engleski

The infrastructural frame of village fests in Croatia and its role in providing work for local musicians

During the 1970s and 1980s, the villages in North-western Croatia were thriving with activities. Socialist organisations such as youth associations, voluntary fire brigades or women’s organisations were the most common motors of these activities. In this period, the construction of community halls was also encouraged as a sign of social progress. These halls quickly replaced previous gathering points such as private homes, open spaces or plateaus in front of the churches. Once the halls were built, they were not just used for weddings or annual events but also seen as opportunities for organisation of regular weekly fests [zabave]. These fests served a function of village socializing and were additionally used as economic vessels through which the organizers could collect money for a future activity. As for this socialist infrastructure’s influence on local music activities, ethnographic fieldwork in North-western Croatia showed that the usage of community halls partially discouraged local village musicians who used traditional instruments, since professional musicians and bands with electric instruments were favoured and predominantly hired to play. On the other hand, some of the local musicians used the increase in gig opportunities and invested in new instrumental setup. The frequency of the fests made more than ample amount of opportunities for gig-oriented musicians and proved to be a successful mode of employment (whether part-time or full-time) for local musicians. It also provided an incentive towards professionalization of local musicians who no longer played for free (or for food) as previously, but were expected to be paid a respectable fee. In the 1990s, some of the village cultural activities continued, but the multiple socio-political factors influenced their eventual decline causing changes in economic conditions for local musicians as well.

music labour, Križevci, Croatia, socialist infrastructure

nije evidentirano