Monthly Archives: July 2022

Curatorial Cogitations

Smithsonian Folklife Festival,

[Dedicated to my co-curators, Arlene Reiniger, Erin Chapman and Molly Dodge. Who share the kudos and the blames…]

Finally emerging from the all consuming preparation, execution, and aftermath that is the Smithsonian Folklife Festival is like surfacing after a long time underwater. It’s time to take a long deep breath, assess the successes and the damages, pack away some of the physical accoutrements and the emotional baggage that comes with working with a huge team of very talented but sometimes testy personalities, and – most important – get some sleep uninterrupted with nightmares of what is yet to be done, missing, forgotten, or just fallen between the cracks.

Having worked on the event for the last 36 years, in one capacity or the other, you’d have thought I’d seen it all. But the Festival has changed, evolved, morphed, and reformed over that span of time, in some ways for the better and in some ways making one long for earlier days. It’s only natural, though the more recent Festival staff often dislike us oldsters talking about those “good old days” when things were done differently (also for better or worse).

I have curated or co-curated at least 11 Festival programs (I might have forgotten one or two, maybe on purpose?). Curating a Festival program is often exhilarating, but just as often exhausting. Being responsible for so many moving parts (tents, signs, concept messages, schedules, gardens, whatnot) and people (participants, presenters, interns, volunteers, direction or at least information to other staff members) is a weighty job. Yes, curators get the praise if things go well, but just as often get the blame – for just about everything.

Sign text late? Curator’s fault. Participants not totally chosen yet (and there’s too many of them?) – definitely curator’s fault. Over budget? check. Supply and/or Tech list not complete? check. And the list goes on, and on.

The other thing that is mostly unseen is the physical labor Festival curators and their staff of (mostly of interns and volunteers) are expected to shoulder, and do so (mostly though not always) without complaining. Putting up and moving around tables and chairs. Toting bags of soil and mulch for gardens. Carrying supplies around. Arranging and rearranging stuff in storage containers. Cleaning up the site after the Festival when we are most tired, both physically and mentally.

Why would anyone want this job, you ask? Not for the glory, that is for sure. For me, it’s two reasons. One, to showcase and honor the skills, talents, work and traditions of the amazing Festival participants – who work so hard to prepare, travel so far, and spend so much time explaining/demonstrating/performing. Two, to be a part of something so life-changing for so many people.

Yes life-changing — that is the way so many participants, temporary staff, interns and volunteers describe their time at the event. Over and over, throughout the years. It is truly special, and worth the bangs and bruises (physical and of our egos) to be a part of this thing. It gets in your blood after a while and you can’t not be there helping, even if you aren’t “in charge” – with all the kudos and blame that comes with that role.

Here’s some behind the scenes pix to give the idea of the spirit and feel of the event and of our Earth Optimism x Folklife program, for those who are in the know and those who just come to enjoy; or have never been. With all the troubles that came this year after having been away from doing it in person for a few years, it was still worth it. (Though I am still catching up with sleep and still taking a daily dose of Aleve to ease the aches.) Long may it rein, and produce more “good old days” for the youngsters still settling into their roles, or the “one-timers” who will hopefully remember their Festival time as one of the hardest and most rewarding things they ever accomplished.

Our demo gardens were not perfect but they did the job. Thanks to Earth Sangha in Franconia for growing our native pollinators and helping this rookie gardener through the planning. And SI Gardens who grew the veg/herbs. And Tech for increasing the height of the planters that were too short. And to everyone who helped dump and arrange mulch around the pots to make it look like an actual garden. So many people to thank always!
IKEA donated a bunch of furniture – some assembly required, mostly by our interns under the tutelage of the staff members they sent. Interns quickly learn the Smithsonian phrase, especially applicable to the Festival: “other duties as assigned.”
Though it did not arrive until the third day of the Festival, due to overwork of our Tech team, the Worm Theater worm composting area had immediate customers under the guidance of intern Rosie Cohen, AKA Worm Girl.
I am always amazed by our participants and the sheer volume of questions they patiently answer in the course of a Festival day. Anna Lucio, one of our American Ginseng Conservation participants, brought her teenaged daughter Beverly who will no doubt recall her experience for years to come. I sat here while they took a break, for about an hour, and got a lot of good visitor questions about our favorite forest botanical (read more about it at www.folklife.si.edu/american-ginseng
Our lead volunteer for the Come Out and Play area, and my good friend and colleague, Kim, will never look at bacon in the same light again after having to figure out what the intention of the idea of including”stretchy bacon” as a prop had to do with Earth Optimism…? (The other props included giant inflatable globes which made a lot more sense.)
“Mannequin wrestling” is one of the most challenging aspects of any Festival – as we always manage to have the need for one or more to display costumes, and they never behave, resulting in random arms, legs, torsos and heads riding in the back of golf carts or being tripped over in storage areas.
So much time and effort is put into signage, which often unfortunately gets scrapped at the end of the event. This was my post-Festival line-up to share in the hopes that SI Gardens wanted these for something… they were nicely featured in these garden signs and so maybe that was enough for the ten days they lived on the Mall… ?
Last but not least, during the post-Festival take down, Arlene finally fulfills her desire to get her hands on a power tool and display her Macho Woman skills. Honed over even more years than I have worked on the Festival. Are we “too old to do this anymore”? Tune in to find out in the future after we recover from this year…