Spring 2007 N o . 3 1

s m i t h s onian Center Tfor Falolklife andk CulturalSt oH e rr i t ay g e

i n t h i s i ss u e

2007 Smithsonian Folklife Festival Mekong River 3 Northern Ireland 4 Roots of Virginia Culture 5 Rinzler Concert 6 The Festival Continues… 7 Smithsonian Folkways Recordings 8 New Releases 10 Smithsonian Global Sound 11 Cultural Heritage Policy 12 Newsmakers 13

Posters advertise the Friends of Old Time Music concerts.

director’s talk story

R i c h a r d K u r i n

In New York City in the early 1960s, Ralph Rinzler, John musicians from the Mississippi Delta and the Sea Islands, Cohen, and Izzy Young formed a group called the Friends and from the Ozarks and elsewhere, to New York City, so of Old Time Music. Izzy ran a folk music store in the Village. they could share old time music with young, urban audiences. Ralph and John were young, city-oriented musicians, who And from 1961 to 1965, the musicians came to New York for had an immense appreciation for the traditional music of a series of fourteen concerts combined with interviews and Appalachia—the ballads and stringed music that, for them, workshops. Among them were legends—Doc Watson, Bill harkened back to the roots of American culture. Ralph and Monroe, Maybelle Carter, the Stanley Brothers, Clarence John had done some fieldwork in the valleys and hills—meeting Ashley, Dock Boggs, Roscoe Holcomb, Almeda Riddle, with, interviewing, and recording the likes of Doc Watson Hobart Smith, Libba Cotton, Mississippi John Hurt, Jesse and Roscoe Holcomb, among many others. Ralph and John Fuller, Joseph Spence, and Bessie Jones and the Georgia regarded these folks as teachers and learned their music styles Sea Island Singers. In 1964 Moe Asch’s Folkways Records out of respect for their art. The Friends’ vision was to bring published some of the concert recordings. (continues on page 2) D i r e c t o r ’ s T a l k S t o r y (continues from cover)

Through the presentations, the Friends thought, established by the Friends—a deep and abiding respect for traditional music would be appreciated, and the musicians the artistry of the folks; a desire to encourage the continuity would be encouraged to continue their work. Younger of their cultural expressions; and a strategy of helping Americans would have a greater sense of their own heritage to inform, educate, and inspire a wider populace. and perhaps be inspired to create new works based upon As always, the Friends’ legacy will be evident in this traditional music. Many others got involved in the effort, year’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival, which will feature including folklorist Alan Lomax; Pete Seeger; his brother the Roots of Virginia Culture, Northern Ireland, and the Mike Seeger, who, with John Cohen, formed the New Lost Mekong region. The programs will examine culture at the City Ramblers; and Jean Ritchie, a community worker grass roots, whether in shipyards, in Belfast neighbor- and Kentucky balladeer who lived in the city. The Friends hoods, or in river-fed rice paddies. Each program will inspired many young musicians of the time through what demonstrate the continuity of cultural traditions, their became known as the “folk revival.” John Sebastian, for adaptations by contemporary people, and their importance example, named his band “The Loving Spoonful” after in defining identity and well-being in today’s world. The a lyric in one of Mississippi John Hurt’s songs, and Bob Festival will again make clear that we all have something Dylan, who had just arrived in New York from Minnesota, to learn from storytellers, musicians, craftspeople, cooks, became intent on becoming the new Woody Guthrie. and other cultural exemplars. They, in turn, will be met The story is told in a wonderful three-CD set, which on the National Mall of the United States with enthusi- was produced and annotated by Peter K. Siegel, who astic applause, enriching cultural exchanges, and lasting originally recorded the concerts. Smithsonian Folkways economic benefits. And as those 1960s concerts did, the Recordings, in cooperation with Henry Street Folklore Festival will bring together people from different back- Production and City Lore, Inc., issued the set. A few grounds in a respectful way, which is not a bad thing to months ago, City Lore organized a concert in New York’s do in a divided, often-contentious world. Town Hall to celebrate the Friends’ project. Earlier the same The Center’s Smithsonian Folkways Recordings and day, Brooklyn College held a symposium on their work. its digital Web site, Smithsonian Global Sound, accomplish Today, we are still the friends of old time music: we similar things by documenting and disseminating the voices are intellectually and occupationally descended from the of the people, bringing them to worldwide audiences, and original Friends. Ralph Rinzler introduced the Friends’ encouraging local cultural creativity and global cultural principles to the Newport Folk Festival and in 1967 to the education. Recordings forthcoming this year in our African Smithsonian, where he established the Festival of American American Legacy, Music of Central Asia, and Latino Music Folklife, which is now the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. series will illustrate our mission. Unlike the Friends, we now Decades later, he brought Folkways Records—a major have the advantage of using digital technology to help these conduit of the folk revival and roots music—to the voices reach literally hundreds of millions of people. Finally, Institution. Along the way, the Festival and Folkways expand- the Friends’ vision has assumed global dimensions. ed to highlight even more diverse traditions. Activities Another of their legacies, the Center itself, has been intensified, the mission magnified, and the audience grew intimately involved in international discussions that have larger. Throughout, I am proud to say, we kept the values led to two cultural treaties whose dictates have become international law. The 2003 UNESCO Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and TalkStory the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and “Talk story” is a Hawaiian expression, used as a noun Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions have or a verb, meaning “an informal chat” or “to chat informally.” as their goals a more culturally equitable world, where Talk Story is published twice a year by the Smithsonian the great diversity of local traditions and varied forms Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, 600 Maryland of human creativity can find the support they need to Avenue SW, Suite 2001, Washington, DC 20024-2520, survive and flourish. Although I have my own issues with telephone 202.633.6440, fax 202.633.6474, the particularities of these treaties, their ultimate aims www.folklife.si.edu, e-mail [email protected]. Mary Sebold, resonate with the purposes of the Friends’ concerts more editor. Large-print and audio versions of Talk Story are than four decades ago. available upon request.

