Culture Fest 2019!

Published on: Author: Christal

Culture Fest partnerships support performances, demonstrations and presentations about Oregon’s living cultural heritage and feature traditional artists who are part of the Oregon Culture Keepers Roster, which provides a curated listing of over 200 folk artists for presenting organizations to work with in planning their programs.

Culture Fest 2019 brings collaborative public programs with diverse culture keepers to six local arts, culture, and heritage organizations around the state in Ontario, Portland, La Grande, Baker City and McMinnville. Completed Culture Fest partnerships include Portland’s 5th Annual New Year in the Park and the McMinnville Library’s El Día de los Niños Fiesta.

On April 27, 2019, OFN partnered with the Hmong American Community of Oregon (Portland) for the 5th Annual New Year in the Park festival. It took place at Glenhaven Park, in Northeast Portland and featured several traditional dance groups from the Thai, Lao, Hmong, and Cambodian communities.

 

 

Cambodian “Angels” in parade to welcome the New Year. In Cambodian tradition, each of seven angels represents a different day of the week with different colors.

 

 

 

 

At the traditional foods area of the festival, cooks from Portland’s Thai, Lao, Cambodian, and Burmese communities prepare papaya salad according to their culture’s customs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Burmese dancers performing a traditional dance.

 

 

 

 

On May 4, 2019, McMinnville Public Library presented Latino and other folk and traditional artists for El Día de los Niños Fiesta. This collaboration featured OFN’s rostered artists Grupo Condor (traditional Latin American music), Sushmita Poddar (Asian Indian henna), and Monica Moreno (Mexican piñatas, sugar skulls).

 

El Día de los Niños Fiesta Program                                 Grupo Condor with their musical instruments.

Monica Moreno’s piñata demonstration

 

The next four event partnerships are with Crossroads Carnegie, Art Center East, Four Rivers Cultural Center, and Andisheh and take place June-August, 2019.

 

Crossroads Carnegie (Baker City) presents

  • June 22, 2019: “Barrel and Vessel: The Art of Aging Wine,” with traditional cooper (barrel maker) Rick DeFerrari.

Art Center East (La Grande) presents

  • June 26, 2019, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.: La Grande Farmers Market morning story time and demonstration of wool spinning, and lunch-time talk with sheep rancher Carol Etchemendy.
  • July 12, 2019, 7:30-8:30 pm: a Master Class with Guinean master drummer Alseny Yansane.
  • July 13, 2019, 10:30-11:45 am: La Grande Farmers Market a public performance and workshop with Guinean master drummer Alseny Yansane.

Four Rivers Cultural Center (Ontario) presents

  • June 29, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., 2nd annual Tradition Keepers Folklife Festival, a day-long folklife festival celebrating the diverse range of traditional arts and culture in the Four Rivers area. Come experience a variety of traditional artists demonstrating or performing cowboy poetry, silversmithing, rawhide braiding, Paiute basketry, Paiute Pow Wow dancing, Japanese Taiko drumming, traditional Japanese Mochi making, and much, much more, including a visit from National Heritage Fellow Eva Castellanoz.

Andisheh Center for Iranian Cultural Heritage (Portland), presents

  • August 3, 2019, 1:00 – 6:00 pm, Portland State University, an afternoon of traditional visual art, music, and dance workshops with Iranian local artists. Leading these free workshops will be santoor player Hossein Salehi, tazhib (illumination and calligraphy) artist Marjan Anvari, and Oak Leaf with Hamid Habibi (tombak/hand drum) and Yasi Mehdian (daf/lute); there will also be a session on traditional Kurdish dance. The intention of this event is to foster community connection and pride, and to drive awareness and education about the diverse cultures and traditions in our neighborhood.

Funding for Culture Fest comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, Oregon Cultural Trust, Oregon Arts Commission and the Oregon Historical Society. Their support helps OFN partner with local organizations to support folk and traditional artists to share their artistry and knowledge with others.

Culture Fest partnerships support performances, demonstrations and presentations about Oregon’s living cultural heritage and feature traditional artists who are part of the Oregon Culture Keepers Roster, which provides a curated listing of over 200 folk artists for presenting organizations to work with in planning their programs.

 

Categories: Newsletters

Christal

Christal Snyder is a first-year M.A. student in Folklore and Public Culture. She obtained her B.A. in Anthropology from California State University, Fullerton where she served as president of the Anthropology Student Association and treasurer of the Lambda Alpha National Anthropology Honor Society, Chapter ETA. Through involvement with student organizations, she became interested in developing and implementing cultural programming. Her research interests lie in folk religious beliefs and rituals and the revitalization of such practices. By analyzing the perpetuation of folklore archetypes and their patrons, she seeks understanding of modern alternative spiritualities. As an archivist at the Randall V. Mills Archives of Northwest Folklore, she served as an editor for Cooking with Folklore, accessioned and processed newly acquired materials, and assisted in the curation of an exhibit. Her work at OFN includes coordinating the newsletter, drafting folk arts award nominations, facilitating staff meetings, and assisting in the curation of exhibits. Outside of academia, Christal enjoys immersing herself in a good story, adventuring into nature, and discovering new documentaries.