1985 SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL: MELA! AN INDIAN FAIR 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. Mela! An Indian Fair on the National Mall sought to provide a culturally appropriate setting for a variety of Indian ritual, performance, craft, commercial, aesthetic, and culinary traditions. A mela, or Indian fair, is a large gathering of people who temporarily come together at a culturally appropriate time and place. The structures on the Mall were built largely with natural and handcrafted materials from India, while the site itself was designed to reflect indigenous Indian concepts. The exhibition ran June 4-July 28, 1985. More information about the program including participant names can be found here.
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