Project description
The evolving role of Fado in Portugal
Much more than music, Fado is a symbol of Portuguese culture. What is more, the designation of Fado as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status has heightened its symbolic and economic value, creating tensions between authentic practice and market-driven transformation. Understanding how Fado navigates these pressures is essential for sustaining its cultural significance. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the FADO-ME project explores these tensions through fieldwork, archival research, and comparative analysis. It examines how Fado is curated, consumed, and institutionalised. Interactions with musicians, policymakers, and industry actors shed light on the negotiation of authenticity. Comparing Fado to Spain’s flamenco provides a broader perspective on heritage debates in the Iberian Peninsula. The project offers guidance for sustainable cultural governance in Europe.
Objective
This project examines the evolving role of Fado—Portugal’s iconic musical tradition—in the cultural economy of the Iberian Peninsula, focusing on the tensions between heritage preservation and market-driven transformation. Designated as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2011, Fado has become a central symbol of Portuguese identity and a commodified product within global tourism and music industries. Through a multidisciplinary approach combining ethnomusicology, cultural studies, and political economy, this research investigates how Fado is curated, institutionalized, and consumed in both local and transnational contexts. It explores how musicians, cultural policymakers, and commercial actors negotiate the boundaries between authenticity and innovation, and how these dynamics mirror broader heritage debates across Iberia, particularly in comparison to Spain’s flamenco. Anchored at τhe Autonomous University of Barcelona, this fellowship will involve archival research, fieldwork with artists and policymakers, and comparative analysis to map Fado’s contemporary cultural trajectory. The project contributes to critical heritage studies and the sociology of music, offering new insights into the sustainable governance of traditional arts in Europe’s evolving cultural economy.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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08193 Cerdanyola Del Valles
Spain
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