V. S. SERAFIMOVSKA • SVANIBOR PETTAN - THE WELCOME FACE OF ICTM iT-TfiVal	DOI: 10.4312/mz.55.2.39-40
Velika Stojkova Serafimovska
Inštitut za folkloro "Marko Cepenkov", Univerza Sv. Ciril in Metod, Skopje Skupina za Glasbo in ples v jugovzhodni Evropi Mednarodnega sveta za tradicijsko glasbo Institute for Folklore »Marko Cepenkov«, Ss Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje ICTM STG on Music and Dance in Southeastern Europe
Svanibor Pettan - the Welcome Face of ICTM
They say that there is a purpose behind meeting anyone in your life. My meeting with Svanibor Pettan in August 1999 resulted in gaining a lifelong friend, a colleague and an advisor who always had positive influence not just on my personal and professional development, but more wider, on the establishment of the currently most important regional scholarly network of traditional music and dance in Southeastern Europe. Coming from the most distant apart ex-Yugoslav republics - Slovenia and Macedonia -and being the only representatives of this region at our first encounter at the 35th ICTM World Conference in Hiroshima, Japan, we spontaneously connected and shared our mutual background which created a sincere friendship and opened a new platform for professional collaboration in the new post-Yugoslav era in which ICTM played an important role. Through the following years on different occasions and meetings, Svanibor Pettan introduced the ICTM network to the new regional scholars of ethnomusicology and encouraged wider regional presentation and participation on ICTM events. In his efforts of reconnecting senior and younger generations from different periods of the development of the regional scholarly work, Svanibor played a distinguishable and crucial role in the establishment of the ICTM Study Group on Music and Dance in Southeastern Europe in Struga, Macedonia, in September 2007 and is still considered to be the most trusted advisor in the development of the Study Group's successful functioning.
Having the honor to contribute to the special issue of the Musicological Annual dedicated to Svanibor's Pettan's 60th anniversary, I am using this opportunity to publicly express my deepest gratitude and emphasize the importance of his work, energy and efforts put into the development of the regional and global ICTM network, but also the importance of his researching and publications in enriching the scholarly scope of and on the Southeastern European Ethnomusicology. Svanibor is a person who is
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MUZIKOLOSKI ZBORNIK * MUSICOLOGICAL ANNUAL LV/2
Picture 6: First meeting of ICTMStudy Group on Music and Dance in Southeastern Europe, Struga, Macedonia, September 2007.
open for understanding different challenges and questions offering reasonable solutions and advices, but his most emphasized feature is his unique possibility to listen and understand people with different backgrounds and contexts, recognizing their shared values and connecting them through their mutual interest. His mild, curious, wise and open personality has connected people in different, sometimes difficult contexts which largely contributed to the visible development of the regional ICTM network, not just through the Study Group on Music and Dance in Southeastern Europe, but also through his initiation of the establishment of the ICTM Study Group on Music and Dances of the Slavic World which further enriched the global ICTM family.
Truly grateful to be part of this publication, I am honored to congratulate Svanibor Pettan for his 60th anniversary and wish to celebrate many more wonderful and productive years!
Happy birthday dear Svanibor!
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