 t a l k st o r y 2 0 0 7 S m i t h s o n i a n F o l k l i f e F e s t i v a l the mekong flows all the way to washington

J i m d E u ts c h , c O - C u r a tor

Each year in the village of Dinh Yen in Vietnam’s Dong Thap province, hundreds of thousands of traditional rush mats are shipped by river throughout the Mekong Delta and to other countries. Photo by Nguyen Xuan Hoanh, courtesy Smithsonian Institution

Strictly speaking, the Mekong River flows roughly 3,000 as Vietnamese opera, Thai shadow puppetry, Cambodian miles from the soaring peaks of China to the flat Mekong classical dance, and Chinese gourd flute music. The large Delta of Vietnam. But, metaphorically, the Mekong flows Nine Dragons Stage will feature Hat Boi Opera, a Central all the way to the United States—connected to this country Highlands gong ensemble, and a variety of graceful not only through recent historical events, but also through Chinese dance traditions. the more than two million Americans who trace their The Mekong has many different meanings to the ancestry to Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and the people of the region. As a source of food, the river is Chinese province of Yunnan. a sustainer of life; as a focus of symbolic meaning and The Festival program, Mekong River: Connecting Cultures, expression, the river inspires arts and crafts; and as a will allow visitors to experience the region’s diversity first- crossroads and boundary, the river serves as a channel hand through crafts demonstrations, dance and musical of communication and commerce. The Mekong River: performances, and hands-on activities. More than 200 Connecting Cultures program should help to broaden artists, performers, craftspeople, cooks, and ritual everyone’s view of the region and its people. specialists will come to the National Mall to show how the Mekong region has been a cradle and a crossroads of cultures for many centuries. The Mekong River program could not have been produced One tent, for example, will feature fish-trap makers without the partnership and cooperation of many different entities from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. Other and institutions, including the Ministry of Culture and Information tents will bring together potters from Cambodia, Laos, of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Ministry of Culture of the and Thailand; silversmiths from Thailand and Yunnan; Kingdom of Thailand, the People’s Government of Yunnan Province and instrument makers from Thailand and Yunnan. of the People’s Republic of China, the Ministry of Information and Weavers from all five countries will demonstrate their Culture of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts of the Kingdom of Cambodia, in collaboration techniques for creating baskets, blankets, clothing, with Aid to Artisans, Amrita Performing Arts, China Yunnan International mats, and much more. Another area of the Mall will be Culture Exchange, Connecticut College, and the Princess Maha Chakri devoted to ritual arts and crafts, including calligraphers, Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre. mural painters, cement molders, mask makers, mediums, Major donors include the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford and rocket makers. Foundation, and the Henry Luce Foundation. Additional donors and Five stages, including a family learning center, will supporters include the McKnight Foundation, American Express, the introduce nearly 100 performers of traditions as diverse Asian Cultural Council, and the Smithsonian Women’s Committee.

spring 2 0 0 7  2 0 0 7 S m i t h s o n i a n F o l k l i f e F e s t i v a l

northern ireland prepares for the 2007 folklife festival

n a n c y gro c e , C u r a tor

Among those attending the February 20th launch were a good number of the approximately 140 Festival participants. They included members of the Belfast-based traditional music ensemble Croabh Rua; embroiderer and lace maker Mary Wilson, a sheep farmer’s wife from Dundonald in County Down; Tómas O’Maonaigh, an animator and educator who works in a community-based Claymation lab at the innovative Nerve Centre in Derry City; shipyard workers Ian Ritchie and John Robinson from Belfast’s historic heavy engineering firm Harland and Wolff; representatives from Belleek potteries in County Fermanagh; leaders of the Gaelic Athletic Association; renowned cook and guest house owner Norah Brown from Dungannon; members of the Aughakillymaude Community Basket maker Bob Johnston from County Down will be Mummers near the rural hamlet of Derrylin; and com- among the participants attending this summer’s Northern munity dance instructor Lucy Mulholland from Carryduff. Ireland program. Photo by Nancy Groce, Smithsonian Institution They will be joined on the Mall by many of Northern Ireland’s leading musicians, including Tommy Sands, Four On February 20th, in a beautiful nineteenth-century hall Men and a Dog, Len Graham, Robert Watt, and Roisín in the Harbour Master’s Office on the Belfast waterfront, White. Workers from such iconic firms as Bushmills Irish several hundred excited Northern Irelanders—artists, Whiskey, Fergusons Irish Linen, and Ulster Carpets will artisans, tradition bearers, cultural leaders, and reporters demonstrate their industries alongside leading chefs, home —joined Smithsonian deputy secretary Sheila Burke, cooks, archeologists, genealogists, eel fishermen, instrument National Endowment for the Arts chairman Dana Gioia, makers, and muralists from Derry City and Belfast. CFCH director Richard Kurin, and other members of As those attending the February 20th launch met one the Smithsonian staff to launch Rediscover Northern Ireland. another and were interviewed by the assembled media, The complex series of more than forty cultural events many voiced the opinion that this summer’s Northern will take place throughout the Washington metropolitan Ireland Festival and other Rediscover Northern Ireland programs area this spring, beginning the week of St. Patrick’s Day. might very well be a benchmark for the region. The day Programmed by the Center’s Festival co-partners, the closed with a lovely luncheon and many warm invitations Northern Ireland Department for Culture, Arts, and for Americans to come and visit Northern Ireland—on both Leisure and the Northern Ireland Council on the Arts, sides of the Atlantic. Rediscover Northern Ireland will culminate in the Northern For more information and a schedule of events, visit Ireland program of this summer’s forty-first Smithsonian Rediscover Northern Ireland at www.rediscoverni.com. A com- Folklife Festival. plete list of Festival participants will be posted later on the As Northern Ireland’s minister for culture, Maria CFCH Web site, www.folklife.si.edu. Eagle, MP, pointed out in her remarks, the 2007 Folklife This program is produced in partnership with the Festival and the lectures, exhibits, concerts, and ancillary Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure of Northern Ireland and events leading up to the Festival’s June 27th opening day with the cooperation of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. will provide Northern Ireland with a unique opportunity Major donors are Titanic Quarter Ltd. and the RBS. Other to celebrate the richness and diversity of the region’s donors and supporters are BT, Diageo, Glen Dimplex Group, culture and alter outdated assumptions about daily life Grafton ESP, Norbrook, Resource, Bank of Ireland, BDO Stoy in Northern Ireland. Proud of its past and increasingly Hayward, Delta Print and Packaging, First Trust Bank, Henderson confident of its future, Northern Ireland is in the midst Foodservice, McCabes, McAleer & Rushe Group, McLaughlin & of a positive transformation and is anxious to show off its Harvey, Northern Bank, Seagate, Ulster Carpets, Belleek, FireIMC, reinvigorated culture. Harrison Photography, and Northbrook Technology.

