SLOVENIA - BRANCH NEWS AND CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT
WITH A LOT OF SOUL
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POPULAR
MUSIC
In 1990, political independence and democracy coincided when Slovenia seceded from socialist Yugoslavia. Ever since the Duchy of Carinthia came under control of foreigners in the 7th century, we were always short on political autonomy but somehow managed to preserve our cultural identity: Protestants gave us our written language (we sometimes like to boast with the 19th translation of the Bible into a national language); during the Enlightenment we organized politically to gain cultural autonomy inside the Austro-Hungarian Empire; after the First World War we moved form the periphery (political, economic as well as cultural) of the Empire to the centre of the first Yugoslavia; to get our own republic, national emblems and cultural policy in socialist Yugoslavia after Second World War.
Due to our specific history, we tend to be suspicious of charismatic, outstanding leaders, which is O.K. in politics (we never had our Tudjman or Milošević), but not so desirable in the arts, which demand exceptional and innovative people, in the context of the star principle. It is therefore not surprising, that we have an ordered state (which is good, especially with our tradition), but also a creative atmosphere, which is not always very stimulating, to use an euphemism. This is even more true in popular than in elite arts.
Different actors, from people in mass media to decision-makers in cultural policy should become more aware of the peripheral status of popular arts and especially of popular music. Various ideas should be implemented, from our own musical television, to a foundation for alternative art and investments into the infrastructure for mass culture. People in the Slovenian branch of I.A.S.P.M. will be lobbying for these and other worthwhile goals to aid popular artists.
In the 80's, Slovenia presented itself to the world as a "spot on the sunny side of the Alps". Today, we are a "green piece of Europe". We hope that by the year 2000, we will also be " a little country with a lot of soul where everybody's doing rock'n'roll".