Dear Invited Friends,
I’d like to invite you to a my upcoming project, currently called Brooklyn Folk [working title].
Background
I have been invited to an artist cohort of the Heritage Ambassador Program, hosted by the Brooklyn Public Library. Through this program, we engage in our own Folk Art-centered practices, and to finally arrive at a public engagement program in the late Fall of this year. I am excited to share that the work created by us will be archived in the Library system, to be available as a timestamp of memory in Brooklyn, New York.
The work I am engaging in focuses on storytelling, and international folk music.
You can see here some of the work I’ve done through storytelling and interviews - some narratives I’ve collected on that page include the stories of artists experiences during quarantine (2020 - ), the eruptions of protests in Iran, and some works in progress. Some of these works have been made into magazines, and featured in international arts festivals as a video compilation.
In the end, I would like to create a compilation of music as a sort of “Brooklyn playlist” showcasing a wide variety of musical thoughts, traditions, and practices that thrive within the Borough.
My public engagement project is focused on international folk music, and storytelling.
I will ask to make recordings of you:
1) performing a piece of folk music of your choosing
While what is Folk Music? is loosely defined, I hope it is a song that will resonate in memory of heritage, upbringing, belonging, celebration or mourning, healing, or otherwise. Maybe it is only instrumental, or purely vocal. Maybe it is a generations-old tune performed in a tradition specific to you, or a modern reworking of one. Perhaps it is a totally new piece that memorializes contemporary moments. Maybe it is a prayer.
2) speaking about your relationship to the piece, or music in general
I’d like to have you share a statement or story of your relationship to music - maybe how your life had you arrive to it, or did music arrive to you? Is it a lifelong pursuit? What do you communicate through music? Is music an ancestral beckoning? Do you ask questions to, or though music? How does music drive you? What or who are you influenced by? Where has it brought you?
3) a photographic portrait
I am a photographer, and would love to share this memory with you as a part of this project we make together!
This project will be presented digitally as a Brooklyn-based playlist.
This music will be available for public download, and your statement piece will be transcribed and sharable online.
In exchange for your time:
- $120 for ~90 minutes of your engagement
- All recorded materials & photos for your use
Timeline
Recordings will be made from July - September at the location of your choosing.
There will be a public reception celebrating your participation and this series on Thu, 26 Oct, 2023, 5PM - 8PM, at the BPL branch across from Barbès in Park Slope — symbolic as a home of rich musical culture in Brooklyn!