FADO-ME investigates the internationalisation of fado – Portugal’s emblematic song – in the wider Iberian cultural economy and the global music industry over the past decade, with the aim of critically assessing the sustainability of its traditional features—both as codified by UNESCO’s 2011 inscription and as historically consolidated through evolving performance practices and cultural transmission.
The overall objective of the project is to analyse how fado is shaped by cultural policy, globalisation, tourism, and identity discourses in Iberia, in order to better understand the dynamics between heritage preservation and commercialisation. To achieve the overall aim, the project is divided into three specific research objectives and corresponding work packages, and several training objectives.
To analyse the institutional frameworks
To analyse the institutional, political, and economic frameworks of fado as cultural heritage in Portugal.
To investigate fado in practice and in the market
To examine how authenticity, cultural value, and commodification are negotiated in both practice and market contexts.
To develop cross-border frameworks
To develop a comparative framework for analysing intangible cultural heritage across Portugal and Spain offering new insight into cross-border cultural policy, identity construction and the role of heritage in the Iberian cultural economy.