Leírás
Orosz Folk (Folk Russia), Ethno Folk, CD kiadvány, 2020-as album.
Merema are on a mission: the musicians want to save the dying languages of their homeland Mordvinia! The question is allowed: Where is Mordovia? Not so far away from Western Europe, between Moscow and the Volga. The football fans among us perhaps are familiar with the capital Saransk, one of the venues for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The currently six-piece folk ensemble Merema was already founded in Saransk in 2010 and has set itself increasingly ambitious goals in the following years. The members around „boss” Ekaterina Modina now call Merema an „ethnographic folklore studio”. The members carry out field studies in the Moravian villages and want to preserve the traditions of their home region. According to Wikipedia, the Mordvinians are a Ugric people who, more than other ethnic groups in Russia, have been and still are subject to great assimilation pressure from the Russian majority.
Merema uses standard Russian kitchen utensils as musical instruments. The traditional drums are no longer produced in the country itself. „You can buy African drums from us, but not our own,” says Modina. At Merema itself there is a constant coming and going of the members. The ensemble receives no state support whatsoever. Most of the members are students who often work in other parts of the country after graduation. Ekaterina Modina finances herself through her work at the university, and needs several part-time jobs to support her family. But Merema has one success story to report: in 2017, she won the prestigious Russian World Music Award.
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