This brief article describes an opportunity for increased cultural appreciation. It's small in its capacity for any wide-spread alteration in mindset. But, every bit helps us all move toward a solution rather than the alternative, that is maintaining detrimental ignorance and bias laced with uintentionally offensive actions that unconsciously reinforce stereotypical and derogatory microaggressions. Wow, that's a mouthful but truly is based in reality. Knowledge, and as important, acknowlegement of true events, is so very powerful a force when not born of fear in confronting hard-ass truths. To teach the children well in cultural appreciation, with truthful awareness, imo, would bring major positive social outcomes to all. I suggest a slow-paced semblance of attempts for societal growth in the past were sadly superficial & lacking, and currently & concerningly is ughishly moving backward.
I'd love to visit this farmer's flea market in the story, though I know I won't...I can dream. It certainly would be an excellent treat for me, listening to the stories told irl, and all else that's there. There is lots of cultural appreciation to be found & talked about everywhere in the nooks and crannies of our society, but to my view, it seems growth towards that end is sorely lacking with the strong pushback against it, together with miniscule awareness of the complex concepts of cultural appropriation vs cultural appreciation.
Kudos to Running Bear & his lovely wife! I wish them well, always.
The link below is related to an event also focused on cultural awareness and appreciation, the NW Folklife Festival in Seattle. I was able to attend a couple weeks ago, after having missed the past two years due to practicing inconvenient, but necessary, covid precautions. It was my first time, and only time to date, attending a big event since the pandemic emerged & changed all our worlds. This year, in justification for attending, I limited myself to outdoor exhibits, of course fully vaxxed, boosted & masked up. Was sad to miss so much offered in the indoor venues, but no matter, was happy to be back & visit the mass of outdoor exihibits. I was reluctant to go initially, but not toooo forcefully, was coerced by a friend. It did admittedly give me, for the day, and not to underestimate risk involved, a tiny sense of normalcy and that felt good!
A TASTE OF AWESOMENESS FROM THE WEBSITE:
A once-in-a-lifetime challenge offers us the opportunity for a once-in-a-lifetime solution. It is in moments like these when emerging ideas, movements, and practices can become new conventions; when new thoughts branch from older ones, connecting us to our past, and propelling us to our future; where changing perspectives can be fostered, not feared, or ignored. In with the old, and in with the new!
This year’s cultural focus looks to our present, the urgency of now, and how that paves paths for our future. How do we translate the legacies and traditions of our fore-bearers and reflect them in our current selves, with our current identities, and our current conditions? How do we prepare and propel our current selves for the future we want to see? How is this unbroken circle reflected in the common good that exists in all cultures? NW Folklife sits at a junction where arts from all forms collide in a festival that lasts 4 days on the enchanting Seattle Center campus, but exists every day and all year back in our various communities. We are part of a larger conduit of venues, schools, organizations, studios, and galleries that make up our city’s creative economy. The creative economy is us! We’ve seen what happens when we’re forced to stay inside. These creative collisions happen in our homes and in our communities. They exist in our songs, our crafts, our words, and our cooking. They’re made in our own little ways, and places, and configurations, where we try to adapt to a changing world around us. We hybridized and found new ways to connect to our communities, new and old.
Folklife doesn’t exist in Seattle Center, folklife exists where you tell your stories. This year’s Cultural Focus will join that exploration. What are the old things becoming new things, and new things becoming old things? Where can Folklife support emerging ideas in community arts, arts education, and our creative economy? How can Folklife preserve our stories and our songs? Whose voices can Folklife amplify?