The MEMPOP Loading: Regional Perspectives on Memory, Popular Culture and Cultural Studies two-day international workshop that took place on June 6-7, 2024 at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljanafeatured a selection of presentations on diverse current research and stressed the need for more interdisciplinary approaches to contemporary popular culture. The workshop concluded with an initiative to establish a regional network bringing together cultural studies scholars in and from Central and South-Eastern Europe.
The event was organized by the Centre for Cultural and Religious Studies and the Department of Cultural Studies, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. The workshop brought together researchers interested in popular culture and collective memory from Central and South-Eastern Europe. Most of the space was devoted to the Slovenian-Croatian research project that brings together researchers based at the Cultural Studies Departments in Ljubljana and Rijeka, MEMPOP: Mnemonic Aesthetics and Practices in Popular Culture. Members of the ZRC SAZU, the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, the Alpe-Adria University in Klagenfurt, and the University of Arts in Belgrade also participated.
The first day consisted of presentations that foregrounded the role of popular music in the formation of collective memory, the speakers highlighting media and generational differences, as well as methodological approaches to the exploration of big data and internet environments. Irena Šentevska’s keynote lecture offered a glimpse into her new book,Raspevani Beograd: Urbani identitet i muzički video – an extensive comprehensive study of the historical entanglements between Serbian popular music, urban identity, and music videos.
The red thread running through the presentations in focus on June 7 was the diversity of popular-cultural memory formations, their social and ideological role, and the relevance of memory studies to areas like gaming cultures. The participants discussed the contribution of murals, film festivals, and public commemorations to collective memory in the former Yugoslavia, and the historicization and contemporary research of computer games.
The workshop ended with a round table on Cultural Studies in Central and South-Eastern Europe, with the participation of representatives from the University of Ljubljana, ZRC SAZU, University of Rijeka, Alpe-Adria University in Klagenfurt, and the University of Arts in Belgrade. In addition to outlining the rich history of cultural studies in the region, their role, and challenges in contemporary social and scientific reality, the participants also discussed the need for knowledge exchange and future regional integration.
The organization of workshop was co-funded by the research projects MEMPOP: Mnemonic Aesthetics and Practices in Popular Culture, WEAVE research project (ARIS no. J7-50215), Slovenian Folk-Pop Music as Politics: Receptions, Perceptions, and Identities (ARIS no. J6-2582), and TECHNOPST: Remembering the Early Digital Age (ARIS no. N6-0302).