A Conference in the Mediterranean Capital of Culture and Dialogue
The first IMS Mediterranean Conference takes place in a city that, in 2026, becomes a meeting point for the whole basin.
Matera holds the title of Mediterranean Capital of Culture and Dialogue 2026 together with Tétouan (Morocco), building on its earlier experience as European Capital of Culture in 2019.The city’s programme, “Terre Immerse”, explores the cultural and historical ties that bind the Mediterranean together, including in inland territories that have no direct access to the sea, and brings communities from southern Italy and beyond into dialogue across the Euro-Mediterranean region.
It is a frame that speaks directly to the concerns of our four Study Groups: circulation, encounter, translation, and the many ways in which music has crossed this sea.
Matera itself is part of the argument. The regeneration of its Sassi, recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993, is a story of a community reclaiming its own landscape, and the city sits a short distance from Metaponto, the Magna Graecia settlement on the Ionian Sea where Pythagoras spent his final years. Delegates will find that the questions raised in the conference rooms continue outside them.
Throughout the year, the city hosts festivals, exhibitions, screenings, live performances and artistic residencies bringing together Mediterranean artists and scholars, so participants are warmly encouraged to plan their stay around what else is happening in Matera during the conference days.
Full information on the programme and on the Mediterranean Capital of Culture and Dialogue 2026: matera-basilicata2019.it
Interuniversity Observatory on Mediterranean Music
In 2026, the year in which Matera serves as Capital of Culture and Dialogue of the Mediterranean, the Department of Humanistic, Scientific and Social Innovation (DIUSS) of the University of Basilicata has established three Observatories dedicated to the study of Mediterranean Archaeology, Anthropology, and Music. The Interuniversity Observatory on Mediterranean Music aims to foster the free exchange of scientific information regarding research conducted by academic institutions in countries bordering the Mediterranean in relation to music. Its founding members, alongside the University of Basilicata (Matera campus, DIUSS), are the University of Catania and the University of Salento. Membership in the Observatory is open to any institution upon signature of a memorandum of understanding with the University of Basilicata, and is intended to promote the exchange of faculty and students, as well as discussion and collaboration on ongoing research or international projects concerning music of any genre and period from countries bordering the Mediterranean or connected to it (the “enlarged Mediterranean”). One of the Observatory’s first initiatives will be the launch of a website enabling rapid and continuous updates on the research and projects of the participating universities, along with bibliographies and links to databases, archives, and collections related to Mediterranean music.
Coordinators of the Interuniversity Observatory on Mediterranean Music
Central office: Unibas Matera Campus
For further information and membership requests ( , please complete the form:
Contact
For any further information regarding the conference, please feel free to contact us at: dinko.fabris@unibas.it and vania.cauzillo@unibas.it
