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  • 2022 Festival,

    Day Nine: Top Ten Photos

    July 2, 2022 | Annabella Hoge, Elisa Hough | Comments

    A blue-and-yellow macaw and other visitors flocked to the Folklife Festival on Saturday for a hot and humid day of culture of, by, and for the people. We started our day with quiet one-on-ones for families at Morning on the Mall. NASA Day was in full swing across Earth Optimism × Folklife, with speakers and activities galore. A U.S. Park Police horse even sauntered through to enjoy a drink from the Falaj, our UAE-inspired irrigation oasis.

    At Festival Foodways, fan-favorites chicken adobo and UAE BBQ made a reappearance, along with new demonstrations about sustainable seafood and oysters. Visitors added to the whale origami public art installation with Peggy Oki, and “breakers” from the UAE talked about bringing their dance of the streets to the stage before performing in the afternoon.

    As rainclouds loomed in the distance, the evening concert got an early start, continuing until lightning bolts flashed to the west. The multimedia medley “A View from the Streets: Urban Culture from the UAE” brought together rappers, dancers, visual artists, poets, and other musicians from across the Emirates creating art for all of us, together.

    A man stands over a wooden table with raw meat and other ingredients before him while he speaks into a microphone. Behind him, a woman stands holding a glass bowl of ingredients. The U.S. Capitol Building is in the background.
    In Earth Optimism’s Wavelength activation area, artists and visitors are aiming to make 3,000 origami dolphins before the end of the Festival. You can help!
    Photo by Joshua Davis, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
    A young girl in white top nuzzles her nose into the head of a juvenile falcon with large beady black eye.
    Osha Al Mansoori, the young Emirati falconer, has bonded with the American birds.
    Photo by Stanley Turk, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
    Kids surround the edges of an outdoor, elevated cement waterway with water flowing through it. In the background, palm and other plants surround the structure.
    The Festival Falaj, modeling a traditional Arab irrigation system, was a hot spot for cooling down.
    Photo by Ronald Villasante, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
    Empty, glass bottles hang on a metal rod with branches, mimicking a tree. In the background, two large trees shade from the sky.
    Among other Festival installations, Earth Optimism’s bottle trees revive a Congolese and then American South tradition of capturing evil spirits while recycling!
    Photo by Phillip Lee, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
    A man inspects a piece of paper in his hands, standing in front of a plywood wall containing other small pieces of paper: bits of colorful maps with handwritten notes on them.
    In the House of Place, visitors were asked to share memories of their homes and travels.
    Photo by Joshua Davis, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
    A woman holds up a small glass with grounded spice in it to another woman who is leaning over to smell. Behind them, a man takes a picture of golden pots hanging on the wall near words “Emirati Home.”
    At the Emirati Home station in the Story Majlis, visitors smelled traditional spices.
    Photo by Joshua Davis, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
    Kids made collages out of NASA satellite images in the People-Powered Science tent as part of NASA Day at the Festival! Kid-at-heart curator Betty Belanus joined in as well.
    Kids made collages out of NASA satellite images in the People-Powered Science tent as part of NASA Day at the Festival! Kid-at-heart curator Betty Belanus joined in as well.
    Photo by Stanley Turk, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
    Six people stand on a small, outdoor stage, holding up a sign that reads “Global Co Lab Network” with a rainbow-colored logo. Three of the individuals are dressed in upcycled trash outfits made of paper grocery bags, N-95 masks, and silver packaging material.
    Teen conservation leaders from Global Co Lab Network hosted a “Trashion Show” to encourage people to upcycle nontraditional materials like grocery bags into fun, new outfits!
    Photo by Phillip Lee, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
    Two men performing on stage; on the left, a drummer with one stick in hand, one tucked under his chin, and one rapping into a microphone.
    Sudanese-born poet and rapper Jaysus Zain (right), now based in the UAE, was joined on the Rinzler Stage by local percussionist Malik DOPE (of America’s Got Talent fame!).
    Photo by Sonya Pencheva, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
    A man fills the frame mid-dance move. A microphone is in his left hand and he is mid-phrase, arms spread open.
    UAE trap artist Freek performed in the multinational collaborative concert.
    Photo by Phillip Lee, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives

    Join us on the penultimate day of the Festival for exciting and thoughtful activities, demonstrations and discussions. Learn how to prepare invasive lionfish while hearing about their impact on Belizean fishing at Festival Foodways. Stop by the Earth Optimism Stories stage to hear from women at the forefront of conservation efforts and from young teens leading the way as the future of global sustainability.

    Visit Folklife Studio for a special cross-program conversation about meaningful human-animal connections and a one-time-only poetry slam competition between Rooftop Rhythms from the UAE and Busboys and Poets from D.C.  Visit the Story Majlis for “What We Carry: Migration Stories,” where participants will talk about stories of exile and displacement. End your afternoon with a preview performance of the 2023 Festival program Creative Encounters: Living Religions in the U.S., featuring Houston-based Riyaaz Qawwali and the sounds of multifaith America.

    Annabella Hoge is the 2022 Folklife Festival media intern, and Elisa Hough is the editor at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. Together they are Team Top Ten.

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