Lietuvių tautosakos archyvas

2026-03-10
CRIES project partners meeting

On March 3–4, 2026, participants of the international project CRIES gathered in Vilnius to discuss how to more closely connect their ongoing research so that, by the end of the project, it will form a coherent whole.

The seminar was attended by the project initiators from Aarhus University in Denmark, as well as representatives from all three Baltic countries (the group of researchers at the LLTI is led by Austė Nakienė). Various perspectives, research methods, and ethnological and sociological data were discussed, which will serve as the basis for a collective monograph (planned to be completed in 2027).

At present, researchers aim to reveal the characteristics of the community singing traditions in each country: how repertoires of national, patriotic, and protest songs were formed; which songs have been sung for a hundred or even two hundred years; and what people sing about today.

Questions are also being raised as to whether Herder’s description of the Baltic region as a “land of songs” still applies, whether – many years after the “Singing Revolution” – songs still unite the societies of these countries, and whether contemporary “singing protests” can help stop climate change and war.

An important part of the project is also the study of Ukrainian singing traditions, which are currently being continued under very difficult circumstances. The Lithuanian Folklore Archive at the Institute holds a rich collection of Ukrainian folk songs, which in recent years has been supplemented with songs and narratives of war refugees recorded by Halyna Pshenichkina. A film presenting this material was shown to the seminar participants.

CRIES – CRIses Established Singing. Investigations into the Inherent Potential of Collective Singing in Times of Social Crises in the Scandinavian and Baltic Regions / Singing in Times of Crisis. The Power of Collective Singing in Overcoming Social Crises – A Study of the Scandinavian and Baltic Countries.

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Lithuanian Folklore Archives database

Zenonas Slaviūnas. Lithuanian Polyphonic Folksongs (1958-1959)

Stasys Paliulis. Lithuanian Instrumental Folk Music (1959)

Folklore sound recordings database

Lietuvių tautosakos archyvas/ Lithuanian Folklore Archives