Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1991 Festival of American Folklife

Summary

Collection ID:
CFCH.SFF.1991
Creators:
Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
Dates:
June 28-July 7, 1991
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
1 Cubic foot
approximate
Repository:
The Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998. The materials collected here document the planning, production, and execution of the annual Festival, produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present) and its predecessor offices (1967-1999). An overview of the entire Festival records group is available here: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.

Scope and Contents note

Scope and Contents note
This collection documents the planning, production, and execution of the 1991 Festival of American Folklife. Materials may include photographs, audio recordings, motion picture film and video recordings, notes, production drawings, contracts, memoranda, correspondence, informational materials, publications, and ephemera. Such materials were created during the Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as well as in the featured communities, before or after the Festival itself.

Arrangement note

Arrangement note
Arranged in 5 series.
  • Missing Title
  • Series 1: Program Books, Festival Publications, and Ephemera
  • Series 2: Family Farming in the Heartland
  • Series 3: Forest, Field and Sea: Folklife in Indonesia
  • Series 4: Land in Native American Cultures
  • Series 5: Roots of Rhythm and Blues: The Robert Johnson Era

Historical note

Historical note
The Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998.
The 1991 Festival of American Folklife was produced by the Smithsonian Office of Folklife Programs and cosponsored by the National Park Service.
For more information, see Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.

Administration

Author
CFCH Staff

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation note
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1991 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
Conditions Governing Access note
Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.
Conditions Governing Use note
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
The Rinzler Archives is continually engaged in digitization of archival materials to facilitate preservation and ready access by users. However, given the diversity of legacy formats of the originals, some older materials may not be available. Notably, certain older audio recordings cannot be played because of deterioration of the tape stock, and the Archives has no playback equipment for EIAJ-1 videoreels (1/2 inch) or multi-track audio recordings. Where listening or viewing copies are available, this is generally indicated for each item. Users are encouraged to contact Archives staff to verify that the materials of interest to them are already accessible, or to determine if they can be digitized as needed.

Forms Part Of

Forms Part Of
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1991 Festival of American Folklife forms part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival records .

Related Archival Materials note
Within the Rinzler Archives, related materials may be found in various collections such as the Ralph Rinzler papers and recordings, the Lily Spandorf drawings, the Diana Davies photographs, the Robert Yellin photographs, and the Curatorial Research, Programs, and Projects collection. Additional relevant materials may also be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives concerning the Division of Performing Arts (1966-1983), Folklife Program (1977-1980), Office of Folklife Programs (1980-1991), Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies (1991-1999), Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present), and collaborating Smithsonian units, as well as in the administrative papers of key figures such as the Secretary and respective deputies. Users are encouraged to consult relevant finding aids and to contact Archives staff for further information.

More Information

Introduction

Introduction
The 1991 Festival programs were largely about human relationships to land. Indonesian land punctuates sea and ocean to form some 13,000 volcanic islands. On these islands is an amazing diversity of environments, ranging from the sandy beaches of Sumatra to snowcapped mountains that rise above the rainforests in Irian Jaya on New Guinea. To sample this diversity, the Festival presented cultural traditions from three particular environments - the forests of Kalimantan, the fields of Java, and the sea coast of Sulawesi. Half a world away from Indonesia and much closer to home is the American "heartland." American culture embodies a few elemental self-images with mythic stature - the frontier is surely one; the family farm is surely another. The idea of the family farm also entails some of our strongest values - hard work, self-reliance, family solidarity, and community life, all on view to Festival visitors.
For millennia before Columbus's arrival in the New World, native peoples gathered and cultivated its bounty, bred new crops, derived medicines to cure sickness, mined ores for making tools and ornaments, used its earth, stone and wood for building homes, made dyes for cloth, and invented ways of preparing and cooking food. Land and its use informed social, moral, religious, and cosmological beliefs, and sacred and secular practices. Some of this knowledge and practice of land use and its symbolic elaboration in artistic forms are continued among many Native American groups. At the Festival, culture bearers from the Haida, Tlingit, and Tsimshian people from Alaska; Hopi from Arizona; Maya and Lacandón from Chiapas, Mexico; Zapotec and Ikood from Oaxaca, Mexico; Shuar and Achuar from Ecuador; Jalq'a and Tiwanaku from Bolivia; and Taquile from Peru illustrated how the land in many varied environments is cared for and thought about, and how, almost five hundred years after Columbus, the wise and humane use, the knowledge and power of land must be re-"discovered."
The 1991 Festival, which also featured a program on the roots of rhythm and blues, took place for two four-day weeks (June 28-July 1 and July 4-7) between Madison Drive and Jefferson Drive and between 10th Street and 14th Street, south of the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of Natural History (see site plan).
The 1991 Program Book included schedules and participant lists for each program; keynote essays on each of the four programs were supplemented by shorter pieces focusing on particular topics.
The Festival was co-presented by the Smithsonian Institution and National Park Service and organized by the Office of Folklife Programs.
Office of Folklife Programs
Richard Kurin, Director; Diana Parker, Festival Director; Anthony Seeger, Director, Folkways Records; Peter Seitel, Senior Folklorist; Thomas Vennum, Jr., Senior Ethnomusicologist; Olivia Cadaval, Director, Quincentenary Projects; Richard Kennedy, Program Analyst; Betty Belanus, Vivian Chen, Diana N'Diaye, Folklorists; Marjorie Hunt, Ed O'Reilly, Frank Proschan, Nicholas Spitzer, Research Associates; Arlene L. Reiniger, Program Specialist; Jeffrey Place, Archivist
Folklife Advisory Council
Roger Abrahams, Richard Bauman, Henry Glassie, Rayna Green, John Gwaltney, Charlotte Heth, Adrienne Kaeppler, Ivan Karp, Bernice Reagon, John Tchen, Carlos Vélez-Ibáñez
National Park Service
James M. Ridenour, Director; Robert G. Stanton, Regional Director, National Capital Region

Shared Stewardship of Collections

Shared Stewardship of Collections
The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage acknowledges and respects the right of artists, performers, Folklife Festival participants, community-based scholars, and knowledge-keepers to collaboratively steward representations of themselves and their intangible cultural heritage in media produced, curated, and distributed by the Center. Making this collection accessible to the public is an ongoing process grounded in the Center's commitment to connecting living people and cultures to the materials this collection represents. To view the Center's full shared stewardship policy, which defines our protocols for addressing collections-related inquiries and concerns, please visit https://doi.org/10.25573/data.21771155.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
arts and crafts Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Audiotapes Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Folk art Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographic prints Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Correspondence Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Memorandums Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
World music Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Folk festivals Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Notes Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Folk music Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Plans (drawings) Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Digital images Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Videotapes Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Audiocassettes Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business records Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Negatives Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Slides (photographs) Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Food habits Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Folklore Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Contracts Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Video recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Smithsonian Folklife Festival Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
600 Maryland Ave SW
Washington, D.C.
Business Number: Phone: 202-633-6440
Fax Number: Fax: 202-633-6474
rinzlerarchives@si.edu