The First International Conference on the Ritual Year was organised by the Department of Maltese and held at the University of Malta Junior College, Msida recently.
The conference was organised on behalf of the Ritual Year Working Group of the Société Internationale d’Ethnologie et de Folklore (SIEF), the International Society for Ethnology and Folklore (SIEF), founded in Athens, Greece, in 1964. SIEF coordinates several specialised thematic sections and every three or four years it organises a general conference.
Fifty-two foreign and six Maltese scholars attended the Malta conference and presented the results of their recent research on rituals in Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and the United States of Africa. The scholars come from 25 countries – Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The theme, Rituals and Culture, included sub-themes such as the Ritual Year in Malta, Easter and Spring, Ritual and Society, Ritual and Family, Ritual and Worship Resources, Art and Ritual, Processions, Life Cycle Parallel to the Ritual Year Cycle and any aspect of the ritual year. Scholars of international standing who presented a paper included Prof. Jeremy Boissevain from the Netherlands; President of the Folklore Society (London), Dr Marion Bowman; Prof. Bartha Elek of Hungary; Dr Terry Gunnell of Iceland; Dr Emily Lyle of the University of Edinburgh and President of the current committee of the Ritual Year Working Group; Prof. Leander Petzoldt of Innsbruck; Prof. Jan Rychlik of the Czech Republic and Prof. Vilmos Voigt of Hungary.
A look at the various papers reveals the wide spectrum of multiple dimensions of the phenomenon of ritual discussed at the conference. One finds various issues, styles and degrees of religiosity and genres of ritual practice, as well as fluidity, vitality and rationality. Local perspectives and complexities, reflecting the time and place in which they have come into existence, become inextricably locked within their cultural particularity and immediate world, and/or adapt themselves to the needs, self-expression, ideals, and innovations of the community/ies in question.
A book exhibition on Rituals in Malta and a photographic exhibition by the Malta Photographic Society were prepared in the College foyer for the occasion.
Appreciation was expressed to the University of Malta Library, the College administration and the members of the organising committee, namely Mr Saviour Seisun (chairman and Head of the Department of Maltese), Mr Mario Cutajar, Mr David Calleja, Mr George Farrugia and Dr George Mifsud-Chircop (SIEF representative in Malta, conference president and convener).
The main sponsor of the Conference (including the proceedings) was APS Bank.