April 2015

Welcome to the Intangible Cultural Heritage project’s first newsletter! We will send these out periodically to communicate updates on ICH project activities and raise the profile of related work across the Smithsonian. The Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) project is a Smithsonian staff-led initiative to investigate the milestones, challenges, policies, and practices of institutional engagement with living cultural expressions. To read more about the project, please visit our site at folklife.si.edu/ich.

The Distinguished Speaker Series explores diverse approaches to intangible cultural heritage and aims to increase dialogue between Smithsonian staff and external professionals. To date, the project has hosted seven participants in the series. We are pleased to present two upcoming events this spring.

• Jane Anderson: “De-colonial Futures for Ethnographic Collections?” April 29, National Museum of the American Indian, room 4018, 12 – 1:30pm.

• Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett: May 28th, Smithsonian Castle Library, 2 – 3:30pm.

Seeking Staff Interviewees

The ICH project is conducting a number of interviews with Smithsonian staff about their work with living cultural expressions. Do you work with living traditions? Make your voice heard by scheduling an interview with Meredith Holmgren (HolmgrenM@si.edu).

New Resources

Our events page is piloting a new calendar, where one can browse ICH-related exhibits and events across the Smithsonian. Are we missing anything? Please let us know.

Our resources page features new links to Smithsonian publications and provides a downloadable bibliography on ICH in museum contexts.

Around the Smithsonian

April is Jazz Appreciation Month! The Smithsonian has a number of distinguished jazz resources. A few may be found below:

• Jazz podcasts from Smithsonian Folkways and the National Museum of American History
• Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra
• Educational materials, including a digital jazz interactive, listening exercises, and a multimedia lesson plan.
• Smithsonian Folkways recordings, including Jazz: The Smithsonian Anthology which was made in partnership with the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the National Museum of American History.
• Jazz Oral History collection

Featured Events

• National Museum of Natural History's "Arctic Festival" is taking place May 8-9, 2015, organized by the Department of Anthropology's Arctic Studies Center.
• Smithsonian Folklife Festival present the folklife of Peru, June 24-28 & July 1-5, on the National Mall behind the National Musuem of the American Indian.
• Recovering Voices Seminar Series features Dr. Mary Linn (CFCH) presenting "Uncovering Roadblocks to Revitalization" on April 28, 2015, 12:00pm, Rose Room in the National Museum of Natural History.
• Discovery Theater presents “Tigers, Dragons and Other Wise 'Tails'”, Tues.-Fri., May 5-8 and May 12-15 at 10:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., Ripley Center, Smithsonian. Recommended for Ages 5-10.

Featured Exhibits

• “Our Universes: Traditional Knowledge Shapes Our World” at the National Museum of the American Indian.
• “Mud Masons of Mali” at the National Museum of Natural History.
• “Food” at the National Museum of American History.

To see more activities, please check out our new calendar of events! If we are missing anything, let us know.