Bhutan at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival
Situated in the eastern Himalayas and bordered by China and India, Bhutan rises in just a few hundred miles from steamy jungles to some of the world's highest peaks. No roads led outside of the Kingdom until the 1960s, and access by air became possible only a few decades ago. This isolation throughout its history has provided refuge for its people to live and practice their rich cultural traditions freely.
The Festival will celebrate Bhutan's special approach towards life in the 21st century, which, as national policy, is described as the pursuit of "Gross National Happiness." The Bhutanese have chosen a different path towards development, rooted in deep respect for and protection of the Kingdom's unique resources.
With approximately 95 percent of its people practicing traditional farming, Bhutan is an agrarian society where people live close to the land that sustains them. Their eco-friendly practices are in part responsible for Bhutan's designation as a biodiversity "hot-spot." Bhutan also is the last country where the Vajrayana form of Mahayana Buddhism is practiced extensively and influences all aspects of daily life.
The Festival will bring more than 100 Bhutanese artists, dancers, craftspeople, cooks, carpenters, farmers, and representatives of monastic life who will celebrate the living traditions that define and sustain their culture. Artisans will demonstrate Bhutan's thirteen traditional arts (zorig chusum) and specifically how these link the people to the land. Weavers will showcase the diversity of complex weaving traditions that have made Bhutanese textiles some of the most coveted in the world today. Sculptors, painters, and carvers will demonstrate the skilled arts that continue to adorn monasteries and temples, as well as most Bhutanese homes. Monastic dancers will perform ritual masked dances from the highly choreographed and symbolic sacred festivals (tsechus).
For information on how you can support the Bhutan program, contact Kevin Blackerby at 202.633.6436 or blackerbyk@si.edu.
NASA at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival
On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival will showcase the role that the men and women of NASA have played in broadening the horizons of American science and culture, as well as the role that they will continue to play in helping to shape the future by stirring the public imagination.
The NASA program at the Festival will include living presentations, hands-on educational activities, demonstrations of skills, techniques, and knowledge, narrative "oral history" sessions, and exhibits that will explore the spirit of innovation, discovery, and service embodied by the agency and its personnel. The Festival program will encourage visitors to participate actively—to ask questions of astronomers, astronauts, astrophysicists, educators, engineers, and other experts: a cross-section of NASA's 18,000 employees and 40,000 contractors and grantees. Visitors will come away from the Festival with a better understanding and appreciation of NASA's history and mission through a celebration of the people whose knowledge has made those achievements possible.
For information on how you can support the NASA program, contact Kevin Blackerby at 202.633.6436 or blackerbyk@si.edu.
Texas at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival
Texas at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival will focus on the great heritage of music, food, and winemaking from every region of the state. Over ten days, the National Mall will host demonstrations, performances, and famous Texas talk about the Lone Star State's proud history and its contemporary traditions. Up to a million visitors will hear presentations of Texas blues, swing, conjunto, country and western, gospel, and tejano music; see demonstrations of wine making; enjoy diverse culinary traditions, old and new, from barbeque cook-offs to kolache making, from pan de campo contests to the production of artisan Texas cheeses.
The Texas program will illustrate a dynamic and creative society built upon rich natural resources, thriving cosmopolitan cities and engaging rural landscapes, where a rich heritage of freedom, optimism, opportunity, and achievement contribute to a vibrant contemporary culture.
For information on how you can support the Texas program, contact Kevin Blackerby at 202.633.6436 or blackerbyk@si.edu.
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