 t a l k st o r y 2 0 0 7 S m i t h s o n i a n F o l k l i f e F e s t i v a l roots of virginia culture

B etty B el a n u s , C u r a tor

This summer, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival will The program will highlight the way that Virginia values commemorate the 400th anniversary of the founding its historical roots. Families and communities continue to of Jamestown, Virginia, with a program featuring perfor- smoke hams, make pottery from river clay, and sing ballads mances, demonstrations, and discussions on the roots of much the way their ancestors did. Virginia’s historians the commonwealth’s folk culture. The Festival program will study the state’s artifacts, documents, and oral history to be one of the signature events of the Jamestown commem- re-create the past. oration and will bring participants from Virginia, from One of the most crowd-pleasing parts of the Festival Kent County, England, and from West Africa to play music, will be traditional music from all regions of the state, teach dances, demonstrate recipes, tell stories, and show including Piedmont blues, Tidewater gospel, and old-time their skills in grafting apple trees, building wooden boats, music and bluegrass from the Southwest. In the crafts areas, growing roses, laying bricks, and many other traditions. basket makers will weave with honeysuckle, split oak and wil- The majority of the participants will be drawn low, while quilters, who have captured Virginia’s history on from the three “roots” cultures of early Virginia: Native cloth, show their intricate work. Under other tents, metal- American (with representatives from the eight state- workers from West Africa, southwestern Virginia, and Kent recognized tribes); English (from Kent County, England, County, England, will compare their blacksmithing skills. which was one of the settler counties); and West African Visitors to the Foodways area will watch cooks follow recipes (because the majority of enslaved Africans came to Virginia using Virginia’s country ham, peanuts, and apples and will from western Africa). As early as 1619, when the first learn how to cook with English chutneys and honeys. Africans arrived, these three groups began borrowing A maritime area will include net makers, commercial traditions from each other and creating a new culture in fishermen, and wooden boat builders from Virginia and Virginia. In colonial Virginia, they shared musical styles Kent County, England. Stone restorers from Canterbury and cooking traditions, and they reinvented plant cultiva- Cathedral in England, historic brick and lime workers tion and house-building techniques. from Virginia, and roofers who use traditional thatch, Other groups who settled in Virginia, including split oak, and clay peg tiles will represent the building arts. Germans and Scots-Irish, further enriched the state’s cul- Skilled trainers and riders will describe how they work with ture. Today, new immigrants, such as those from Central Virginia’s horses, mules, and ponies. America and Southeast Asia, are bringing their traditions Children (of all ages) will get a chance to dig for historic to Virginia. The Festival program will also celebrate some artifacts, make rope, pitch a horseshoe, join in a line dance, of their cultural contributions to the commonwealth. and sift through some fragrant hops. (continues on page 14)

Drivers lead a team at a horse pull in Southwest Virginia at the Blue Ridge Folklife Festival. Photo by Stephen Kidd, Smithsonian Institution

spring 2 0 0 7  2 0 0 7 S m i t h s o n i a n F o l k l i f e F e s t i v a l

rinzler concert

D i a n a P a rker , F est i v a l D i re c tor

I take special delight in announcing that this year’s Ralph a mandate for many, she was able to ensure that nearly Rinzler Memorial Concert will be a tribute to Bess Lomax every state arts council hired a folklorist. She also Hawes. She is one of the Center’s “Legacy Honorees.” For established the venerable National Heritage Fellowship, those of you who haven’t visited our office, their portraits the highest honor our nation gives to traditional artists. hang in our conference room, along with a brief descrip- Serendipitously, this year marks the twenty-fifth anniver- tion of their life work. They are a group of twelve people sary of the fellowship’s founding. To honor her, our who have been fundamental in shaping our mission and concert will feature artists who have won that award. practice and who keep us grounded and ever aware of the Bess has enjoyed many professional lives, and importance of what we do. much could be written about each of them. As a college In 1975, Bess came to the Festival to be the research professor, she was a model to many. As a performer with coordinator for Regional America’s California program Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and the renowned Almanac (although she had contributed to many programs before). Singers, she influenced legions. Her careful work at the At that time, she was a professor of anthropology at Smithsonian shapes our practice to this day. Her films are San Fernando Valley State, now California State still sought by scholars. And, of course, her labors at the University–Northridge. She left her academic position National Endowment for the recognition of traditional in 1976 to become deputy director for presentation artists will affect generations to come. during the gargantuan 1976 Bicentennial Festival, which Although never shy about standing up for important showcased the best of American and world traditional issues, Bess worked in a quiet, unassuming way. The cultures for three solid months. National Endowment for the Arts named one of its most One would think that after not having a day off (not prestigious awards for her. The Festival is pleased to add its weekends, not holidays, not sickness) for nearly a year, voice to those that thank her for her singular contributions Bess would have liked a break. But there was too much still to American life. to do for such self-indulgence. Bess worked hard to have the Folk Arts Program instituted at the National Endowment for the Arts; she was its founding director. In an era when embedding the study and respectful pre- sentation of the traditional arts in major institutions was

be a festiv a l v o l u nteer this ye a r !

