Series 1: Early Programs

The items in this series document the events produced by the Folks Arts program from 1986-2000. Program Files include correspondence, contracts, brochures and fliers, publicity, and research materials. Also included are files kept by the various Folk Arts Directors while planning and executing their annual programs, including Kathleen Condon (1986-1989), Sean Galvin (1990-1991), Jessica Payne (1992), Justine McGovern (1993-1994), Ilana Abramovitch (1995), Richard Wolf (1996), Emily Botein (1997), and Nancy Groce (1998-99).

Also included is a small group of resource files, arranged geographically and consisting of printed material and notes on arts and artists of the region. These files also contain material documenting funding efforts, including grant applications and reports. Audiovisual items in this series are recordings from programs produced by Folk Arts, compilations used for grant support, and several tapes of music by performers involved in Folk Arts programs. Cassettes also include interviews with performers and artists. Labeling on tapes is inconsistent. VHS tapes are program recordings and grant support. Boxes 102-106 appear at the end of the Audiovisual sub-series and include media submitted by artists, media used by Folk Arts directors for research, and media compiled from various programs. Labeling on these items is inconsistent.

Binders contain photographs and slides taken during Folk Arts programs, dating 1988-2000, including images from the Storytelling Tent during the Welcome Back to Brooklyn events.

Early Program Events:

1987 Kathy Condon

Adopt-a-landmark Folklife Series, Storytelling and other events relating to:

Coney Island

Lowe's Kings Theatre

Brooklyn Waterfront

Erasmus High School

Coney Island Steeplechase

African and Caribbean Collection at the Brooklyn Museum

Gravesend Church and Cemetery

New Utrecht Reformed Church and Cemetery

West Indian- American Day Parade

Folk Art and Artists Series

Scandinavian Folk Arts:

Walter Eriksson (accordionist)

Doris Jensen (Norwegian rosemaler)

Black Folk Arts:

The Heavenly Tones (Gospel music)

Virginia Hall and Molly Rives (quilters)

Italian Folk Arts:

Ridgewood/Bushwick Senior Center Music Group (folk and popular music)

Vincenzo Ancona (wire sculpture)

Puerto Rican Folk Arts:

Ser Boricua es un honor/El Conjunto de Sunset Park (folk music)

Pablo Falcon (toy maker)

West Indian Folk Arts:

Alvin Forteau and the Caribbean Dancers (Trinidadian dancing and drumming)

Morris Stewart (Carnival costume maker)

Storytelling Tent, Welcome Back to Brooklyn

Topics include:

Sunset Park

South Brooklyn

Immigration

Coney Island

1989 Kathy Condon, Folk Art and Artists Series:

Lebanese and Middle Eastern Arts:

Simon Shaheen and Hanna Mirhige (Near Eastern traditional music)

Basil Kazan (Byzantine liturgical chanter)

Antoine Solounias (Byzantine iconographer)

Lillian Habib (traditional Lebanese cooking)

Jewish Arts:

Klezmer Plus! (concert in memory of Dave Tarras)

Rabbi Yehuda Clapman (Sofer, Hebrew religious scribe)

Faigel Jacobson (religious embroidery and beadwork)

Chinese Arts:

Rebecca Shu-Min Fung, Chen Guo, Li Yu (dance)

Zhang Bao Li (erhu, two-stringed fiddle)

Woo Chai Meng (Ho Nan Shau Lin martial arts master, traditional healer and dragon maker)

Puerto Rican Arts:

El Conjunto de Sunset Park (traditional music)

Jose Aviles (carver, santos de palo)

Iraida Rivera (mundillo, bobbin lace artist)

Maria Ponce (crochet artist and maker of capias)

Afghan Arts:

Sayed Farooq and Timor Karimi (traditional and popular music)

Jamila and Mahmood Masumi and Nafas Gul Muradi (rug weaving and design)

1990: Sean Galvin, Folk Art and Artists Series:

Panamanian Arts and Artists:

Pedro "Papi" Alonso (coppersmith)

Gino Canalies and the Panamanian Folkloric Dance Company (dance)

