Gjirokastra Folklore Festival as the Main Ritual Event in Albanian Cultural Life at the Beginning of the 21st Century
Keywords:
folklore festival, cultural life, Albanians, ritual event, revitalisation, museification, folklorisation, heritageAbstract
The paper presents an overview and analysis of the Gjirokastra National Folklore Festival (NFFoGj), one of the most important events in the cultural life of Albania. Global transformations that have affected all aspects
of life have inevitably brought changes to traditional culture, traditional values and relations with the outside world, including across the Balkans. The majority of program issues were inspired by a common European
practice of holding mass folklore events and measures aimed at nurturing and preserving cultural heritage. It is deeply connected to the process of revitalisation of old ritual practices and folk costume and to the socialisation of people who have professional and semi-professional associations with ethnic culture. Having analysed the materials collected in the run-up to the festival and during the event as well as during field studies in the Western Balkans in 1992–2019, I can acknowledge revitalisation of many, if not all, elements of folk culture. In this case revitalisation does not mean following the tradition literally, but rather an attempt to preserve it while adopting a modern perspective and advances in technology. The essential part of this process is the attempt to breathe new life into the components of traditional culture, and adapt them to the here and now. The NFFoGj has also become a major attempt to museificate the cultural heritage of the Albanians. Contests that have been held regularly over the past 70 years to reveal the best examples of folk art and support independent artists have encouraged interest in the roots of national culture and helped many generations not to forget what their predecessors valued. Thus, folk dance, music, songs and costume were reproduced – at times artificially – in various regions of the country to showcase the achievements of a locality (village, district, town, region) at the national festival as the main ritual cultural event.
