Cultural Exchanges - Recent Highlights

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Cultural Exchanges - Recent Highlights

Pianist Mike del Ferro enchanted Belarusian audiences with his elaborate jazz piano techniques during a series of concerts in Minsk and the regional town of Molodechno in collaboration with a team of Belarusian jazz musicians. The musicians exchanged music files and charts and held “virtual” rehearsals prior to their joint shows. Mr. del Ferro also conducted a series of master classes on the art of jazz piano at the local Academy of Music, the University of Culture and Arts and the Minsk Music College, and held a jam session with local students to entertain guests at a popular jazz club.

As part of a two-way artists’ exchange, eight American women artists recently traveled to Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, and the Dodoma region of Tanzania where they organized workshops, visited universities and arts institutions, and participated in events engaging broad audiences of women and youth from diverse and underserved populations. Tanzanian workshop participants developed a deeper understanding of themselves as artists and as women, and gained valuable insights to help them strengthen their engagement as community leaders and role models for young girls just beginning to explore their own place in society. Sixteen Tanzanian women artists will travel to Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois later this year to participate in a reciprocal U.S. training program.

On February 7, 2009, the Egyptian partner organizations in the Big Read Egypt/U.S. Program held an opening ceremony at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina to commence a film, lecture, and book discussion series about the program. The launch highlighted the first U.S. book that will be featured in the program, To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee. The Egyptian partner organizations will work with the U.S. Embassy Cairo to distribute copies of the book in Arabic for Egyptian participants to form reading and discussion groups. The opening celebration included a parade and a log cabin pavilion on the Bibliotheca Plaza. Program activities will continue throughout March and April in Cairo and Alexandria in Egypt, and New York City and Huntsville, Alabama in the U.S.

In honor of Black History Month, Saudi Arabia welcomed African-American poet, storyteller, and singer Ilene Evans to Dhahran, Riyadh, and Jeddah. Ms. Evans personalized her performances by encouraging her audience of students, teachers, and professors to participate. Ms. Evans also led workshops for educators in all three Saudi cities on the dynamic role theater can play in English language instruction and other fields.

Michelle Angela Ortiz, a visual artist from Philadelphia, led a Community Through Art mural program during the Wasawasa Festival of the Oceans in Suva, Fiji. Some 50 participants engaged in the planning, development, and painting of the mural, entitled “Mama Hanua” (Mothers of the Earth), which was completed in only six days and depicts women as offering strength, protection, life, and beauty. Ortiz taught 15 youth and five adult artists the process of mural making - sessions that encouraged using their environment for inspiration - as well as honing the technical skills needed to create murals. She also conducted several workshops to introduce basic community arts concepts and address social issues that affect artists.

On January 29, 2009, two musical quartets performed at the National Geographic Society’s Grosvenor Auditorium in Washington, D.C., to launch the new season of the Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad program. Urban music group Vice Verse All Stars will travel to Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Student Loan (pictured) will travel to Thailand, Burma, Vietnam, Indonesia, Samoa, and Fiji. While on tour, both groups will perform, conduct workshops, and participate in other outreach programs.

The U.S. Embassy in Paris and four other missions in Europe hosted country singer Kareem Salama for a European concert tour. On France’s National Day, Salama offered a free concert for a full house of country music fans at Billy Bob’s Disneyland Resort Paris. Country music has recently become very popular in France and Disneyland Resort Paris is a key stage for any young talent entering Europe’s musical market. Salama also traveled to a community youth organization in the Eastern suburbs of Paris, where he met with a group of French teens participating in a special summer music session. Via translators from the embassy, the children and Salama exchanged lyrics and engaged in a discussion on the issues addressed, such as violence in urban communities and family values.

In December 2008, musicians of the popular Ari Roland jazz quartet made their third trip to Turkmenistan. They conducted seminars and presentations for students at the National Music Conservatory of Turkmenistan, specialized musical schools of the capital, and in Dashoguz city, where the quartet also performed a concert. Turkmen musicians performed the classic works of F. Chrysler and A. Hachaturyan and the quartet performed jazz improvisations of Turkmen national melodies, which was a great surprise to the audience.

Debbie and Steven Hergenrader, founders of Break the Barriers USA, partnered with Motivation Foundation Romania, one of the most active and effective NGOs in combating discrimination against people with disabilities in Romania, for a November 2008 program. They focused on helping disabled youth find their own talents and abilities and make their voices heard, and their contributions count, in their communities in Bucharest, Buzau, and Constanta. They advised NGOs on means and methods of raising financial support for these activities, and the importance of maintaining and strengthening their coordination with other NGOs working in the field.

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