To check the variety of opportunities available before and during the Festival, visit www.folklife.si.edu and click Opportunities. w e c a n ’ t d o it w ith o u t y o u !

 t a l k st o r y t h e F e s t i v a l c o n t i n u e s . . . new exhibition on white house workers

J i m d E u ts c h , C u r a tor

With the 2008 U.S. presidential 200th anniversary of the president’s campaign now gearing up, one thing residence. That project led in 1993 is certain: there will soon be a new to an earlier traveling exhibition, family residing at 1600 Pennsylvania which explored the occupational Avenue. But most of the workers culture—the stories, skills, and serving the first family—the butlers, customs—of a wide range of retired carpenters, chefs, doormen, electri- White House employees. cians, engineers, florists, housemen, The new exhibition will expand maids, plumbers, and ushers—will upon the previous exhibition in remain on the job. The fascinating several ways. It will enhance the history of those who operate, main- historical perspective by going tain, and preserve the 132-room back in time to 1800. It will also executive mansion will be told in enhance the current perspective a traveling exhibition, entitled The by examining the experiences of Working White House: Two Centuries of White House workers since 1992. Traditions and Memories, which the Center Moreover, it will include a dozen is producing in collaboration with the three-dimensional artifacts, White House Historical Association particularly those that relate in and the Smithsonian Institution a material way to the changing Traveling Exhibition Service. physical structure of the White Many of the materials for the exhi- House and the evolving nature bition will be drawn from the audio of the work therein. and video documentation collected by Scheduled to open in Center curator Marjorie Hunt before September 2008, the exhibition and during the 1992 Smithsonian will travel to fourteen locations Jerry Smith, White House footman in the 1890’s, with a feather duster on the North Portico. Folklife Festival program, Workers at across the country before closing Photo by Frances Benjamin Johnston, Library of Congress the White House, which celebrated the in February 2012.

Masters of the Building A r t s F i l m Building on the success of the Award-winning producers of The Stone National Endowment for the Arts, Masters of the Building Arts program Carvers, a film about the master carvers the American Institute of Architects, at the 2001 Smithsonian Folklife of Washington National Cathedral, and the Charles Schwab Fund for Festival, the Center is collaborating will direct the film, which should be Charitable Giving. with the National Trust for Historic completed in the summer of 2008. Masters of the Building Arts will Preservation, the National Building It will draw on decades of Hunt’s highlight the knowledge, skills, and Museum, the American Institute research and fieldwork, including her traditions of some of the finest tradi- of Architects, and American Focus book The Stone Carvers: Master Craftsmen of tional building artisans in the United to produce a one-hour documen- Washington National Cathedral, published States, including Earl Barthé, a fifth- tary that recognizes and explores the by the Smithsonian Institution Press, generation ornamental plasterer from extraordinary skill and artistry of and her 2001 Masters of the Building Arts New Orleans, who recently received master craft workers in the building program at the Festival. Thus far, a National Heritage Fellowship from trades. Center folklorist, curator, funding for the film has been gen- the National Endowment for the Arts and filmmaker Marjorie Hunt and erously provided by the Associated for his lifetime achievement in the Paul Wagner, the Academy and Emmy General Contractors of America, the building crafts; (continues on page 8)

spring 2 0 0 7  S m i t h s o n i a n F o l k w a y s r e c o r d i n g s

a grammy nomination and folkways goes digital

D a n S h ee h y , D i re c tor , S m i t h so n i a n F olkw a ys R e c or d i n gs

A GRAMMY honor headlines recent Smithsonian only 74 minutes of audio, that came in those clumsy plastic Folkways news because the album Music of Central Asia, jewel cases that broke so easily, and that took up so much Volume 2: Invisible Face of the Beloved: Classical Music of the room on the shelf? Tajiks and Uzbeks was nominated in the Best Traditional The compact disc has started its journey along the way World Music Album category. The recognition marked of the wax cylinder, 78, 45, and audiotape. Destination: a fine start to the series of ten recordings of Central obsolescence, or at least historical artifact. As the media Asian music to be released over the next two years in for delivering audio content evolve, so must Smithsonian collaboration with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture Folkways Recordings in order to carry out its mission and and its Aga Khan Music in Central Asia initiative. continue to generate revenues to fuel that mission. One Ethnomusicologist Ted Levin compiles the series, of our major goals for 2007 is to complete the digitization and each audio CD is accompanied by a bonus DVD of all of the assets of our 3,000+-album collection (audio, with footage of the artists in their home contexts. liner notes, and album cover art), vet them for technical Congratulations go to the fine artists—instrumentalists quality and accuracy, and reformat them for digital delivery and vocalists—who “set the mystical, Sufi-inspired verse and their on-demand manufacture in our new custom- of Hafiz and other classical poets to lyrical melodies, disc format. Most of these assets are already available for creating a spiritual art music of great refinement and download on www.smithsonianglobalsound.org, and each sublime beauty called Shashmaqâm.” week finds more of the audio available on iTunes, eMusic, The other major news item is more in the hard drives and a growing number of other digital music retailers. than the headlines. Do you remember the 78 rpm record? We are particularly pleased with the early reaction to The 45 rpm single disc with the big hole in the middle? our new custom-disc format. We invested in technology Or when the vinyl long-play 33 rpm record brought us a that enables us to draw all contents from a server, with a whopping 45 minutes of audio and high-fidelity, stereo- single machine burning audio onto a disc, adding a pdf- phonic sound? What about cassette tapes and those clunky file scan of the liner notes, and printing label information eight-track tapes that flipped sides in the middle of a tune? on the CD itself. A companion machine prints a modified, In another five or ten years, the next question might be, “shrunk” version of the original long-play record album “Do you remember the CD, that little plastic disc that had art that is hand-applied to a black cardboard sleeve. The