Silvia Fisher, Cornelia Cotillion Square Dance Club

Gino Canalies and the Conjunto Folklorico de Panama (dance)

Irish Arts and Artists

Larry Otway (Currach builder)

Tom Doherty (melodeon) and Maureen Doherty (accordion and flute)

Donnie and Eileen Golden (stepdancers)

Maureen Kennelly (Ceili dancer)

Earle Mitchner (emcee for dance program)

Caribbean East Indian Arts and Artists:

Siew Paul Singh (Bhojpuri singer and harmonium player)

Pandit Swasti Doobay (Hindu priest, sacred and symbolic rice and flower designs for puja, traditional invocation and worship of Hindu dieties)

Sham Rampersad, Roopchan Rambharat and Jasmine Pancham (Caribbean folk and film songs)

Sam Sugrim (tassa drumming ensemble)

Lakshmi Mandir (Chowtal and Kirtan Group)

Syrian Jewish Arts and Artists:

Sandra Levy (Syrian foodways)

Rae Dayan (Syrian foodways)

Vita Isreal (oud player), with Hakki Obadia (violinist), George Bassile (kanoun) and Joseph Zaroura (darbokka)

Cantor Elie Abadie (sacred and secular Pizmonim songs)

Greek Arts and Artists:

Father John Spilos (iconographer)

Irene Mavris and Vasiliki Kourniotis (embroidery)

George Stathos (clarino) and his Greek band, with George Jatzinocolaou (violin) and John Roussos (santouri)

Athanasia Fidanidou and Dancers (dance)

Storytelling Tent, Welcome Back to Brooklyn

Topics include:

Department of Transportation/Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority

Verrazano Narrows Bridge

Sheepshead Bay

Brooklyn Battery Tunnel

Carroll Street Bridge

1991 Sean Galvin, Folk Art and Artists Series:

Andean Arts and Artists:

Antara del Barrio, with Francisco Rodriguea, Leyder Dorado, Ricardo Silva, Cesar Ferreria (music)

Ricardo Silva (panpipe maker)

Ghanaian Arts and Artists:

Selina A. Ahoklui (Adinkra textiles)

Novisi Cultural Troop (dance)

Polish Arts and Artists:

Stefan Wrobel (accordion) and his ensemble

Nadia Gryziec and Irene Polly (Pisanki demonstration)

Cambodian Arts and Artists:

Princess Nearyreth Dancers with Sk Melea, Ek Bonna and Ek Dary

Heng Phem and the Mongkol Ensemble (drumming)

Savath Chan (sculptor, mask decorator)

Turkish Arts and Artists:

The Turkish-American Youth Dancers, with Tayyar Akdeniz

Mahmoud Efeturk, Sahara Restaurant ("Turkish Delight," traditional foodways)

1992 Jessica Payne, Folk Arts Series:

Hatian Arts and Artists:

Frisner Augustin and La Troupe Makandal (music and dance)

Lesly Calvin (Vodou flags and veve)

Uri Domond (painter)

Mexican Arts and Artists:

Mariachi Tequilla with Yolanda Leticia (music)

Miguel Angel Cossio (pinata maker)

Dominican Arts and Artists:

Pedro Checo y Aguja y su Conjunto Tipico Dominicano (merenge)

Enevina Duran (flower maker)

Indigenous Arts and Artists:

The Young Blood Singers (Cherokee, Shinnecock, Montauk and Wampanouag music and dance)

Donald Jackson (Cherokee porcupine quill work)

Ina McNeil (Sioux beadwork)

1993 Justine McGovern, Folk Arts '93:

Black Arts and Artists:

Wonder Boy and the Spiritual Voices (Brooklyn Gospel)

Valarie Jean Bailey (quilting)

Puerto Rican Arts and Artists:

Bomba and Plena workshop with Los Pleneros de la 21 (music and dance)

Jose Aviles (santos carver and jewelry maker)

Jewish Arts and Artists:

Shasmaqam (Bukharan-Jewish music and dance)

Gennady Gutkin (Ukranian and Russian-Jewish music)

Tibetan Arts and Artists:

Nawabg Khechog (flute)

Venerable Lobsang Samten (sand painting)

Storytelling tent, Welcome Back to Brooklyn Arts Council

Topics include:

Indigenous and Black storytelling traditions

Brooklynites at work and Play I: making a community a home – Lefferts Manor

Play: Brooklyn Summers, Steamy but Fun!

