Mardi Gras Indians in Houston MLK Weekend, Photo Classes, Travel Schedule Posted
Mark Lacy
Mardi Gras Comes Early in Houston!
Our New Office at Hillcroft and Harwin
Photography and Digital Storytelling Classes
2008 Travel Schedule is Available
In a performance by The New Zulu Mardi Gras Indians, Houstonians will
have a rare opportunity to experience the unique rhythms, chants and
elaborate costumes on New Orleans' Black Indians during Martin Luther
King weekend.
When and Where
Saturday, January 19, 2008
7:00pm performance, followed by reception
The Artery
5401 Jackson St. (at Prospect)
Houston, Texas 77004
In the Museum District
Donation: $10; $5 students
www.arteryhouston.org
Sunday, January 20, 2008
5:00pm performance, followed by reception
Bohemeo's
708 Telephone Rd.
Houston, Texas 77023
In the East End, Tlaquepaque Plaza
Donation: $10; $5 students
www.bohemeos.com
Mardi Gras Indian traditions combine African pictorials with Native
American stylized carnival costumes. The multilayered "Indian Suits",
decorated with beads, sequins and exotic feathers, can weigh more than
100 pounds. The suits are worn in parades during Mardi Gras and Super
Sunday (near St Joseph's Day, March 19).
Their percussion, derived from Africa and the West Indies, was passed
down to modern generations through gatherings at New Orleans' historic
Congo Square. Mardi Gras Indian chants are a mysterious language
rooted in the history of slavery and oppression.
Join us for two unique opportunities to discover the Mardi Gras
Indians right here in Houston. The events are part of a Houston
Institute for Culture educational series on African American
Traditions, Connections and Migrations, supported by the National
Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts and Houston Arts
Alliance. The programs are sponsored by KPFT's Music Beyond Borders,
Voz de la Tierra, and KTRU's World Music Show, and graciously hosted
by The Artery and Bohemeo's.
For more information, please see:
http://www.houstonculture.org/indians
Phone: 713-521-3686
Email: in...@houstonculture.org
More info on Mardi Gras Indians...
The Mardi Gras Indians' Legacy of Defiance
http://www.houstonculture.org/laproject/indians.html
(An except from an HIFC radio transcript)
Listen to Music Beyond Borders, 2-3pm, from January 17 in the archives of KPFT:
http://archive.kpft.org
____________________________________________________
Our New Office at Harwin and Hillcroft
We recently set up a project office in Houston's most diverse setting
- Harwin near Hillcroft. It is the beginning of our Digital Story
Resource Center and will serve other functions of Houston Institute
for Culture, including a classroom space for our Camp Dos Cabezas
Young Scholars, community outreach and workspace for volunteers.
The address is:
Houston Institute for Culture
7111 Harwin Drive, Suite 132
Houston, Texas 77036
Interesting projects at this location include:
Recording the People's History of Houston - With easy access for
people from all over southwest Houston's diverse communities, we will
be prepared to record the interesting and vital stories of small
business owners, immigrants, community advocates, music makers,
religious leaders, and more. Look for announcements about the start of
this program in spring 2008.
Classes for Family Chroniclers and Citizen Journalists - We will offer
an increased schedule of classes in digital storytelling, photography,
publishing, genealogy research, and more, while developing an
extensive archive and digital story festival.
Community Outreach and Meeting Space - As we determine the community
needs and issues we can most effectively address, we will launch
several outreach projects from this central location and share our
meeting space with arts and community organizers.
Services for Artists and Nonprofits - With a recording station and
photo/video studio, we will be prepared to provide services, such as
assistance with public service messages or publicity materials, to
artists and organizations, as well as academic units of area
universities.
____________________________________________________
Photography and Digital Storytelling Classes
The 2008 Class Schedule is available on line. Please see:
http://www.houstonculture.org/class
Proceeds from the classes support our Youth Initiatives. For an
example of one of our student's projects, please see Sophia's "Help
Haiti" video public service message:
http://www.houstonculture.org/student
____________________________________________________
Educational Adventures for 2008
The Houston Institute for Culture 2008 Educational Travel Series has
been posted:
Traditions of Mexico, Semana Santa (Copper Canyon)
March 17-25, 2008
Smithsonian Folklife Festival and Washington DC Tour
July 1-7, 2008
Historic New Mexico Series (Pueblo Revolt and Fiesta de San Lorenzo)
August 4-12, 2008
Celebration of West Indian Heritage, New York City
August 28 - September 2, 2008
Autumn in Yellowstone and the Rocky Mountains
September 22-30, 2008
Traditions of Mexico, El dia de los muertos (Day of the Dead)
October 28 - November 4, 2008
California Migrant Worker Experience (from Steinbeck to Chavez)
December 2008
For more information about these great educational adventures, please see:
http://www.houstonculture.org/travel
Additional tours, workshops and conferences, as well as volunteer
opportunities with Camp Dos Cabezas, will soon be posted. Please
contact us at 713-521-3686 for more information.
===========================================
Featured tour location: Smithsonian Folklife Festival
Each year, one of our most popular tours explores Washington DC during
the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and citywide July 4th activities.
The Smithsonian Institution recently announced it will feature the
eastern Himalayan nation of Bhutan and the diverse state of Texas in
2008. The SI website describes the programs as follows:
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).
===========================================
Texas at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival - 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.
===========================================
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.
____________________________________________________
About this Email Newsletter
The Houston Institute newsletter is provided about nine times per year
to community members who have requested it, as well as Houston
Institute for Culture volunteers and collaborators on beneficial
programs. The newsletter features Houston Institute for Culture events
and activities, as well as community and cultural activities
throughout the region. We attempt to highlight events and
organizations that resemble the educational mission of Houston
Institute for Culture, as well as promote diverse interests.
If you would like to be added to the list. please send an email to
in...@houstonculture.org. To be removed from the list, please reply or
send a message saying "remove" or "unsubscribe".
Thank you for supporting educational events in Houston.
____________________________________________________
M a r k @houstonculture.org
Houston Institute for Culture
7111 Harwin Drive, Suite 132
Houston, Texas 77036