Folk Arts Initiative
Activities & Events
2011-2012
On Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011 Honors anthropology students (from left to right) Maria Kontos, Amanda Lickfield, Feifei Zhu, Meng Meng, Arianna Brown, and Lauren Deyo visited Habiba Hassan, a traditional basket weaver, and Halima, her daughter, a master jewelry maker in their home in Syracuse's Somali Bantu refugee community. During the fall semester the students have been researching the folk arts of the Somali Bantus, an oral culture about which little has been written. The goal of this intercultural exchange was to learn about the unique traditions of Somali Bantu people while providing opportunities for the women to become proficient in English conversation. During the visit, Honors students Meng Meng and Feifei learn traditional weaving techniques (photo 2) and Suldana Ibrahim (photo 3) showed Maria the beautiful henna motifs traditionally painted on the hands and feet of brides.
The Refugee and Immigrant Collaborative for Traditional Arts (RICTA), an on-going project of the anthropology department's Folk Arts Initiative, had a presence at three local events in June. The invitations to local Sudanese and Somali Bantu traditional artists to participate in local events are the result of RICTA which provides a series of training workshops at local sites. These sessions, funded by the Office of the Chancellor and the department of anthropology, assist folk artists from Syracuse’s socially underrepresented communities by providing space, materials and instruction by community members who want to preserve the traditional arts of their countries of origin. Some of the traditional arts which RICTA sponsored during summer 2011 are Sudanese beadwork and clay figurines; Somali Bantu jewelry and ashindo weaving (mats,baskets, fans from palm strips), dun (embroidery) and cilaan (henna painting). RICTA has plans to extend the project to other cultural communities in 2011-2012.
2010-2011
Spring Festival, the important Chinese holiday marking the arrival of the New Year, begins on Feb. 3, 2011.
The Chinese Student and Scholar Association (CSSA) will simultaneously celebrate the holiday and educate the University community about it through a unique collaboration with an Honors Program class taught by Anthropology Professor Faye McMahon.
http://insidesu.syr.edu/2011/01/28/chinese-spring-festival/
2009-2010
LEFT: Somali Bantu Sharaara Performance on April 18, 2010
Students enrolled in ANT 300/SOL 360/HNR 340-360 "Folk Arts, Festivals and Public Display" facilitated an invitation to Syracuse's Somali Bantu Community to perform sharaara, a traditional healing tradition, at Schine Center as part of the ANDAAZ Multicultural Program. View a portion of the dance.
2009-2010
Tuesday April 21, 2009 from 10:00-2:00 Folk Arts Tent on the Quad
Meet Our Neighbors Folk Art Tent Flyer 1
SU Department of Anthropology Creates Folk Arts Lending Library for Community Members
More than 650 books, journals and videos on folklore and folk arts-related topics have been donated to the Department of Anthropology in Syracuse University's Maxwell School by research professor and folklorist Felicia "Faye" McMahon, who began the collection in 1987 while working on her Ph.D. in folklore and folk life at the University of Pennsylvania.
2008-2009 Soul of Syracuse: Folk Art Series Brochure Funding provided by the Chancellor's Office and the New York State Council on the Arts
Funding provided by the Chancellor's Office and the New York State Council on the Arts Saturday October 4, 2008 & Saturday October 25, 2008 from 2-4pm Panasci Lounge, Schine Student Center
Meet Our Neighbors
Funding provided by the Chancellor's Office and the New York State Council on the Arts
Saturday September 27 - October 25, 2008 - Panasci Lounge, Schine Student Center
Migrating Memories, Migrating Arts: Photography Retrospective
Funding provided by the Chancellor's Office and the New York State Council on the Arts
2007-2008
Tuesday April 22, 2008 - Main Campus at Syracuse University
Mayfest 2008 - The Folk Arts Tent
Funding provided by the New York State Music Fund, established by the New York State Attorney General at the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, and the New York State Council on the Arts
Syracuse Lost Boys of Sudan Cow Project
Some of the "Lost Boys" from Sudan that meet Saturdays at St. Vincent DePaul Church in Syracuse, NY and some evenings at Feats of Clay in Manlius, NY. They are making miniature clay cows to sell as a fundraiser for their education.
Saturday, October 27, 2007 - The Warehouse
Folk Arts Soul of Syracuse, Refugee and New Immigrant Music And Arts Festival
Funding provided by the New York State Music Fund, established by the New York State Attorney General at the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, and the New York State Council on the Arts
2006-2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 500 Hall of Languages
Heather MacLachlan, Ph.D. Candidate in Ethnomusicology, Cornell University
"Karen Nationalism: Historical and Contemporary Expressions"
Sponsored by New York Council for the Humanities & the New York State Council on the Arts
Saturday, March 31, 2007 - 2:00-4:00 at the Community Folk Art Center
805 East Genesee Street
Soul of Syracuse, Folk Arts and Traditional Dances
Burmese People of Syracuse, Sudanese Didinga of St. Vincent de Paul Church and the Ahiska Turks from Russia
Sponsored by the New York State Council on the Arts
Thursday, April 12, 2007 - Eggers 220
Dr. Richard March, Wisconsin Arts Board
"From the Ottoman Empire to the Empire State: The Musical Culture of Bosnian Refugees"
Sponsored by New York Council for the Humanities & the New York State Council on the Arts