M a s t e r s of the Building A r t s F i l m (continues from page 7) John Canning and his daughter designed and carved the inscrip- Cathedral for twenty years, first as Jacqueline Canning-Riccio, great tions for the World War II Memorial a mason who helped construct the masters of the decorative painting in Washington, D.C.; Albert fourteenth-century, Gothic-style tradition who have restored many Parra, a master adobe artisan from masterpiece and now as the mason in of our country’s most significant Albuquerque, New Mexico, who charge of preserving the Cathedral’s historic structures, including Grand specializes in designing and building monumental stonework. Central Terminal, the U.S. Capitol, new adobe homes in the traditional Through profiles of eight master and Trinity Church in Boston; style and in restoring old adobe homes artisans, Masters of the Building Arts will Nick Benson, a third-generation and churches for Hispanic commu- make a powerful statement about stone carver and letterer from the nities in northern New Mexico; and the important contributions that 300-year-old John Stevens Shop Joe Alonso, a master stonemason who skilled craftspeople have made to our in Newport, Rhode Island, who has worked at Washington National nation’s architectural heritage and call

 without having to invest in manufacturing many thousands of copies upfront in order to be cost effective. Later this year, we will announce a new series of these special releases, all of which will be manufactured in-house in small numbers, increasing our efficiency and avoiding the need to warehouse inventory. They will be launched simultaneously on www.folkways.si.edu and Smithsonian Global Sound. Accompanying notes and images will be available on the disc itself as well as at no cost on www.smithsonianglobalsound.org. At that point in time, virtually all albums in our collection will be available as CDs, digital downloads, digital streams via Smithsonian Global Sound for Libraries, and, for those with more Folkway’s new custom-disc packaging recalls Folkways Records ancient technology, cassettes. long-play record albums. Photo by Charlie Weber, Smithsonian Institution Finally, our deepest appreciation goes to the talented resulting look is that of a miniature Folkways Records long- interns and volunteers who, over the past several months, play record album, with a disc tucked into the inside of the inspired us with their energy and gave of themselves to sleeve. The outside label features a track list, modified to be benefit the Folkways mission. Thank you, Sara Abunama- legible on the smaller label, and a bar code for use in retail Elgadi, Lauren Becker, Peter Brummel, Jessica Calvanico, sales outlets. The CD-size package is then shrink wrapped Ryan Caskie, Rebecca Dirksen, Scott Gilmore, Kiley and sent along its way to the growing number of consumers Griffin, Elisabeth Kvernen, Benjamin Levin, Dan interested in our historical recordings. By year’s end, if not Melewski, Brian Mullan, Brian Scott, Samantha Small, sooner, all 3,000+ albums in the Folkways collections will and Jordan Warners. You are terrific! be available in the new, attractive format. New technology will also help us publish new releases of music and other audio of interest to “niche” audiences

attention to the countless artisans mastery that artisans in the building today, we help ensure that our who have enriched our world with trades bring to the performance of descendants will have reason to thank the work of their hands. Throughout their craft, but also their great care us, both for the care with which the film, the craft workers will and commitment, delight in their we preserve the past and for the relate their stories and experiences skills, and feelings of satisfaction in craftsmanship and vision with which in their own words, revealing the creating a lasting material legacy for we’ve enriched the future.” underlying attitudes and values that generations to come. shape and give meaning to their work. As Richard Moe, the president Ultimately, the viewer will come of the National Trust for Historic to understand and appreciate not Preservation, said, “By recognizing only the deep and complex body of and supporting the craftsmen who experiential knowledge and technical are keeping alive these traditions

spring 2 0 0 7  NewF ebr ua ry Releasesa P R I l Singing for Life: Songs of Hope, Healing, Talking Feet, Solo Southern Dance: and HIV/AIDS in Uganda Flatfoot, Buck, and Tap (SFW-CD-40537) (SFW-DVD-48006) 66 minutes with a 36-page booklet and extensive notes 81 minutes with a 16-page booklet and extensive track-by-track notes Ugandans have triumphantly tapped the power of their traditional music to battle the AIDS pandemic. Performed with dra- matizations and dance in settings through- out rural Uganda, this unique blend of music and public health has helped make Uganda’s record of success against HIV/ AIDS one of the best in Africa. At the same time, it has revitalized and made contem- porary the traditional music of Uganda. Singing for Life affirms the profound strength of a people’s music in promoting hope and positive change. The La Drivers Union Por Por Group— Por Por: Honk Horn Music of Ghana (SFW-CD-40541) 72 minutes with a 40-page booklet, extensive notes, and 42 color and historic black and white photographs In a world premiere, squeeze-bulb honk Talking Feet is the first documentary of horns join bells, drums, and voices to flatfoot, buck, hoedown, and rural tap sound the world of union drivers and dancing, the southern dance styles that their vehicles on the fiftieth anniversary inform modern clog dancing and often of Ghana’s independence. Steven Feld accompany old-time, bluegrass, and recorded the music. western swing music or hand-patting, talking blues, and singing. The twenty-four M a rch dancers, who hail from Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia, Classic Old-Time Fiddle from Smithsonian Folkways range in age from 20 to 82. The DVD (SFW-CD-40193) was produced by Mike Seeger and 76 minutes with a 32-page booklet Ruth Pershing. Old-time fiddler Jake Krack and Folkways “A wonderful and enlightening archivist Jeff Place compiled and anno- illustration of the breadth of tated this collection of vintage Southern Southern-style dancers, including Appalachian string band music from the their humor, playfulness, technical Smithsonian archives. Clark Kessinger, abilities, soul, and sheer joy.” Wade Ward, Tommy Jarrell, Marion —Ira Bernstein, clog, and Sumner, Gaither Carlton, Eck Robertson, step dancer/researcher Melvin Wine, and many more old-time “For anyone with a passion for fiddle masters play their signature sounds Southern traditional dance this DVD is from the heart of Appalachia. a must.”—Daniel Patterson, Professor If You Ain’t Got the Do-Re-Mi: Emeritus, University of North Carolina Songs of Rags and Riches at Chapel Hill (SFW-CD-40195) M ay 74 minutes with a 24-page booklet As a subject, money always generates The Country Gentlemen: Going Back great interest. If You Ain’t Got the Do- to the Blue Ridge Mountains Re-Mi celebrates the songs and singers (SFW-CD-40175) whose words express the human side of 16 tracks, 46 minutes with a 28-page booklet money: hope or frustration, criticism or Modern bluegrass was born on July 4, 1957, humor, desire or avowed disinterest. This when the original Country Gentlemen took compilation from the Smithsonian Folkways the stage at the Admiral Grill in Baileys archive marks the opening of the Museum Crossroads, Virginia. The “classic” Country of American Finance on New York City’s Gentlemen—Charlie Waller, John Duffey, Eddie Wall Street and lets the voices of Woody Adcock, and Tom Gray—formed one of the Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Lead Belly, and other greatest ensembles in bluegrass history. This folk music legends sing out their stories of reissue of the Gents’ 1973 album catches the rags and riches. band in its prime. 10 t a l k st o r y S m i t h s o n i a n g l o b a l s o u n d digital music trendsetters a M Y S c h r i efer , P ro d u c t i o n c O O R d i n a tor

