🗓️ Date: Friday, February 21, 2025
🕐 Time: 6pm EST
📍 Location: Online
🖥️Online Livestream Viewing: This is a pre-recorded virtual presentation with a live Q&A session at the conclusion. This presentation will be streamed live via the Cleveland Kurentovanje website, Facebook page and YouTube channel. Links will be provided closer to the event date.
🎟️Free and optional registration: This online event is free and open to all. Registration is not required, but attendees are encouraged to register for the event to receive a reminder email prior to the online event containing the links to tune in to the recorded event as well as how to access other relevant materials after the event takes place.
Register here: https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/cleveland-kurentovanje/EvolutionOfCustoms
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Event Description:
Carnival or “Mardi Gras,” including Slovenia’s Kurentovanje, are centuries-old customs that have a centuries-long history of vibrant costumes and lively traditions— but what happens to local carnival heritage when these celebrations start evolving or “modernizing”?
From intimate, door-to-door visits by carnival figures such as the Kurenti, the shaggy, bell-clad creatures known for chasing away winter, to grand celebrations attended by thousands of festival-goers, and even UNESCO recognition, Slovenia’s carnival traditions have shifted over time.
Join us for an engaging talk with Adela Pukl, a museum curator at the Slovene Ethnographic Museum in the Department of Spiritual Culture, as she unpacks how local carnival heritage throughout Slovenia has been increasingly subjected to decontextualization, recontextualization, folklorization, commodification and commercialization.
Drawing from decades of research, Adela will explore how carnival customs evolve, the tension between authenticity and adaptation, the role of museums in documenting these changes, and why intangible cultural heritage isn’t just about safeguarding the past—it’s about understanding how traditions grow and adapt with each generation. Whether you're a folklore enthusiast, a festival lover, or just curious about how culture shifts in a modern world, this talk will give you plenty to think about!
A live Question & Answer session with Adela will follow the recorded presentation. Virtual attendees can submit their questions via comments on the Facebook and YouTube live streams.
About the Presenter:
Adela Pukl, MA, is a museum counsellor and curator at the Slovene Ethnographic Museum where she is responsible for the collections of the Department of Spiritual Culture. Her research interests focus on carnival masks and festivals, musical instruments and music, superstition, and Slovenian trademarks. She is actively involved in the implementation of the tasks of the Coordinator for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Slovenia.