lawbei' as a living folk practice that embodies indigenous values, worldviews, and ecological sensibilities. It highlights how this unique system of naming sustains community identity, fosters a sense of belonging, and perpetuates cultural memory across generations. By situating Kongthong’s melodic naming tradition within broader discourses on folklore, oral traditions, and intangible cultural heritage, the study underscores the deep interconnections between nature, sound, and indigenous ways of life.