Every morning, I get an automatic email from Digital As broadband connections become more popular and Music News that announces the top stories in digital video becomes increasingly available on the Web, we music. Headlines shout “Users Rebel Against DRM,” are applying these new technologies to the reels of film “Universities Seek Legal Digital Music Options,” and in our archive to produce digital videos that stream “Get Ready for the Online Video Revolution.” In San for free on Global Sound Live. We are also active in Francisco, my new hometown, where digital music shooting new footage specifically for online features. companies rule the tech scene, happy-hour conversations But what I am most proud of is that, from its debate improved file formats beyond MP3 and the ways beginning years ago, Smithsonian Global Sound digital distribution can improve worldwide access to rare, recognized the capability of digital music to offer broad hard-to-find recordings. accessibility to a wider variety of communities, cultures, As the music business, fans, and bloggers predict the and the “smaller voices” of people all over the world. future of digital music, I smile because, in many ways, Our commitment to preserving and disseminating these Smithsonian Global Sound has already figured it out. voices and presenting them in a rich contextual and Since its launch in 2005, Smithsonian Global Sound educational format with images, notes, and videos that has offered music without any DRM (digital rights represent fully the humanity of music and sound is a management). At many online music stores, when trend that I hope spreads. you purchase a track, you can only play it a limited Of course, for those who have never downloaded music number of times, on a limited number of comput- and think I’ve been writing in a foreign language, don’t ers, or on a limited number of MP3 players. But at let me scare you. Smithsonian Global Sound is, above all, Smithsonian Global Sound, there are no cumbersome friendly and accessible to beginners. Searching, sampling, commercial restrictions placed on your music. You and purchasing tracks are straightforward processes. can play your download with Mac or PC, on an iPod Downloading music at Smithsonian Global Sound is as or Zune. This policy supports our mission to make easy as saving a file to your computer. So try it today and music easily available in a consumer-friendly manner. experience the digital music Web site of the future! Smithsonian Global Sound for Libraries, Alexander In other Smithsonian Global Sound news, last Street Press’s subscription service, allows universities October, we attended the Society for Ethnomusicology and public libraries to offer legal access to Global Conference in Hawai’i, where we organized a panel that Sound music. The response to the product continues assembled leaders in the digital music business to discuss to be overwhelming, and we are now in over 250 online presentation of ethnographic music. It encouraged libraries around the world. a great melding of academic and music-business views, and we hope the conversations will lead to more online In addition to MP3s, users may also download FLAC ethnographic recordings. In February we presented at files at no extra charge. FLAC stands for “Free the Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis and the Music Lossless Audio Codec” and applies to files in which Librarian’s Association and the Society for American Music the audio is compressed without any loss in quality. meetings in Pittsburgh. Thank you to all who stopped by It’s a fancy way of saying that it will sound just like a our booths to share your interest and enthusiasm. CD. You can use FLAC files just like MP3s, but they are much larger. As hard drives and portable music devices grow larger to accommodate more data, we believe users will appreciate and be able to use regu- larly these quality audio files.

spring 2 0 0 7 11 R ewriting the R u l e s o f S m i t h s onian Cultural H e r i t a g e P o l i c y :

W h e r e D o W e G o f r o m H e r e ?

