“World music festival – Merak” got its name after the Serbian word MERAK, which, although originating from the Turkish language, has long since settled down with us with the meaning of satisfaction derived from “small” things - it signifies desire, craving for something, passion, enjoyment, a pleasant mood, but also melancholy. This Serbian word has entered the international vocabulary of words that cannot be translated into other languages (such as the Hawaiian word aloha), prepared by Dr Tim Lomas, a psychologist at the University of East London, who is researching how positive feelings are described in different languages of the world.
At the concert podium, festival “Merak” aims to present exactly that feeling Niš is famous for, through music inspired by Serbian tradition, but at the same time to promote the authenticity of musical expression of artists from different parts of the world and their music, which, through certain musical genres uses motifs of traditional music from different countries, be it traditional, ethno, world music or jazz, fusion, pop, rock, hip-hop or other music genres.
"Merak - World music festival", nazvan je po srpskoj reči MERAK, koja iako potiče iz turskog jezika, se odavno odomaćila kod nas sa značenjem zadovolјstva koje proističe iz "malih" stvari - označava želјu, žudnju za nečim, ćef, uživanje, ugodno raspoloženje, ali i setu. Upravo ova srpska reč ušla je u internacionalni rečnik reči koje nije moguće prevesti na druge jezike (као što je havajska reč "aloha"...), na kome radi dr Tim Lomas, psiholog na Univerzitetu Istočni London, koji se bavi istraživanjem o tome kako se pozitivna osećanja opisuju u različitim jezicima sveta.
"Merak" prezentuje upravo taj osećaj po kojem je Grad Niš prepoznatlјiv, putem muzike inspirisane srpskom tradicijom, ali istovremeno promoviše i autentičnost muzičkog izraza umetnika iz različitih delova sveta i njihovu muziku, koja kroz određeni muzički pravac koristi motive tradicionalne muzike različitih zemalјa. Bilo da je reč o tradicionalnoj, etno, world music ili džez, fusion, pop, rok, hip hop muzici ili drugim muzičkim pravcima.