Work: Brooklyn Women and Grass Roots Politics

Brooklyn at Work and Play II: Growing up on "the Avenue" – Midde Eastern Atlantic Avenue

1994 Justine McGovern, Folk Arts '94:

Arabic Music and Foodways:

Eddie Kochak and Hajji Obadia (music)

Amina Ibrahim (foodways)

Chinese Music and Calligraphy:

Cornel Chan and his musicians

Li Ng and her daughters Annie and Mary (calligraphy)

Eastern European Music and Paper Crafts:

Traditional music (produced in Cooperation with the Ethnic Folk Arts Center)

Clara Lamers (paper cutting)

Pakistani Music and Wedding Arts

Mulazim Hussein, Quzi Shabbaz and choudry Ackbar (folk music)

Nighat Faridi and her daughter Irrim Shai (mehndi rassam henna hand painting and other wedding-related women's arts)

Storytelling Tent, Welcome Back to Booklyn

Topics include:

Family Businesses: Working Out Together

Public School Teachers: Brooklyn Schools, Brooklyn Stories

West Indian Hair Braiders: The Business of Beauty, Brooklyn Style

1995 Ilana Abramovitch, Folk Arts '95:

Jewish Purim Music and Crafts:

Ruben Benyamin (Persian Jewish singer)

Leah Jirshfield Levin (traditional plaques welcoming the month of Adar)

Mexican Storytelling and Dia de los Muertos Traditions:

Elvira and Hortensia Colorado (storytelling)

Albertano and Lilia Meza (Dia de los Muertos traditions)

West Indian Carnival Music and Costume Making:

Caribbean American Sports and Cultural Youth Movement (CASYM) Steel Orchestra of Brooklyn (steel pan music)

Ray Morris (Carnival costume creator)

Swedish Music and Crafts:

Jeanne Eriksson Widman (accordion music)

Gunhild Ljung (paper crafts)

Storytelling Tent, Welcome Back to Brooklyn

Topics include:

Tony Zupa and Joe Sclafani: working musicians who play Italian feasts, including the Giglio

Linda MaQueen and her daughter: Madina Johnson: lives of women, being homeless

Jerry Flynn: growing up in Brooklyn during Prohibition, sheep in Prospect Park, The Catholic school, etc.

Ray Morris: West-Indian American Labor Day parade

Grace Kelly: growing up in the 1910s

Umma Group, including James Hardy: Neighborhood patrol group in Flatbush

Kenny Koslowitz: subway system

1996 Richard Wolf, Folk Arts Series 1996:

Indo-Caribbean Music and Dance:

U.S. #1 Tassa Drummers

Singers and dancers from The Shri Ram Mandir (Hindu devotional music and singing)

Singers and dancers from The Rajkumari Center (Indian classical dance)

West African Music, Dance, Storytelling and Crafts:

African Jaliya Kafo (Griot music, dance and storytelling)

Dr. Selina Ahoklui (textile crafts)

Garifuna Dance, Music, Crafts and Folklife:

Ilagulei Garifuna Performing Arts Company (dance and music)

Barbara Nunez (doll and dressmaking)

Chinese Music, Acrobatics, Dance, Drama, Painting and Calligraphy:

Tang Liang-xing and group (traditional instrumental music)

Thomas Fu-Keung Lau (water color painting, poetry, calligraphy)

Qi Shu Fang's Peking Opera Co. (dance, drama and acrobatics)

Brooklyn Children's Museum Grand Reopening:

U.S. #1 Tassa Drummers

Dancers from the Rajkumari Center (stories from Hindu mythology)

The Shri Ram Mandir Kirtan Group (songs from the festival of spring and mandala designs in colored rice)

African Jaliya Jafo (stories, songs and dances rom senegambia, Mail and Guinea)

