Greetings to the Rebetiko Forum people!
* PLEASE CIRCULATE TO INTERESTED PARTIES *
Call for expressions of interest for the conference
“PRISON SONGS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN” – ATHENS – EARLY JUNE 2027
Dear Colleagues,
In June 2026, in collaboration with the colleagues of Mediterranean Music Studies [MMS]
of the ICTMD I organised a thematic stream entitled “Prison Songs of the Mediterranean”
as part of the 16th colloquium of the Mediterranean Music Studies group, held in Izmir on 1-4 June 2026.
The stream was very productive, good papers were produced, and they are now being coordinated
for publication.
That event was designed as the prelude to a larger conference on the same topic, which will be held
in Athens at the start of June 2027. The intention is to expand and build on the work already done.
We are currently negotiating with the venue.
The purpose of this letter is to invite expressions of interest from scholars and practitioners in this field.
The formal Call for Papers will be issued at the end of September.
If you think you might be interested to contribute a paper, or would like to join our mailing list, write
to the conference organiser at
[ed.emery.soas@gmail.com](mailto:ed.emery.soas@gmail.com)
Below I attach 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.
Athens is a particularly appropriate locale for our conference, because the development of Greek
popular and classical music is inextricably linked to experiences of imprisonment during Greece’s
two periods of fascism.
With best regards,
E.
_________________.
*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 the
overall 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 https://youtu.be/7f6f8rFv8iY
*Greek Rebetiko song: “I went into prison”, Michalis Gennitsaris:*
https://youtu.be/1TadnMNq3rI https://youtu.be/1TadnMNq3rI
*Sheikh Imam – “Build your palaces in our fields”*
https://youtu.be/DRlBgNjeUWY https://youtu.be/DRlBgNjeUWY
*Anis Dziri – The best-known North African prison song*
https://youtu.be/hi6GNGn8wtM https://youtu.be/hi6GNGn8wtM
*Saïda Menebhi – Poème en détention – Morocco *
https://youtu.be/E0kRvpEmxfU https://youtu.be/E0kRvpEmxfU
*Algerian /harraga /film*
https://youtu.be/6sBJ7XzZw1M https://youtu.be/6sBJ7XzZw1M
*Kery James – “Racailles” – French hip-hop*
https://youtu.be/PBzfCR3FPu4 https://youtu.be/PBzfCR3FPu4
*Cosimo Monteleone – “Oh Nero Nero”*
https://youtu.be/wridjm2Hc4Y https://youtu.be/wridjm2Hc4Y
*Hama Jaza – “Sedara” – Kurdistan*
https://youtu.be/qVQmVv98Lx0 https://youtu.be/qVQmVv98Lx0
*Pino Masi / Alfredo Bandelli – “Liberare tutti”*
https://youtu.be/lWu0KdDrtLg https://youtu.be/lWu0KdDrtLg
First posted: 26.viii.2026