Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1991 Festival of American Folklife
odd: label: Introduction
content: 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
label: Shared Stewardship of Collections
content: 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.
name: label: Creator
content: Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
label: Names
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival
topic: label: Topic
content: arts and crafts
label: Topic
content: Folk art
label: Topic
content: World music
label: Topic
content: Folk festivals
label: Topic
content: Folk music
label: Topic
content: Food habits
label: Topic
content: Folklore
creator: label: Creator
content: Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
setName: label: See more items in
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1991 Festival of American Folklife
abstract: label: Summary
content: 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.
bioghist: label: Historical note
content: 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.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Cubic foot (approximate)
phystech: label: Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
content: 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.
unitdate: label: Date
content: June 28-July 7, 1991
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
identifier: label: Identifier
content: CFCH.SFF.1991
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Audiotapes
label: Type
content: Photographic prints
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Memorandums
label: Type
content: Notes
label: Type
content: Plans (drawings)
label: Type
content: Digital images
label: Type
content: Videotapes
label: Type
content: Audiocassettes
label: Type
content: Business records
label: Type
content: Negatives
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Slides (photographs)
label: Type
content: Contracts
label: Type
content: Video recordings
arrangement: label: Arrangement note
content: Arranged in 5 series.

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
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Audiotapes
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographic prints
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence
label: Genre/Form
content: Memorandums
label: Genre/Form
content: Notes
label: Genre/Form
content: Plans (drawings)
label: Genre/Form
content: Digital images
label: Genre/Form
content: Videotapes
label: Genre/Form
content: Audiocassettes
label: Genre/Form
content: Business records
label: Genre/Form
content: Negatives
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Slides (photographs)
label: Genre/Form
content: Contracts
label: Genre/Form
content: Video recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: 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.
relatedmaterial: label: Forms Part Of
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1991 Festival of American Folklife forms part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival records .

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: Papers

1967 Festival of American Folklife records - [Ongoing]
label: Related Archival Materials note
content: 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.