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w SMITHSONIAN Folklifc Festival zuu8 Bhutan: Land of the Thunder Dragon NASA: Fifty Years and Beyond Texas: A Celebration of Music, Food, and Wine 9. The 2008 Smithsonian Folklife Festival Bhutan; Land or the inunder Dragon NASA: Fifty Years and Beyond Texas: A Celebration of Music, Food, and Wine (Left) Dubbed the "Dancing Cowboy" by his devoted fans, conjunto accordionist Mingo Saldivar is known for his vigorous performance style. Photo courtesy Texas Folklife Resources (Right) Educator astronaut candidates Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, Ricky Arnold, and Joe Acaba (with microphone) answer questions about their training in a webcast at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy nasa (Left) Astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper waves to the camera while participating in extravehicular activity (EVA) as construction continues on the International Space Station in September 2005. Photo courtesy nasa (Right) The annual community religious festivals (tsechus) celebrate the life of Guru Rinpoche and the arrival of Buddhism in Bhutan. Photo by Andrew Connors The annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival brings together exemplary practitioners of diverse traditions from communities across the United States and around the world. The goal of the Festival is to encourage the vitality of these traditions by presenting them on the National Mall so that tradition-bearers and the public can learn from one another and understand cultural differences in a respectful way. Smithsonian Institution Center for FolkUfe and Cultural Heritage 600 Maryland Avenue SW, Suite 2001 Washington, D.C. 20024-2520 www.folklife.si.edu © 2008 Smithsonian Institution ISSN 1056-6805 Editor: Mary Sebold Art Director: Krystyn MacGregor Confair Production Manager: Joan Erdesky Graphic Designer: Zaki Ghul Design Intern: Chloe Steinhofi-Smith Printing: Gray Graphics, Maryland Smithsonian Foll<life Festival Sponsors The Smithsonian Folklife Festival is supported by federally appropriated funds; Smithsonian trust funds; contributions from governments, businesses, foundations, and Hidividuals; in-kind assistance; and food, recording, and craft sales. The Festival is co-sponsored by the National Park Service. General support for this year's Festival comes from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center and the Music Performance Fund, with in-kind support provided through Motorola, Sprmt, WAMU-SS.s FM. Whole Foods Market, and WashingtonPost.com. The 2008 Smithsonian Folklite Festival has been made possible through the generosity and support ot the following cionors and partners: BHUTAN: LAND OF THE THUNDER DRAGON This program is produced in partnership with the Royal Government of Bhutan. Major Donors to the program are the Bhutan Department of Tourism and the Dancing Star Foundation. Donors include the Bhutan Foundation and an anonymous donor. Contributors to the program are the Frank W. Hoch Trust, the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, Lawrence Small, and the Summit Fund of Washington. Additional support is provided by the Himalayan Youth Foundation, Eva and Yoel Haller, Friends of the Royal Textile Academy of Bhutan, the Sager Family Foundation, Butterfield &: Robinson, E.xclusive Resorts, Francis and Kathleen McNamara, New Tourism & The Harmonv Project, The Universitv ot Texas at El Paso, and Aman Resorts. NASA: FIFTY YEARS AND BEYOND This program is produced in partnership with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Jacobs Technology Inc. is a Donor to the program. Contributors to the program are Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and United Space Alliance. TEXAS: A CELEBRATION OF MUSIC, FOOD, AND WINE This program is produced in ibw partnership with the Texas Office of the Governor, Economic Development and Tourism. The Major Donor to the program is the Texas Commission on the Arts. Contributors to the program include the Texas Department ot Agriculture, the City ot El Paso, Houston Endowment Inc., the San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau, and the City of San Antonio Office of Cultural Aftairs. Additional support for this program is provided by the Music Performance Fund, and Southwest Airlines is the Exclusive Airline of the program. Table of Contents the Castle 8 The Festival: A View from from Many Voices 10 Lessons Learned 2008 Festival 11 Welcome to the Rinzler Memorial Concert: 12 2008 Annual Ralph Ralph Rinzler The Conjunto of Rene Lopez and Thunder Dragon 14 Bhutan: Land of the The Thunder Dragon Comes to Washington Treasures of the Thunder Dragon A Meditation m Dance Three Marks of Faith Arts and Crafts Zorig Chusum: Bhutan's Living Bhutan Reinforcing Culture: Tourism in Beyond 34 NASA: Fifty Years and NASA's