1982 SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL: KOREA AUDIO LOG SHEETS

About the Project

Audio documentation has played a crucial part in capturing the many stories, performances, exchanges, and demonstrations that have taken place on the National Mall as part of the Festival of American Folklife (now Smithsonian Folklife Festival). For each program, documentation volunteers generated detailed “class style” notes to accompany audio recordings which often include presenter and participant names, subject keywords, song titles, and brief descriptions of the events taking place in real time. These notes are often the richest (or only) source of information about who was present and provide key references for understanding and interpreting the recorded content. While the styles, formats, and spelling accuracy vary across logs, they nevertheless serve as fundamental link between what actually took place and what is documented in audio, photo, and, video formats. This program celebrated the centenary of diplomatic relations between the United States and Korea, and the equally-long relations between the Smithsonian and Korean scholars. Many of the kinds of traditions the first Smithsonian researchers encountered a century earlier were represented at the 1982 Festival, including musical instrument making, musical performance, pottery making and rituals from the indigenous shamanic religion of Korea. Visitors could also enjoy other venerable traditions including masked dance drama, hemp-cloth and hat making, and the occupational songs of farmers and women divers. Korean Americans presented traditions brought from Korea that have taken root in the American land. More information about the program including participant names can be found in the finding aid here.

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Completed!

Project Progress (details)
134 pages completed
Difficulty
4 out of 5
(details)

105

Contributing
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134

Total
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