The Middle Atlantic Folklife Association (MAFA) is a professional association supporting folklorists and others concerned with traditional folk culture in the mid-Atlantic region It serves Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. MAFA members are engaged in a full range of activities to study, document, interpret, present, fund, teach, encourage, and advocate for traditional cultural expressions in the region. MAFA supports this diversity of approaches to folklife through a number of services to its constituents, including professional development, resource identification/access, and communication among different sectors of the field. MAFA encourages folklife studies and the presentation of traditional culture, through collaboration with communities interested in documenting and perpetuating their traditional ways of life. Through advocacy with community groups, MAFA members seek to mitigate threats to traditional culture. The publications, meetings, and on-line distribution list/group of MAFA offer a forum for the exchange of information on public folklore programs, research projects, events, and critical issues, as well as opportunities for research and employment in the field of folklore.

Now that's what I'm talking about!

18,000 Horo dancers. Guinness Book of World Records. Now that's public folklore!

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=47283

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Lower Eastern Shore Showcase, featuring the Zionaires

Submitted by Lora Bottinelli on Thu, 2005-04-28 19:42.

Fri, 2005-04-29 14:00

The Zionaires will be playing at 2pm on April 30 at the Salisbury Festival in front of the courthouse in the city center.
During the 1950s, four young congregants of Mt. Hope AME Zion Church in Princess Anne formed The Zionaires, an all-male group. For over half a century The Zionaires have spread the word of God through music to church and radio audiences on the lower shore of Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware. They attribute their remarkable survival to the words of King David: "I will sing praises unto God while I hve any being" [Psalm 146:2]

More on the Showcase..
April 30: Lower Eastern Shore Showcase at the Salisbury Festival

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More on Ron Rue

Submitted by Lora Bottinelli on Thu, 2005-04-28 19:38.
This is a b/w version of a color painting of Ron Rue done by George Wright in the early 90s.
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In training

Submitted by Lora Bottinelli on Thu, 2005-04-28 18:57.
One of my best teachers, Ron Rue, enjoying the summer in Washington D.C. Thanks to Nancy Solomon for capturing the scene.
original image | traditional and folk artists image gallery
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Ron Rue

Submitted by Rory Turner on Thu, 2005-04-28 18:09.
Here is Lora's picture of Ron Rue in his workshop in Cambridge, Maryland. Its hard to imagine a kinder or more gentle man.
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Ron Rue Remembered

Submitted by Lora Bottinelli on Thu, 2005-04-28 14:11.

A proud Eastern shoreman, a master decoy maker, and a good friend passed away this morning in Cambridge, Maryland.

Ron Rue
1931 - 2005

Rue was born in 1931 in Cambridge, Maryland and started carving in 1948 to supplement his own decoy rig that he used for duck hunting. These first decoys were made from decoy bodies he found along the marshes in Dorchester County and heads he carved himself. His first decorative decoy was a merganser he made in the mid 1950s. When Rue took it to the Ward brothers of Crisfield, Maryland, to show what he had made, that was the start of his mentorship and an enduring friendship. The monthly visits Rue made to the Ward brothers’ workshop influenced his carvings, and he carried their legacy in his work and through stories of their lives together.

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Intellectual property stuff

This, by way of Peggy Bulger and Publore....

http://www.publicknowledge.org/news/intheknow/intheknow-20050421

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More on Folk Charter School in Philly

Submitted by Rory Turner on Fri, 2005-04-22 18:12.

This came by way of Deborah Kodish...

Please help us spread the word to teachers who may be interested in
positions next year at the FOLK ARTS‹CULTURAL TREASURES CHARTER SCHOOL

INFORMATIONAL MEETING FOR PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS

FOLK ARTS - CULTURAL TREASURES CHARTER SCHOOL
Friday, April 29, 2005
5:30 p.m.
American Friends Service Committee,
15th and Cherry Sts.

Light refreshments provided

Join a dedicated team of visionaries as we build a unique community and arts
based charter school meeting the needs of a diverse student population. The
Folk Arts-Cultural Treasures Charter School will serve a multiracial

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Fascinating. Who owns culture?

http://www.ghanamusic.com/artman/publish/article_1736.shtml

An International Folklore Expert has criticised clauses in the new Copyright Bill before Cabinet that made it mandatory for Ghanaians to pay royalty for the commercial use of folklore.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity to the Ghana News Agency, in Accra, the Expert described the Bill as totalitarian and also contravened conventions on human rights.

He mentioned specifically the clause that imposed a fine, jail or both on any Ghanaians who commercially use, sell or distribute Ghanaian folklore or translations without Government's permit.

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Book review of James Bau Graves' Cultural Democracy...

Submitted by Rory Turner on Wed, 2005-04-20 10:31.
Book Review of "Cultural Democracy..."
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