EXPLORATIONS - Silk Road Folklife Festival

EXPLORATIONS
–
May 29, 2002: Silk Road Folklife Festival

By Marilyn Christiano
VOICE ONE:
This is Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program, EXPLORATIONS. Today we tell about plans

for the thirty-sixth yearly Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. It will be the first Folklife Festival

that honors only one subject
–
the ancient Silk Road.

((THEME))

VOICE ONE:

About two-thousand-five-hundred years ago, Asia and Europe were linked by trade paths. Much
later, these paths became known as the Silk Road, named for the most famous trade product,
silk material from China. The series of paths that made up the Silk Road stretched through
Central Asia from Japan to Italy. Goods, ideas, art and music were exchanged along this road
for about two-thousand years.

This year, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival is celebrating the living traditions of the Silk Road, Mongolian

longsong
the evidence of the centuries of exchange. It will also show the influence of these cultures on vocalist
American life today. The festival will be held for ten days beginning June twenty-sixth on the Ganbaatar

Khongorzul.

grassy¹ Mall area in the center of Washington. The festival is called “The Silk Road: (Photo -Axel
Connecting Cultures, Creating Trust.
”
Nickolaus)

VOICE TWO:

Richard Kennedy is one of the main organizers of this year’s Folklife Festival. He says
planning began almost four years ago for what is the most complex and costly² festival yet.
About four-hundred people will take part in the festival. They are coming from more than
twenty countries that reach from the Pacific Ocean to the Mediterranean³ Sea and from the
United States. They include musicians, artists, cooks, storytellers, dancers and presenters⁴. For
most of them, this will be the first time outside their countries.

The yearly Folklife Festival was started in the nineteen-sixties. Mister Kennedy says it was a
new way of considering what museums should be. The Folklife Festival used the model of the
museum exhibit, but centered on living people rather than objects. It also was a way to try to
increase the numbers and kinds of people who visit the Smithsonian and take part in its
activities.

VOICE ONE:

Mister Kennedy says the kinds of arts included in the Folklife Festival are not the kinds of arts shown in national
museums. Yet, he says many of the skills and arts of the people at the festival are worthy⁵ of the same kind of
respect as the art that hangs in a museum.

Mister Kennedy says that organizing a Folklife Festival generally begins with identifying artists who represent
community traditions. Arts and traditions help hold a community together. Mister Kennedy says the feeling is
that when these traditions and arts disappear, then the communities disappear. The Smithsonian Folklife Festivals
are a way to honor and support the surviving traditions, music and arts of different communities.

((MUSIC BRIDGE))

Sergei Charkov
of Khakasia,
Russia.
(Photo -Chloe
Drieu)

VOICE TWO:

Visitors to this year’s Folklife Festival will be transported to the ancient Silk Road. They will experience the
sounds, sights and smells of many different cultures. And they will see how East and West were brought closer
together through the exchange of culture, goods and religions.

What will this festival look like? Visitors will not see the white cloth tents that seem to appear each June like
huge mushrooms rising from the green grass of the Mall. Instead, the major performance areas will be covered
with beautiful cloth made in India.

Rajeev Sethi and the Asian Heritage Foundation designed this year’s festival. It will include five performance
centers that represent important stops on the Silk Road. Near each center will be areas where people demonstrate
the creation of some of the major products exchanged along the trade road.

VOICE ONE:

Visitors can begin to follow the Silk Road from either Italy or Japan. They will travel through five major
structures that have been designed to look as though they belong on the Silk Road.

At the east end of the Mall, toward the Capitol building, will be a copy of the Nara Gate in Japan. At the west
end, near the Washington Monument, will be a structure that looks like Saint Mark ’s Square in Venice, Italy. In

between, visitors will move through the bell tower of Chang’un, now Xi’an, China; Registan Square in
Samarkand, now Uzbekistan; and Hagia Sophia, a religious building in Istanbul, Turkey. Near each area, people
from many countries will demonstrate the making of some of the major products exchanged along the Silk Road.

VOICE TWO:

What will visitors see and hear in each area? Music, art and handmade crafts made in Central Asia are the main
themes of the festival. There will be musical instrument players, wandering storytellers, puppet shows and Sufi
dancers known as whirling dervishes. There will be weavers⁶ of silk, clothing designers and stone carvers.

At each of the five main areas, there will be demonstrations⁷ by artists and craftsmen⁸ throughout the day.

Visitors will be able to see how arts and skills that began in one area changed as they moved to other areas. For
example, papermaking started in China and moved through Japan to Italy. Paper was made in a different way in
each country because of local materials and local needs. At the festival, papermakers from Fabriano, Italy, will
demonstrate how they make handmade paper with special marks on it.

VOICE ONE:

For hundreds of years, traders who moved along the Silk Road carried cloth, jewelry¹⁰, paper and woven rugs.
Glass and stone beads¹² worn by women were always popular and were easy to transport. Festival visitors will be
able to see jewelers from Syria, Turkey and India and bead¹¹ makers⁹ from Pakistan and Europe demonstrate the
ancient traditions.

Tribal¹³ nomads¹⁵ from Iran to Mongolia provided supplies and transportation for the Silk Road traders. Nomads do
not live in settlements. They move from place to place with their animals. On the Mall next month, camels will
carry nomad¹⁴ houses called yurts which are easily transported from place to place. And a Pakistani truck painted
in bright colors will demonstrate that travel continues along the Silk Road today.

