Call for Papers for the second international conference on
“PRISON SONGS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN”

MusiX Lab, Athens Concert Hall (Megaron Musikis)
Vas. Sofias Ave. & Kokkali St. 1, 115 21 Athens
Thursday 3 and Friday 4 June 2027
Hosted by the Friends of Music Society
[ Σύλλογος Οι Φίλοι της Μουσικής ]

Dear Colleagues,
This present Call for Papers is an invitation to scholars and practitioners to submit
proposals for papers for our second international conference on “Prison Songs of the
Mediterranean”.

In 2026, during the symposium of the Mediterranean Music Study Group of the ICTMD
at Ege University in Izmir, a dedicated prison song strand was scheduled for the final day
of the symposium, to great interest from a wide variety of scholars. As a continuation of
that original launch, we are now organising a full conference on the same topic, which
will be held in Athens at the start of June 2027. Our intention is to expand and build on
the work already done.

Athens is a particularly appropriate locale for our conference, because the development
of Greek music, both popular and classical, is inextricably linked to experiences of
imprisonment during Greece’s two periods of fascism.

We gratefully acknowledge the support of The Friends of Music Society in hosting us.
If you wish to propose a paper, or would like to register to attend the conference, write to
the conference organiser at

[email protected]

SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS
If you wish to present a paper at the conference, please send an ABSTRACT of not
more than 200 words.

Please include the TITLE of the paper and your NAME and INSTITUTIONAL
AFFILIATION (if any).

Please also include a brief BIO / CV of not more than 100 words.

Proposals should be sent by e-mail to the address above.

PLEASE NOTE: The DEADLINE for submissions is 15 January 2027.

Below you will find the original Call for Papers for the Izmir colloquium, which will give
you an idea of the range of topics that we hope to encompass in Athens.

With best regards,
Ed Emery
_________________.

*Prospectus*

By definition, prison is a place of confinement and constriction. It is
also a place that is concealed from the public gaze. It is, furthermore,
a place that is inhabited by song. And sometimes that song breaks out of
the confines and wins residence rights in society as a whole.
Each of the countries of the Mediterranean basin has its own prison
specificities. But because of the endlessly changing nature of empires
and governing regimes there are also shared commonalities that are of
historic interest. It would be interesting to study these in relation to
song.

When Alan Lomax did his musical recording tour in the Mediterranean in the
1950s, he addressed this repertoire – after all, he and his father had made the
foundational sound recordings of prison work songs in the USA. We are
interested to build on the work that he did with his Mediterranean recordings.
This is a field where work needs to be done.

From work that we have done already, it is clear that there are a number
of specific subject areas that could usefully be examined within theoverall concept. For instance:

--- In Sicily and Southern Italy there is a large repertoire of songs related to
prisons and the Mafia.

--- In Tunisia there is a popular culture of prison songs (zindali) associated with
figures such as Salah Farzeit.

--- In Egypt we have the notable prison-song contributions of Sheikh Imam and
Ahmed Fuad Negm, who sang about prison and who were also in and out of
prison themselves.

--- In Greece, it is documented that the core repertoires of Rebetiko developed in
and around prisons, and many songs speak about prison.

--- In the nature of things, Ottoman and Turkish culture developed a culture of
prison songs that have come down to the present day.

--- And, as we know, there is a trans-Mediterranean bridging of hip-hop / rap,
which integrally links the countries of North Africa with Europe (most notably
France); in this repertoire of songs prison occupies a central place.

--- Additionally there will be work songs associated with the forced labour
regimes of colonialism, and the songs associated with prison labour on board
rowing galleys.

This list of topics is just illustrative. Obviously there are many other possible
areas where research needs to be conducted.

For your interest, below we list some notable prison songs, from both the north
and the south shores of the Mediterranean

We look forward to hearing from you.
__________
*APPENDIX: Video clips of songs*

*Zindali music in Tunisia*
https://youtu.be/7f6f8rFv8iY 

*Greek Rebetiko song: “I went into prison”, Michalis Gennitsaris:*
https://youtu.be/1TadnMNq3rI

*Sheikh Imam – “Build your palaces in our fields”*
https://youtu.be/DRlBgNjeUWY

*Anis Dziri – The best-known North African prison song*
https://youtu.be/hi6GNGn8wtM

*Saïda Menebhi – Poème en détention – Morocco *
https://youtu.be/E0kRvpEmxfU

*Algerian / harraga /film*
https://youtu.be/6sBJ7XzZw1M

*Kery James – “Racailles” – French hip-hop*
https://youtu.be/PBzfCR3FPu4

*Cosimo Monteleone – “Oh Nero Nero”*
https://youtu.be/wridjm2Hc4Y

*Hama Jaza – “Sedara” – Kurdistan*
https://youtu.be/qVQmVv98Lx0

*Pino Masi / Alfredo Bandelli – “Liberare tutti”*
https://youtu.be/lWu0KdDrtLg