Overview

The term folklore was coined by the English researcher William John Thoms in 1846, when he founded the field of folklore as an academic field. Folklore deals with the transmission of folk traditions in diverse forms such as customs, cultural foods, poetry, clothing, art, folk tales, language, and the like. Folklore developed at the same time as the nation states, industrialization, and modernization. The development of nationalities comes along with developments in folk identity and folk tales. The development of industrialization made the transfer of folklore information more available.

“The Forum on Folklore Diplomacy 2024: Dancing and Singing Nations Closer" will take place in Brussels, Belgium from April 17th - 19th, 2024 and will focus on promoting democracy, unity and peace. Folklore has served as powerful vehicles of cultural diplomacy for centuries both within nations and between nations. This Forum will examine examples of folklore and explore potential future applications of folklore diplomacy in bilateral and multilateral relations.

The event will bring together renowned figures from international politics, art and academia to speak to an interdisciplinary audience including diplomatic and political representatives, scholars and academics.

Locations

Based in Brussels the conference will be hosted in a number of important political, historic, and cultural locations across the city.

Speakers & Delegates

Speakers during the forum will include leading politicians, senior diplomats, governmental officials, senior academics, journalists, and celebrated artists. These speakers will include individuals from the ICD Advisory Board. To learn more about the ICD Advisory Board, please click here.