[MR] This summer's Smithsonian Folklife Festival "The Silk Road"]

Tue Apr 2 11:16:45 PST 2002

> >To view the entire article, go to 
>
>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49130-2002Apr1.html
> 
> > 
> >The Silk Road Comes to Town 
> > 
> >By Jacqueline Trescott 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> >For the first time in its 36 years, the Smithsonian
> Folklife 
> >Festival will be dedicated to a single subject: an
> exploration 
> >of the ancient Silk Road, the trade route that
> linked Asia and 
> >Europe, and its influence of its cultures on
> American life 
> >today. 
> > 
> >From June 26 to 30 and July 3 to 7, visitors to the
> National 
> >Mall can tour a  range of exhibits focused on the
> cultures that 
> >flourished along the road from the time of
> Alexander the Great 
> >until the 14th century A.D. At the Capitol end of
> the Mall will 
> >be a pavilion built to look like the Nara Gate of
> Japan, and at 
> >the Washington Monument end will be a likeness of
> the Venice 
> >Piazza. 
> > 
> >The annual Smithsonian festival, which last year
> drew 1 million 
> >visitors, generally focuses on two states as well
> as a 
> >particular craft -- woodworking, pottery or the
> like. But this 
> >year it will break tradition with the help of a
> very 
> >distinguished consultant, the cellist Yo-Yo Ma. 
> > 
> >In 1998 Ma organized the Silk Road Project, a
> collaboration of 
> >artists who are telling the vast region's story
> through 
> >concerts and cultural festivals. 
> > 
> >"What this festival can do is create an experience
> that is 
> >personal," Ma said. Familiarity with the Silk Road
> is not 
> >necessary. "You can come with a lot or a little,
> but the 
> >question is: What do you leave with?" 
> > 
> >Ma, along with his Smithsonian partners and various
> curators, 
> >does not want the festival to become an instant
> classroom. 
> > 
> >"It's not: Do you know the capital of Kazakhstan
> and can you 
> >spell Kazakhstan? I want you to know what it feels
> like to live 
> >someplace else. It's getting to know a world, the
> humanity of 
> >it all. People have always been smart and creative.
> Also we 
> >want to capture that sense of adventure, and what
> has motivated 
> >that sense of adventure," Ma said. 
> > 
> >The details of the Folklife Festival, called "The
> Silk Road: 
> >Connecting Cultures, Creating Trust," and the
> unusual 
> >approaches will be announced at a news conference
> today. 
> > 
> >The event has attracted three principal sponsors,
> which  are 
> >also underwriting Ma's project: the Aga Khan Trust
> for Culture, 
> >Ford Motor Co. and Siemens, the German 
> conglomerate.  At a 
> >possible cost of  $6 million, the bill would be
> about double 
> >the usual for a Folklife Festival. 
> > 
> > Contributing to the complexity of organizing the
> festival is 
> >the participation of a dozen countries, including
> several 
> >former Soviet republics. 
> > 
> >"This is much more complicated than a program on
> New 
> >Hampshire," said Richard Kennedy, the festival
> co-curator and 
> >an expert on South Asian and Southeast Asian
> culture. Five 
> >years ago Theodore Levine, a professor at Dartmouth
> who had 
> >worked with the festival, suggested the Silk Road
> concept. "I 
> >thought it was logistically overwhelming and we
> couldn't get 
> >funding," Kennedy said. 
> > 
> >When Levine returned three years ago -- with Ma --
> Kennedy was 
> >ready to move ahead. "Still for us to commit the
> whole program 
> >was a leap," he said. What worried him was the
> unfamiliarity 
> >many Americans had about the area's geography,
> history and 
> >culture. But since Sept. 11, Kennedy said,  "I
> think we have an 
> >interest in the region and a beginning of
> understanding." 
> > 
> >In addition to the evocations of Japan and Italy,
> the 
> >festival's main pavilions will represent "Istanbul
> Crossroads," 
> >Samarkand Square in Uzbekistan, and the Xi'an Tower
> of China. 
> > 
> >The Smithsonian's approach is cultural, pulling
> together 
> >musicians, storytellers, cooks, potters, Sufi
> dervishes, 
> >embroiderers, fashion designers, stone carvers,
> puppetmakers, 
> >calligraphers, glass blowers and weavers from 20
> countries: 
> >Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, China, India,
> Italy, Iran, 
> >Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal,
> Pakistan, 
> >Russia, South Korea, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey,
> Turkmenistan 
> >and Uzbekistan. "Most of our artists, 80 to 90
> percent of them, 
> >have never been out of their countries before,"
> Kennedy said. 
> > 
> > The festival will spotlight about 350 artists,
> another record 
> >for the event. Ma said consultants in the region 
> "have 
> >identified some fabulous people. At meetings we
> would actually 
> >feel sad that we couldn't bring everybody." 
> > 
> >Ma hopes a visitor who is a potter will watch
> another potter, 
> >and  "the next time the visitor picks up a
> newspaper and reads 
> >about information about the potter's country, they
> will have 
> >something to connect," Ma said. 
> > 
> > Kennedy said the festival would emphasize artistic
> links among 
> >diverse cultures.  "We will put together a Navajo
> weaver and a 
> >Turkish weaver, and look at how the Navajo learned
> to work with 
> >wool from the Spanish, and the design motifs that
> the Spaniards 
> >got from the Turks," he said.  Artisans from the
> United States, 
> >representing one-third of the participants, will
> show how these 
> >traditions are kept alive, and modified. 
> > 
> > Other themes will be the development of martial
> arts, 
> >papermaking, truck and bus decoration in Pakistan, 
> Syrian silk 
> >brocade weavers, the wandering minstrels known as
> Kushtia 
> >Bauls, and throat singing. The countries along the
> route 
> >introduced Chinese silk to the Mediterranean, and
> gunpowder, 
> >mathematics and ceramics to the West. 
> > 
> >Music is another essential element of each Folklife
> Festival. 
> >With Ma sitting in from time to time, the concerts
> should be 
> >remarkable. Ma plans to stay the entire two weeks
> but he said 
> >he'd take on the character of Waldo, the children's
> book 
> >character who gets lost in the crowd but is always
> there. 
> > 
> >"The Silk Road Ensemble will be there and I will
> join it at 
> >various times," Ma said. "My main job is trying to
> make sure 
> >the experience is good for anybody that comes in,
> and that they 
> >are leaving with what starts out as information but
> turns into 
> >knowledge and curiosity." 
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> 
> 

=====
Lady Kateryn Rous, CP
KMoAS

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