Brooklyn Children's Museum Breaking Ground; People and Plants:

Ilagulei Garifuna Cultural Performing Arts Company

Barbara Nunez (Garifuna clothing and doll making)

Thomas Fu-Keung Lau (calligraphy and watercolor painting)

Qi Shu Fang's Peking Opera Company

Storytelling Tent, Welcome Back to Brooklyn

Topics include:

Baseball:

Harvey Frommer: New York City Baseball: The Last Golden Age

Carl Price: Brooklyn Dodgers

Sharon Robinson: Stealing Home

Richard Rosenblum: Brooklyn Dodger Days

Historic Brooklyn:

John Gallagher: The Battle of Brooklyn, 1776

Myrna Katz Frommer: It Happened in Brooklyn

Philip Kasinitz: Caribbean New York: Black Immigration and the Politics of Race

1997 Emily Botein, Folk Arts '97:

Pakistani Music and Family Traditions:

Shahid Kabir Ali (singer of qawwali, devotional music of Sufi Muslims)

Anwari Rajput (cooking, sewing, henna wedding traditions)

Yemeni Music, Dancing and Foods for Weddings:

Shoshana Tubi (traditional singer)

Faud Alkebsi (singer and oud player)

Tziona Sharabi (foods for weddings)

Italian Songs and Crafts for the Giglio Feast:

Mark Pezzano (collects and sings giglio songs)

Members of the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (giglio builders)

Africa in the Caribbean: Drumming and Drum Making:

Junior Wedderburn (drum maker and player)

Sekou Jawara (drum maker)

Frisner Augustin (Vodou drumming)

1998 Nancy Groce, BAC Folk Arts Series: Constructing Harmony: Traditional Music and Musical Instrument Making in Brooklyn

Indigenous Music and Musical Instrument Making:

The Manahata Indian Arts Council with Clifford Standing Deer and Ray Elk Silva (demonstrate the making and playing of Indigenous musical instruments)

West Indian Steel Pan Making:

Mickey Enoch, Master Steel Pan "Tuner" (steel pan builder)

Despers U.S.A. Members (steel band performance)

Middle Eastern Music and Musical Instrument Making:

Jules Azzi (violin and oud maker)

Najeeb Shaheen (oud player)

Bassam Saba (ney/violin player)

Russian Music and Musical Instrument Making:

David Chrapkiewicz (Balalaika and violin maker)

Tamara Volskaya (domra player)

Anatoliy Trofimov (bayan/accordion player)

Welcome Back to Brooklyn Festival: Brooklyn Arts Council Tradition Music Stage:

The Kings County Ceili Band with Mat Mancuso (Irish)

Tamara Volskaya and Anatoliy Trofimov with Russian Carnival (Russian)

Desters, U. S. A. (West Indian)

1999 Nancy Groce, BAC Folk Arts Series: Constructing Harmony:

Afro-Cuban Drums, Drum-making and Drumming:

Jay Bereck, Drum-maker and Ensemble

Indo-Caribbean Drums, Drum-making and Drumming:

Ramnarine Sasenairine and Ensemble

West African Drums, Drum-making and Drumming from the Ivory Coast:

Vado Diamande, Master Drummer and Ensemble

Hatian Drums, Drum-making and Drumming:

Frisner Augustin and Members of La Troupe Makandal

Welcome Back to Brooklyn, BAC Stage:

La Troupe Makandal (Afro-Hatian Music and Dance)

Tony Demarco and Donny Goldon (Irish Traditional Music and Dance)

Ray Cruz and Cruz Control (Latin Salsa)

Despers USA (Trinidadian steel pan)

Praise in the Park: Music of Faith Festival

Red Hawk Indian Arts Council

Choir of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Our Lord (liturgical music)

Charlie Sonrey and his All Stars (African American Gospel)

The Word (Spiritually-Inspired Big Band Jazz)

Pizmonim (Middle Eastern music from the Jewish Sephardic Community Center)

The Shri Ram Mandir (Indo-Caribbean Hindu music of praise)

Please note that not every event includes a corresponding file or audiovisual item.