Origins Human Spaceflight Space Exploration Earth Science Aeronautics NASA's Organizational Culture A Diverse Workforce Whither NASA? Music, Food, and Wine 54 Texas: A Celebration of Texas Music: A Living Legacy From Cattle Drives to Winery Trails: State Food and Wine Traditions in the Lone Star 74 Staff Thanks 78 Sponsors and Special 80 Festival Participants 106 Festival Schedule Information 126 General Festival 127 Related Events 130 Site Map Castle The Festival: A View from the for History. Art. and Culture. Richard Kurin, Acting Under Secretary Smithsonian Institution look.ng been outdoors on the National Mall, For the past three decades, I've the Snnthson.an Folkhte Castle, whUe we prepare for up at the Smuhson,an leadership, ve transmons in the S.nnthsonian's 1 Festival Th.s year, due to window m the Castle. What do I make watched the preparations through a this annual gath- How do I understand of the Festival from that perspective? planet to share across the country and the ering of people who come from human beings? their traditions with other funded by a nineteenth-century When you work in a building that saw that stores his bones and one En.lishnian-s bequest, a building and weather map. the card catalog system, the development of the first history Lincoln, you immediately think ot Civil War-era visits by Abraham mineralogist, lett his Snmhson. a chemist and and look for antecedents. James an institu- order to establish m Washington fortune to the United States in men. He and diffusion of knowledge among tion dedicated to "the increase knowledge after visiting a display ot became interested m sharing cultural Henry, the first traditions m London. Joseph ancient and modern Mexican understanding the documentation and secretary of the Smithsonian, made Institutions ways a central part of the of American Indian origins and life Spencer Baird, who became the second research mission. Henry's assistant, becoming Smithsonian down the path toward secretary and really started the Mall the bring American Indians to the m the nation's museum, wanted to cultures-a proposal re,ected by Congress. 187OS to demonstrate their with support trom The Smithsonian Folkhfe Festival started in 1967, famously declared, "take the instruments Secretary S. Dillon Ripley, who For Ripley and Festival founder Jim out of their cases and let them sing." up the museum. For the Festivals Morris the Festival was a way of livening the value of diverse it was a way of showing first director, Ralph R.nzler. s most giving them standing in the nation cultural traditions and literally equivalent Mall.The Festival was the cultural important space-the National King, led by the Rev. Martin Luther Jr. of the political March on Washington, heard in the heart of the voices of the people to be It was a way of allowing the country's democracy. has U.S. Bicentennial in 1976 and The Festival was a feature of the grassroots for the representation of since emerged as a major vehicle of have been programs on the folkways cultures. Enormously popular Michigan, and New York), nations and states (Hawaii, Iowa. Louisiana, Mali, Mexico, Northern Ireland, regions of the world (Haiti, India, Lama), Africa, and Tibet with the Dalai Scotland, the Silk Road. Soutli even building arts, trial lawyers, and and occupations (masters of the ^^ positive effects "back home, Smithsonian workers).They have produced that have won Web sites, and recordings such as new publications, films, awards.The Festival has generated Academy, Emmy, GRAMMY, and Webby documentation for scholars and educators. huge archives of research and UNESCO's 2003 practice, it greatly mfluenced As a model of cultural Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural International Convention on the ratified by ninety-four countries. Heritage, which has now been Festival 8 Smithsonian Folklife Many books and articles have been written about the Festival, including a special issue of the Journal ofAmerican Folklore this year. In its pages, former fellows and colleagues examnie the Festival and particular programs and practices in laudatory and critical ways. At a time when many academic treatments in the social sciences and humanities seem intent on emphasizing the dystopian aspects of institutions, the Utopian visions of the Smithsonian and the Festival shme through. The Festival embodies the Smithsonian ideal that knowledge can be a force for individual and social betterment. It stubbornly, against all bureaucratic odds, pursues the idea that sharing cultural knowledge, wisdom, skill, and artistry can contribute to understanding, tolerance, and a greater appreciation of human diversity. That's a big purpose worthy of a great institution, and while we at the Festival and the Smithsonian might not get it right all the time, imperfection should not keep us from pursuing its realization.