Eleonora Melis

Eleonora Melis is a PhD student in Music Sciences, specialising in Ethnomusicology, at the School of Social Sciences and Humanities of NOVA University Lisbon (NOVA FCSH), and a researcher at the Institute of Ethnomusicology – Centre for Studies in Music and Dance (INET-md).

Originally from Sardinia, Italy, she pursued her academic studies at the University of Cagliari, where she studied Cultural Heritage and Performing Arts, before completing a Master’s degree in Audiovisual Ethnomusicology under the supervision of Professors Ignazio Macchiarella and Marco Lutzu.

Throughout her academic career, she has conducted ethnographic research in Sardinia and Egypt, focusing on traditional musical practices, processes of knowledge transmission, and the construction of cultural identities through music. Her Master’s dissertation examined traditional musical instrument makers, with particular emphasis on the launeddas of Sardinia and the simsimiyya of Egypt, exploring the relationships between craftsmanship, musical heritage, and sociocultural contexts.

Her Master’s dissertation examined traditional musical instrument makers, with particular emphasis on the launeddas of Sardinia and the simsimiyya of Egypt, exploring the relationships between craftsmanship, musical heritage, and sociocultural contexts.

Her current doctoral research focuses on musical practices, rituality, and processes of cultural belonging in the Siwa Oasis, Egypt, seeking to understand the continuities and transformations of local musical traditions nearly a century after Brigitte Schiffer’s pioneering research.

Drawing on an ethnomusicological approach grounded in fieldwork and audiovisual documentation, her research explores the relationships between music, collective memory, identity, and social transformations, with particular attention to the role of musical practices in ritual and community life.

Her research interests include ethnomusicology, the anthropology of music, intangible cultural heritage, audiovisual documentation, music and rituality, processes of musical transmission, and the relationships between music, memory, and identity.

Doctoral Project

Title
Music, Rituality, and Belonging in the Siwa Oasis: Continuities and Transformations Nearly a Century after Brigitte Schiffer’s Research

Advisor
Salwa El-Shawan Castelo-Branco

Abstract
This doctoral research examines the relationships between music, rituality, collective memory, and cultural belonging in the Siwa Oasis, Egypt, nearly a century after the pioneering ethnomusicological research conducted by Brigitte Schiffer (1932–1933).

Drawing on Schiffer’s historical sound recordings and more recent research conducted by Salwa El-Shawan Castelo-Branco, Matthias Pasdzierny, and Valentina Schiattarella, the project seeks to understand the continuities and transformations of musical and ritual practices in Siwa within the context of contemporary social, religious, and cultural changes.

Through ethnographic fieldwork, participant observation, interviews, and sound and audiovisual documentation, the research focuses on vocal and instrumental repertoires, women’s musical knowledge, ceremonies associated with Sufi traditions, and the role of sound practices in shaping community identity and intergenerational memory.

Particular attention is given to the effects of tourism, globalisation, digital media, and changing religious orientations on the transmission and representation of local cultural heritage.

Adopting an ethical and collaborative approach, the project also explores issues related to archival restitution, cultural representation, and the decolonisation of sound archives. It aims to establish a dialogue between historical recordings and contemporary musical experiences, contributing to the documentation, interpretation, and participatory safeguarding of Siwa’s intangible cultural heritage.

Keywords
Ethnomusicology; Siwa Oasis; Brigitte Schiffer; Music and Ritual; Egypt; Collective Memory; Intangible Cultural Heritage; Sound Archives; Audiovisual Ethnography.