International Conference “R-Existence: Music as a Tool of Resistance and Inspiration in the Contexts of Political Oppression in Europe” was held at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities on September 29-30.
Scholars from 11 different countries gathered to discuss the tension between oppression and liberation in the key-events that characterized European history in the last 100 years. World War II, the Holocaust, different oppressive regimes, the Soviet occupation, the current invasion of Ukraine were just a few among the many topics covered in the conference.
The common denominator throughout the discussions was the way music was a significant tool, when not straight away the actual catalyst, to cope with the difficulties or even overcome them. As NOVA University of Lisbon researcher Chiara Antico put it, “Music is messenger of humanity in a way that has no limits of historical age, cultural and social background”.
While most scholars focused on the past or present political situation of their own countries, for instance, the Romanian scholar Oana Andreica discussed the Ceasescu regime, the Finnish Sini Mononen discussed the current climate change protests in Finland, and so forth, in more than one case, parallels were drawn between different contexts, thereby emphasizing the similarities of different histories at human and emotional level. Noteworthy for Lithuania was Philippe Olivier’s presentation, which offered a comparative analysis of the musical democratic activism in East Germany and the Singing Revolution in Lithuania.
Recurring parallels were highlighted by the scientific director of the conference, Professor Dario Martinelli too: “I leave this conference with a strong feeling that, besides the many academically valuable reflections that we exchanged, we almost performed a form of group therapy to each other. Seeing how all our countries have sooner or later suffered similar forms of injustice and oppression, helped us to see our history through the single lens of humanity struggling for their rights and their freedom, regardless of all the political and cultural differences”.
At the end of the first day of the conference, the concert “Songs of Protest and Resistance” took place. In the programme, fifteen significant songs of protest and resistance, arranged for piano and voice, were performed live by singer Aistė Benkauskaitė and pianist Justas Pilibaitis, in a tasteful blend of classical, jazz and pop styles.
Each song was cherrypicked to represent, as widely as possible, the variety of themes and moods related to social protest and resistance of the last 100 years. There were songs about war and about peace, courage and fear, slavery and liberation, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Holocaust, the invasion of Ukraine and the siege of Sarajevo, and all of them connected by the unmatched ability of music to give comfort, inspiration, strength, and hope that – eventually – “we shall overcome”.
The events were organized within the project “Music, War and Peace in Europe 1922–2022”, funded by the EU programme “Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) 2021–2027”. The objective of the Programme is to protect and promote rights and values as enshrined in the EU Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. In particular, by supporting civil society organisations active at local, regional, national and transnational level. The project “Music, War and Peace in Europe 1922–2022” brings together 27 partners from 15 EU countries and 2 non-EU countries (Ukraine and Bosnia and Herzegovina). The consortium includes museums, universities, musical institutions (orchestras and festivals) and NGOs, including the Kyiv-based “Center for Civil Liberties” which was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2022. The Project is coordinated by Forum Voix Etouffées (France).