J a mes E a rly , D i re c tor , C u lt u r a l h E R i t a ge P ol i c y

Frequently my title is abbreviated and thereby misstated diminishes the contributions of an entire collegial as “Director, Cultural Heritage Policy, Smithsonian community of experts without whom the “increase Institution.” Of course, the Smithsonian’s Board and diffusion of knowledge” could not occur. of Regents sets the Institution’s policies, which are The overemphasis on fiscal accomplishments executed under the day-to-day stewardship of the and political expediency—money raised, visitor Smithsonian Secretary and his executive staff. And numbers, statistics on staff achievements, and the Center’s Advisory Council, established by the U.S.-centric representations to Congress—rather Smithsonian’s Board of Regents, is directed “to advise than on quality research, exhibitions, educational and support CFCH’s mission to research, present, programs, and transnational scholarly and public and conserve traditional knowledge and artistry with connections makes plain why several colleagues were contemporary communities in the United States and retired during a recent Reduction in Force. The joke around the world.” Yet we all, independent of the is that, due to budgetary shortfalls, the Institution names, title, and status of specific incumbents, should increased and diffused capital at their expense to hold responsibility for articulation and execution of raise money for administrative aggrandizements and fundamental institutional ethics, goals, and policies. more donor treats. But it really is not a joke. The Nonetheless, the very limited authority of individual widely broadcasted fund-raising accomplishments of staff and the specific responsibility of CFCH advisors the chief executive are not apparent in the decreasing to report, “if appropriate through the Secretary of the collegiality and quality of the workplace for the shrinking Smithsonian to the Board of Regents,” contrast sharply number of curators and researchers who are directly with the overarching authority and responsibility of responsible for increasing and diffusing knowledge. the Board of Regents. Recently, the Board of Regents, As a public trust, the Smithsonian Institution in response to questionable conduct by the Secretary, is presumably staffed by committed public servants— changed the Institution’s ethical codes and, thus, researchers, curators, educators, many committed formalized a class-rank policy that requires employees administrative staff, and numerous highly educated to conserve resources by making staff cuts. Staff morale, volunteers—who ply their deep knowledge and rich work adequate professional staffing, and working conditions experience not primarily to enhance their value in the have already suffered. Meanwhile, high-flying executives labor market but for the sheer joy they find in the wide enjoy outrageous pay, corporate gifts, donor treats, variety of collegial, scholarly, and public educational and personal perks, and travel comforts. participatory experiences the Smithsonian provides. They The class-rank policy is ostensibly rationalized as the take pride in validating and extending the cultural and sine qua non for ensuring needed external funds to support scientific complex that is the Smithsonian. the Institution’s mandate of increasing and diffusing To guide the Institution out of its cloistered past knowledge. Crediting the billion dollars the Smithsonian and into a corporately savvy and financially sound future, has raised only to the Secretary overstates his role and Smithsonian policy makers rightly sought business

12 t a l k st o r y n e w s m a k e r s

expertise for the decision-making core of the Institution. Jim Deutsch’s entries on “Bad Man,” “Maya Deren,” The Institution also seems to have placed a businessperson and “John Michael Vlach” were published in The at the helm of the Institution to advance its primary goal Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Folklore, of “increasing and diffusing knowledge” and to maintain ed. by Anand Prahlad (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, an adequately sized professional and administrative staff 2006). He also contributed an essay on “Memorializing and inviting facilities. Introducing federal quality control ‘The Good War’ and ‘The Greatest Generation,’” of work, enforcing stringent ethics policies, downsizing to Tales of the Great American Victory: World War II professional content staff, hiring more highly paid senior- in Politics and Poetics, ed. by Diederik Oostdijk and level administrative and business-development employees, Markha G. Valenta (Amsterdam: VU University Press, outsourcing internal accounting staff, and gathering 2006). He presented a paper on John Dillinger’s more data on staff production presumably improve the escape from Wisconsin at the American Folklife Society Institution’s work and enhance the visitor’s experience. conference in October 2006 and lectured on the World However, when the Regents reviewed institutional ethics War II home front to students in Iowa and Nebraska with respect to their governance responsibilities over the for the Smithsonian Scholars in the Schools program. conduct of the Secretary of the Smithsonian, they excused previous ethics violations and poor workplace practices. In March, Richard Kurin gave the founder’s day Now it comes to light, with questionable justification from public lecture at Harvard’s Peabody Museum on “The the Institution’s highest policy makers, that corporate perks Hope Diamond: A Biography of a Museum Object.” for a few top administrative personnel trump the expertise While at Harvard, he also gave a talk to anthropology and commitment of the many thousands of staff who carry and Peabody Museum faculty on “New International out public service with few or no resources or perks. Cultural Treaties” as well as a presentation to the Staff and public concerns about and criticisms of the Humanities Seminar on “Who Owns Culture?” For guiding policies and executive stewardship of the Institution a week in May, Kurin will be a visiting scholar in cannot be satisfactorily addressed by Castle-side chats, residence at the University of Denver in its Department open comment lines, and “outside independent review of Anthropology and Program in Museum Studies. committees.” More judicious, accountable, altruistic, and effective governing bodies, starting with the Regents, would El Río Project, co-curated by Olivia Cadaval and be a good and more effective approach. Of course, this Cynthia Vidaurri, won the 2006 American Folklore article is just one staffer’s opinion—more staff voices need Society Américo Paredes Prize. to be raised and heard. The Board of Regents sets and executes institutional policy and safeguards the Smithsonian’s traditions. However, respectful and periodic engagement of staff by the Regents about institutional goals and stewardship should be customary.

spring 2 0 0 7 13 u n e SC O - A CC U M e e t i n g

O l i v i a C a d a v a l , C h a i r , C u lt u r a l R ese a r ch and Educa t i o n

I had the privilege of participating this February in an In our discussions of case studies for safeguarding “Expert Meeting on the Transmission and Safeguarding living intangible cultural heritage, we addressed the difficult of Intangible Cultural Heritage through Formal and issues of cultural innovation and sustainable development. Non-formal Education,” which was sponsored by the Like other permanent UNESCO committees and WIPO Asia/Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU) in (World Intellectual Property Organization), we touched on Japan. This meeting forms part of a larger international human and intellectual property rights. initiative spearheaded by UNESCO to safeguard tradi- The diversity of the participants reflected the tional cultures. The Center for Folklife and Cultural diversity of traditional cultures and the complexity of Heritage as an institution and several individuals at the the task. Jorge Ishizawa from Peru reminded us, “The Center have already contributed to the development of real experts are the communities themselves,” and UNESCO’s cultural policy. community voices helped ground the discourse at the I participated as an observer at the 1999 Smithsonian- meeting. Griselda Galicia García, a Mixteca educator and UNESCO meeting in Washington, D.C., where the specialist in her community (the Mixtecos are one of the 1989 UNESCO Recommendation on the Safeguarding largest indigenous groups in Mexico), sat next to me. She of Traditional Culture and Folklore was revisited. This understood English but expressed herself best in Spanish, watershed meeting recognized the necessary presence so we formed a Mexican insider-outsider team with me as of local-tradition practitioners in international meet- interpreter. In her community, one of the crucial issues ings where cultural policy is formulated and evaluated. It has been the introduction of native languages in led to the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the government schools without changing the curriculum. Intangible Cultural Heritage. Seventy-five nations have In her experience, this usually succeeds in disengaging ratified the 2003 convention, and an intergovernmental students from their cultural heritage because they are committee has been formed to produce operational direc- encouraged to “modernize” by using their native tives for the implementation of the convention. The expert languages without there being any reference to their meeting in Japan laid the groundwork for this process. cultures in the curriculum. Our bilingual performance Thirteen participants from a range of institutions— exemplified the complexity of language in cultural grassroots community organizations; museums; cultural discourse. Anyango Okwach from Kenya wisely resource, training, and development centers; universities; reminded us that “educating children is putting the and ministries of education—presented case studies and whole community in the class.” deliberated policy to inform implementation of the Our recommendations will now be considered by convention. Their contributions represented a range UNESCO’s intergovernmental committee charged with of experiences in formal and non-formal education. oversight for the convention.

