Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 2012 Smithsonian Folklife Festival
odd: label: Introduction
content: Initiated in 1967, the Festival has become an international model for presenting the vitality of contemporary cultural traditions. In producing Festival programs, Smithsonian curators collaborate with partner organizations and communities to conduct research and create strategies for presenting their traditions to a broad public. Through the voices of community members themselves, the Festival shows that cultural traditions are a living, dynamic part of contemporary life.

The 2012 Festival resulted from collaboration with numerous partners, resulting in three Festival programs that looked at ways in which culture, creativity, and ingenuity shape communities. Creativity and Crisis presented the creative response of communities in the U.S. and worldwide to the HIV/AIDS crisis. Campus and Community celebrated the 150th anniversary of the public and land grant university system and showed the ways in which public universities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture work with communities to strengthen culture and to understand and overcome challenges. The Citified program, presented in collaboration with the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum, celebrated the ways in which artistic expression fosters community in an urban environment. Together, these programs showed the strength and diversity of community-based culture in the United States, fostered a shared appreciation of human creativity, created a deeper understanding of participating communities, and forged lasting connections among participants and visitors.

Special evening concerts included the Ralph Rinzler Memorial Concert, concerts of Azerbaijani music and of Roma music, concerts spotlighting recent Smithsonian Folkways recordings, and two concerts co-organized with the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Bring Back the Funk and Music from Monticello, looking at the broad range of African American music.

The 2012 Festival took place for two five-day weeks (June 27-July 1 and July 4-8) between Madison Drive and Jefferson Drive and between 9th Street and 14th Street, south of the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of Natural History (see site plan). It featured three programs and special events including the Rinzler Concert. 

The 2012 program guide included descriptions and participant lists for each program, a site plan, and daily schedules.

The Festival was co-presented by the Smithsonian Institution and National Park Service and organized by the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

Daniel Sheehy, Director; Sojin Kim, Curator and Special Assistant to the Director; Smithsonian Folklife Festival: Stephen Kidd, Festival Director; Reshma Sinanan-Hill, Production Manager

The Festival was supported by federally appropriated funds; Smithsonian trust funds; contributions from governments, businesses, foundations, and individuals; and food, recording, and craft sales. Smithsonian Channel was a Supporter of the Festival. General in-kind support was provided by WPFW, Pacifica Radio, 89.3 FM.
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
place: label: Place
content: Latin America
label: Place
content: Venezuela
topic: label: Topic
content: Folklore
label: Topic
content: Folk music
label: Topic
content: arts and crafts
label: Topic
content: Folk festivals
label: Topic
content: World music
label: Topic
content: Folk art
label: Topic
content: Food habits
creator: label: Creator
content: Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
setName: label: See more items in
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 2012 Smithsonian Folklife Festival
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 2012 Smithsonian Folklife Festival was produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage 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 27-July 8, 2012
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
identifier: label: Identifier
content: CFCH.SFF.2012
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Video recordings
label: Type
content: Audiocassettes
label: Type
content: Audiotapes
label: Type
content: Business records
label: Type
content: Photographic prints
label: Type
content: Negatives
label: Type
content: Notes
label: Type
content: Slides (photographs)
label: Type
content: Memorandums
label: Type
content: Videotapes
label: Type
content: Contracts
label: Type
content: Digital images
label: Type
content: Plans (drawings)
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
arrangement: label: Arrangement note
content: Arranged in 5 series.

Series 1: Program Books, Festival Publications, and Ephemera

Series 2: Campus and Community: Public and Land-grant Universities and the USDA at 150

Series 3: Citified: Arts and Creativity East of the Anacostia River

Series 4: Creativity and Crisis: Unfolding the AIDS Memorial Quilt

Series 5: Special Events
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence
label: Genre/Form
content: Video recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Audiocassettes
label: Genre/Form
content: Audiotapes
label: Genre/Form
content: Business records
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographic prints
label: Genre/Form
content: Negatives
label: Genre/Form
content: Notes
label: Genre/Form
content: Slides (photographs)
label: Genre/Form
content: Memorandums
label: Genre/Form
content: Videotapes
label: Genre/Form
content: Contracts
label: Genre/Form
content: Digital images
label: Genre/Form
content: Plans (drawings)
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: This collection documents the planning, production, and execution of the 2012 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. 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: 2012 Smithsonian Folklife Festival 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.