The project deals with workers’ songs and songs which were sung during work.

Music has always been part of work: the songs of fishermen who go to the sea together; the song of people who extract salt from the seawater, melodies of shepherds to communicate with their flock; the call of a villager to persuade a bison to plough the land with him. People sang and played music to work together, as well as with animals. However, as the nature of work and way of life in society are changing so is the role of music. How to imagine music as an integral today when people move faster around the planet, communicate freely in virtual spaces, actively collaborate with robots and artificial intelligence and face unprecedented environmental challenges? Or, on the contrary, how can we imagine methods of work and living which could be an integral part of music?

In Rijeka, which during its history has experienced various political and social and economic systems, including fascism, socialism, and now the challenging capitalism, the Japanese composer Tomoko Momiyama is collaborating closely with a group of young people of various abilities in considering the alternative meanings of work and the creation of music that could be needed for all living creatures on Earth to work together.

A series of philosophical and musical dialogues, which include students and workers of the Centre for Care and Education from Rijeka, artists, scientists and other experts of various disciplines with their own perspectives on business and work, and philosophers from Japan and Croatia, results in interdisciplinary performances to which the audience are also invited to collectively imagine the work songs of coming times.

The composer and director Tomoko Momiyama is the author of the concept and project designer, alongside her, as author of the philosophical dialogues and leader of the workshops is Naho Homma (Center for the Study of CO Design, Osaka University, JP), collaborators of the Association of sopile pipe players of the island of Krk, the Children’s choir Kap, Mila Čuljak (HR), Nataša Antulov (HR), Nebojša Zelić (HR) and local producer Mara Anjoli Vujić (HR).