R o o t s of virginia c u l t u r e (continues from page 5)

The Roots of Virginia Culture will be This program is produced in partner- Contributions to this program are a feast for the eyes and ears, a place ship with Jamestown 2007: America’s made by AirTran Airways, Dominion, to learn about Virginia’s folk culture 400th Anniversary and the Kent County James City County, Philip Morris USA, Council. The Smithsonian Institution’s SunTrust, and Wolseley PLC/Ferguson and history, and a chance to bring National Museum of African American Enterprises, Inc. the past to the present. Before the History and Culture is a Smithsonian Festival opens, visit the Smithsonian Institution partner. Lead donors include the Global Sound Web site to view a fea- Norfolk Southern Corporation, the Colonial ture on Virginia’s traditional music Williamsburg Foundation, Verizon, and at www.smithsonianglobalsound.org. Anheuser-Busch Companies.

14 t a l k st o r y R o c k e f e l l e r F e l l o w s : I n R e s i d e n c e a t C F C H

D i a n a B a i r d N ’ D i a ye , C u r a tor a n d c O O R d i n a tor of t h e R o c kefeller H u m a n i t i es F ellows h i p

Smithsonian Folklife is fortunate to host several fellows positions and that of individual expression.” She believes each year through various programs and fellowship that “culture and heritage are at the epicenter of South initiatives at the Center. During the year, fellows’ Africa’s self-definition and, thus, provide a complex and presentations at brown-bag lunches are an opportunity compelling case study.” for them, CFCH staff, Smithsonian colleagues, and other Carole Rosenstein is a research associate at the guests to share ongoing work on cultural heritage policy Urban Institute Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy, and ethnography. where she studies cultural policy, cultural democracy, For the winter and spring of 2007, Julie McGee and public culture. She also teaches these subjects at the (Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine) and Carole Corcoran College of Art + Design. In her presentation Rosenstein (Urban Institute, Washington, D.C.) have to staff, she introduced her work in New Orleans and joined CFCH as Rockefeller Humanities Fellows to her fellowship project, “De-Culturing Heritage: How examine the relationship between cultural heritage and the Policy, Philanthropy, and the Nonprofit Sector in the arts. Also in residence at the Center are Latino Initiatives U.S. Define Cultural Heritage as Art.” She discussed Fellow Adriana Cruz-Manjarrez (UCLA, World Arts and her recently completed research on nonprofit cultural Culture Program) and Sita Reddy, who was formerly a heritage organizations and suggested that defining cultural Rockefeller Humanities Fellow at the Center. The three- heritage as instrumental and purposeful shackles it to an year, Rockefeller Foundation-funded humanities initiative arts-centered paradigm. She also spoke about her work in on theorizing cultural heritage is in its final year at CFCH. Louisiana, where she found that the relationship between Julie McGee made the first presentation of 2007 at cultural heritage and the arts disadvantages community- a lunchtime brown-bag session. She is an art historian based cultural associations in New Orleans as they try to who specializes in modern and contemporary arts of Africa benefit from emerging cultural policies and plans for and the African Diaspora. Her research interests include post-Katrina rebuilding. postcolonial history and theory, alternative modernities, Adriana Cruz-Manjarrez, who comes from the world and issues of equity, past and present, in discourses on of dance and dance ethnology in Mexico and the United the visual arts, cultural heritage, and the institutions States, is studying Zapotec migration to the United States that frame them. She has written on African American and the social and cultural changes immigrants, including art, South African art, South African museums, and, women, undergo. She is also examining Maya migration most recently, the American artist and historian David in order to compare the Zapotecos and Mayas—their C. Driskell. She also co-produced a documentary film, migration patterns, cultural change, and identity. The Luggage is Still Labeled: Blackness in South African Art. Her Sita Reddy’s project, “Yogic Bodies: The Art of current work includes composition of a monograph on Transformation,” considers the “colonial, postcolonial South African artist Garth Erasmus and constructions of and transnational representations of Yoga in diverse genres “indigenous” in South African arts and culture. (paintings, photographs, posters, broadsheets), which are McGee’s project tackles “Cultural Heritage and rarely examined together.” Nationalizing Discourses: South African Art/ists as As scholars and cultural activists or practitioners, Mediators.” Her work “examines the role of the visual our colleagues contribute their wealth of knowledge, arts within this matrix of cultural heritage and national diverse experiences, ideas, and perspectives to the branding, both from governmental and institutional lifeblood of the Center.

spring 2 0 0 7 15 Pre­sort Standard Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage Postage­ & Fe­e­s Paid Smithsonian Institution 600 Maryland Ave­nue­ SW, Suite­ 2001 G-94 Washington DC 20024-2520

Official Business Penalty for Private Use $300

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41st Annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall

June 27–July 8, 2007