4-6 October 2017: around 70 participants are getting together for the international seminar “Negotiations of Belonging”, organized in cooperation between the University of Tartu and Peipsi Center for Transboundary Cooperation.
Theseminar will be held in Narva town, on the border between Estonia and Russia or, as some might say, the West and the East. Narva is uniquely situated to inspire and host explorations into diverse modes and notions of belonging.
Seminar brings together students and young scholars from different countries and giving them an opportunity to present their research in the field of ethnic identity and belonging. On 6th of October SISUMMA project workshop is organized as part of the seminar, in order to promote more lively and less academic debate on identity issues. The main presenter of the SISUMMA workshop is Jevgeni Ljapin, a rap singer from Narva, who is particularly known for his song “I am Russian, but I love Estonia” (Ma olenvenelane, aga ma armastanEestit), in which he argues that living in Estonia, Russian speakers should stop complaining about and only benefitting from the Estonian state, rather, they should become the active and patriotic part of its civil society. The song became very popular, but was perceived in a contradictory way by various parts of population. On the one, hand, Evgeni was blamed for his idealization of and integration in Estonia, on the other, he received official gratitude from Estonian parliament for speaking out what many politicians prefer to be silent about.The participants of workshop will receive the possibility to learn how the border shapes the ethnic and personal identity of an individual, how the particular context of the town of Narva may influence it, and what means to counter the dominant attitude of the place one lives at.
In addition SISUMMA project other activities, as well as SISUMMA Declaration for a Multicultural Coexistence will be presented.
The event is co-organised with Peipsi Center for Transboundary Cooperation SISUMMA project (Social Initiative of Support to Minorities through Media-Activism; funded by EC Europe for Citizens program.