SIEF2013 Events

Book Fair
There will be a book fair throughout the four days of the Congress, with representation of the main publishers in the field.

 

Sunday 30th June

Welcome reception, 19:15 onwards, UT History Museum

SIEF2013 will host a drinks reception with wine and canapés which will take place in the White Hall of the UT History Museum, situated in the scenic ruins of the once Dome Cathedral of Tartu on Toome Hill, just a ten-minute walk from the main venue.
The reception will open with a welcome from the University of Tartu, delivered by Dr Marco Kirm, Vice-Rector for Research.
At the reception you'll be entertained by the folk group Ro:toro. The name Ro:toro is a blend of Estonian words for reed and pipe reflecting the way the group mixes two bagpipes, a saxophone, an electric guitar and water-drums. The group works with traditional bagpipe tunes, which inspire its original compositions. Ro:toro members have recorded Khanty folk songs from the remote parts of Russia and tend to include some of them in their concerts.

 

Monday 1st July

Working group meetings, 18:30-19:15

The following working groups will hold meetings:
Historical approaches in cultural analyses (Ülikooli 18, 139)
The ritual year (Estonian Literary Museum, Vanemuise 42)
Place wisdom (Ülikooli 18, 226)
Ethnology of religion (Estonian Literary Museum, Vanemuise 42)
Cultural heritage and property (Ülikooli 18, 228)

Excursion to Estonian Folklore Archives, 19:30-20:30

Colleagues from the Estonian Folklore Archives (the backbone of Estonian Literary Museum) invite SIEF2013 delegates to visit the Archives (Vanemuise 42).
The Estonian Folklore Archives (EFA) were founded on 24th September 1927. The EFA functions as a central folklore archive in Estonia which also carries out research projects on folklore both independently and in co-operation with other scientific institutions. The Archives include collections of manuscripts, photographs, sound and video recordings. In addition to Estonian material, the scope of the Archives includes also folklore of the Finno-Ugrians and other peoples living in Estonia or its vicinity.
Please pre-book your participation by emailing era(at)folklore.ee.

 

Tuesday 2nd July

Poster presentations, 10:00-10:30, 16:15-16.45 UT Main Building, Hallway

The poster creators are requested to be beside their posters during Tuesday’s two coffee breaks, so as to be able to answer questions from delegates and the discussant of the Poster session - Elo-Hanna Seljamaa (University of Tartu).  Do please come along and find out more.

SIEF Young Scholar Prize, 16:45-18:15, 2nd July, Ringauditoorium, Philosophicum Building (Jakobi 2)

The winner of the SIEF Young Scholar Prize 2013, Ruth Goldstein (Universities of California, Berkeley and San Francisco), will present her work, Talking Drums and Ethical Conundrums, in a special session during the Congress.

Abstract:

Malian women and children represent one the poorest as well one of the most difficult populations to reach through written media. The interrelated practices of dancing, drumming, and storytelling transmit history, cultural beliefs, and current events for those who do not read and write. Researchers in the social sciences and officials for international aid organizations struggle with the circulation and reception of public health literature. They now recognize that native non-governmental organizations with staff that are fluent not only in the native languages but also in the social mores, better communicate with under- served populations through means other than billboards, pamphlets, or power-point presentations. The body, in both a general Western and Malian tradition, plays a particular role in how we come to know the world. This paper describes research conducted in Mali on female circumcision with international aid organizations, native NGOs, and independent human rights activists. Three interconnected areas form a triangular framework: how different research methods like dancing, drumming, storytelling, and soccer can offer valuable phenomenological insights to lived experience; the ethics of learning and listening to these various voices that transmit sexual health knowledge; and the ethics of engaging and disseminating such knowledge. The talking drums elicit new ways of seeing, being, and listening along with ethical ethnographic conundrums.

SIEF General Assembly, 18:30-19:45, 2nd July, Ringauditoorium, Philosophicum Building (Jakobi 2)
This will be opened by SIEF President Prof Ullrich Kockel. All members are encouraged to attend. Reports from the SIEF board and all SIEF Working Groups will be presented; there will be an election of the SIEF Board. Read Agenda and Board statements; 2008 and 2011 minutes.

EASA2014 launch reception 20:15-22:15, UT Main Building courtyard

The next conference of the European Association of Social Anthropology (EASA) will be taking place in Tallinn in the summer of 2014. The host of the event will be the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology of the Estonian Institute of Humanities, Tallinn University and they would like to invite all SIEF2013 delegates to a drinks reception to promote the upcoming event.

Excursion to Estonian National Museum, 20:00-21:00, J. Kuperjanovi 9

The Estonian National Museum (Eesti Rahva Muuseum), founded in 1909, is a museum devoted to folklorist Jakob Hurt's heritage, originally created to preserve, research and promote Estonian ethnography and folk art. The first items for the museum were originally collected in the latter part of the 19th century; in the present day, ENM has become one of the hubs of cultural research in Estonia, organising a great variety of exhibitions from all walks of life and hosting a famous anthropological film festival, World Film, every spring.

Colleagues from the Estonian National Museum invite SIEF2013 delegates to visit the Exhibition Hall of the Estonian National Museum (Kuperjanovi 9) on a guided tour that will take you to the exhibitions Estonia. Land, people, culture and Soviet hippies. Please pre-book your participation by emailing giidid(at)erm.ee.

 

Wednesday 3rd July

Congress banquet, 19:15-21:45, Dorpat Conference Centre, Tasku

The Congress banquet will take place at the spacious Dorpat Conference Centre that is situated on the 4th floor of the Tasku Centre, just on the bank of Emajõgi. The dinner will be comprised of a three-course meal, accompanied by wine and followed by tea/coffee and cognac. There will be two musical interludes during the banquet, provided by Tuule Kann (kannel, vocals) and Jaak Sooäär (guitar, live-electronics), and Sofia Joons (fiddle, talharpa) and Mall Ney (harmonium).
Tuule Kann has been one of the most active folk musicians in Estonia during the past twenty years and the same can be said about Jaak Sooäär in jazz. Pairs of opposites – jazz and folk, international and local, fixed compositions and oral traditions – meet on equal terms in Jaak’s and Tuule’s music which is inspired mainly by the sound and technical possibilities of the kannel and the electric guitar, two string instruments with such a different history but a relatively similar sound.
Sofia Joons and Mall Ney will sing and play music from the historical Estonian-Swedish islands and areas in Western Estonia. Sofia was born in Sweden and has since 1994 been based in Estonia, where she has played an important role in the revival of traditional Estonian-Swedish music. She also plays the bowed-lyre (talharpa), a medieval instrument that was kept in living tradition until the very end of the 19th century in Vormsi island.
Entry to the banquet is by pre-purchased ticket only. 

Congress Party, 22:00 onwards, Dorpat Conference Centre, Tasku

The Congress party is open to all delegates (please bring your badge!), and will take place after the banquet has ended. Music for dancing and entertainment will be provided by Svjata Vatra. Svjata Vatra ('holy fire' in Ukrainian) is an Estonian-Ukrainian 'fire-folk' band – a simmering pot of roots, folk, world and ethno with flaming and vigorous performances.  The temperamental trombone and the Estonian bagpipes together weave eerie sound patterns that burst into vibrant and exotic spheres, backed up by powerful yet dynamic rhythms.

 

Thursday 4th July

Excursions, 4th July

A number of half- and full-day excursions are available the day after the closure of the Congress. The excursions will visit sites not far from Tartu, ranging from 1 to 2 hours drive.