((MUSIC BRIDGE))

VOICE TWO:

This year, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival is being produced in cooperation with the Silk Road Project. The
world famous cello¹⁶ player, Yo-Yo Ma, started the Silk Road Project in nineteen-ninety-eight. It is providing
music concerts, cultural activities and educational programs across the United States, Europe and Asia.

The Silk Road Project has several purposes. It shows how the Silk Road led to a mixing
of arts, technologies and musical traditions. It identifies the people that best represent


those cultural traditions today. And it supports cooperation among musicians and artists
from the Silk Road countries and the West. The Silk Road Project is supported by the
Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Ford¹⁷ Motor Company and the German company Siemens.

Yo-Yo Ma says he hopes that the Folklife Festival will help develop a sense of
community among artists, musicians and visitors from different areas. And he hopes it
will create a strong interest in the cultures of the Silk Road.

VOICE ONE:

Music is always an important part of the Smithsonian’s Folklife Festival. But this year it is even more so, partly
because of the help of Yo -Yo Ma and his Silk Road Project.

Richard Kennedy says there are two different music traditions in most of the Silk Road countries. Courtly music
is the traditional music of cities and settlements. It is called maqam (MAH-cahm). Groups from Azerbaijan,
Uzbekistan, Turkey, China and Iran will perform different forms of maqam music.

Another kind of music in the Silk Road countries is called Aitys (EYE-tis). Musicians compete in storytelling,
singing and playing of instruments. Eighteen singing storytellers will perform Aitys music from nomadic¹⁸ groups
along the Silk Road.

((MUSIC BRIDGE))

VOICE TWO:

Children ’s activities are a very important part of the Silk Road Folklife Festival. Learning while having fun is
the goal. All during the festival, the family activity shelter will provide children’s activities. Children can try
Chinese writing called calligraphy¹⁹, watch Indian magicians and puppeteers²⁰, or make their own musical
instruments from re-used materials.

Special passports will be given to young visitors. The passports will include a map and interesting facts. Children
can get a special mark on their passports at each performance area.

Richard Kennedy says that this year’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival will be a chance to celebrate the historic
links between East and West. It will show that the exchange that began centuries ago along the Silk Road still
continues today.

((MUSIC))

VOICE ONE:

This Special English program was written by Marilyn Christiano and directed by Paul Thompson. Our studio
engineer was Keith Holmes. This is Mary Tillotson.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another EXPLORATIONS program on the Voice of
America.

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1 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

2 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

3 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

4 presenters   

n.节目主持人，演播员( presenter的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Each week presenters would put the case for their favourite candidate. 每个星期主持人推出他们最喜欢的候选人。 来自互联网
• Karaoke was set up to allowed presenters to sing on the stage. 宴会设有歌唱舞台，可让出席者大演唱功。 来自互联网

5 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

6 weavers   

织工，编织者( weaver的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Navajo are noted as stockbreeders and skilled weavers, potters, and silversmiths. 纳瓦霍人以豢养家禽，技术熟练的纺织者，制陶者和银匠而著名。
• They made out they were weavers. 他们假装是织布工人。

7 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

8 craftsmen   

n. 技工

参考例句：

• rugs handmade by local craftsmen 由当地工艺师手工制作的小地毯
• The craftsmen have ensured faithful reproduction of the original painting. 工匠保证要复制一幅最接近原作的画。

9 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

11 bead   

n.念珠；(pl.)珠子项链；水珠

参考例句：

• She accidentally swallowed a glass bead.她不小心吞下了一颗玻璃珠。
• She has a beautiful glass bead and a bracelet in the box.盒子里有一颗美丽的玻璃珠和手镯。

12 beads   

n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链

参考例句：

• a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链
• Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。

13 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

14 nomad   

n.游牧部落的人，流浪者，游牧民

参考例句：

• He was indeed a nomad of no nationality.他的确是个无国籍的游民。
• The nomad life is rough and hazardous.游牧生活艰苦又危险。

15 nomads   

n.游牧部落的一员( nomad的名词复数 )；流浪者；游牧生活；流浪生活

参考例句：

• For ten years she dwelled among the nomads of North America. 她在北美游牧民中生活了十年。
• Nomads have inhabited this region for thousands of years. 游牧民族在这地区居住已有数千年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 cello   

n.大提琴

参考例句：

• The cello is a member of the violin family.大提琴是提琴家族的一员。
• She plays a melodious cello.她拉着一手悦耳的大提琴。

17 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

18 nomadic   

adj.流浪的；游牧的

参考例句：

• This tribe still live a nomadic life.这个民族仍然过着游牧生活。
• The plowing culture and the nomadic culture are two traditional principal cultures in China.农耕文化与游牧文化是我国传统的两大主体文化。

19 calligraphy   

n.书法

参考例句：

• At the calligraphy competition,people asked him to write a few characters.书法比赛会上，人们请他留字。
• His calligraphy is vigorous and forceful.他的书法苍劲有力。

20 puppeteers   

n.操纵木偶的人，操纵傀儡( puppeteer的名词复数 )

参考例句：