Tampa Wiltson, a mine of information on white oak basket making, also directly addressed the audience in his capacity as a cultural observer, commenting on the festival, on Washington, D.C., and on modern manners and dress among his grandchildren, hitting chords of appreciation with audience members. The African Immigrant and the Sacred Sound concert stages were also packed. Sacred Sounds invoked a sense of partnership between audience members and performers in several performers' offers to pray for any audience members who wanted to be prayed for. Festival-goers who sampled all three major areas of the Festival of American Folklife found distinct connections among the three sections, allowing people to trace histories of folk practices, make cultural comparisons, and track transnational practices and changes. The narrative stages for the African Immigrant section highlighted these connections most explicitly, particularly in emphases on discussions of geography and on cultural bridging.
Staff is also interested in creating more global theme programs.
They intend, for instance, to examine how children worldwide take found objects and create toys with them, possibly for the year 2000. Next year the Center is looking toward featuring the Baltics, Wisconsin, the Philippines, and the Rio Grande Basin. New Hampshire, South Africa, Labrador, and Romania are possibilities for 1999. And for the millennium, along with featuring children as cultural and creative resources, the Center may present adult building trades and crafts. Educational projects and multimedia kits increase as foci of Center activities.