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• 1 / 10
  The Nur Qanon Ensemble is three young women—ages ten, twelve, and twenty—who masterfully play the qanon, a zither instrument found through the Middle East. They play each day in the Hyurasenyak.
  Photo by Sonya Pencheva, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• 2 / 10
  Bengali scroll painter Mamoni Chitrikar led a children’s workshop in the Marketplace about natural plant-based paints. She is with a visiting group from West Bengal, part of a cultural exchange between the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and Kolkata organization Contact Base.
  Photo by Caroline Angelo, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• 3 / 10
  Maral Shohmahlian-Berberian helped a visitor learn to cross-stitch in the Armenian Needlework tent.
  Photo by Josh Weilepp, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• 4 / 10
  During the Morning Coffee Ceremony, visitors learned about surj (Armenian coffee) and the history of coffee in the region. Join the ceremony each morning at 11:30 in the Hyurasenyak!
  Photo by Sonya Pencheva, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• 5 / 10
  Members of the Associació de Geganters i Grallers d’Oliana showed visitors the inner workings of the giants.
  Photo by Aaron Crabtree, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• 6 / 10
  Visitors learned to dance the sardana, a circular dance that was popular in the mid-nineteenth century and then embellished during the Catalan Renaissance.
  Photo by Gregory Gottlieb, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• 7 / 10
  In the Marketplace, Ebenezer Nomada Djaba represented his business, Cedi Beads. Based in Ghana, he practices and teaches the traditional craft of grinding glass into powder and then firing into colorful beads.
  Photo by Josh Weilepp, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
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  Craft artisans from Gyumri, Armenia, part of an association called Gyumri Is Our Home, have been collecting materials for this massive multicolored bottle-cap mosaic. Visitors can help add to the plastic puzzle each day in The Workshop tent.
  Photo by Caroline Angelo, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• 9 / 10
  The evening concert of women’s voices from Armenia and Catalonia included Les Anxovetes, song-stories of the sea and Spanish sailors who traveled to Cuba.
  Photo by Sonya Pencheva, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• 10 / 10
  At the end of the evening concert, the emcee asked visitors to turn around and see the Catalan catifa (flower carpet) that had just been completed. It features an image of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona and other Modernist architectural designs.
  Photo by Sonya Pencheva, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives

Click on the photo above to view full slideshow

What do Armenia and Catalonia have in common?

Pottery traditions, mosaic art, blacksmithing, delicious food, and fierce pride in their cultures. We’re exploring all these and more at the Folklife Festival through the weekend and next week. Today held demonstrations on Catalan cookies and Armenia string cheese, discussions on the ways traditions migrate with their bearers, and workshops on weaving and sardana dancing.

Tomorrow begins with a special Catalan and Armenian collaboration to explore foraging traditions in both cultures as well as learn how to add more fresh ingredients to your own meals. Take the Armenian Script Master Class with Ruben Malayan to learn about his incredible art and create a bit of your own.

In African Fashion and Film: A Look at the Current and Future State of African Fashion, you can watch short films on the subject as well as discuss with designers and scholars. Join a collaborative team of artists and visitors to create mosaic street art or discuss social justice in Catalonia and beyond. Learn how to crochet and add your own colorful piece to our Tree of Life.

Elisa Hough is the editor for the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, and Rachel Barton is the media intern for the 2018 Folklife Festival. Together they are Team Festival Blog.