A Symposium: Garifuna Popular Music and Arts as Identity -- Contemporizing the Traditional Monday, April 14 - Sunday, April 20, 2008 Schedule of Events
Garifuna Art Exhibit Monday, April 14 - Sunday, April 20 Rialto Lobby Monday-Friday 10 AM-4:30 PM Free	Watercolor paintings by Greg Palacio
Garifuna Film Series Tuesday, April 15 - Thursday, April 17 Auburn Avenue Research Library 12 PM Free Film Schedule & Descriptions	Films on Garifuna history, cultural practices, music, and processional rites
Garifuna Demonstration and Discussion Friday, April 18 Rialto Lobby 1 PM - 2 PM Free	Garifuna Collective & Umalali with Aurelio Martinez and Lloyd Augustine Garifuna Musicians perform various styles of traditional music and explain how such music is transformed into arrangements of popular music
Drumming Master Class Friday, April 18 Haas Howell Building, Room 150 2:15 PM - 3:15 PM Free	Garifuna Percussion Music A master class for students of Georgia State University and the general public
Lecture Presentations Saturday, April 19 Rialto Lobby 11 AM Free More Info.	"It's a Global Thing, Now" - Cultural Iconicity and Transnational Garifuna Identity - Preserving the Traditional through the Popular Lectures by researchers of Garifuna culture and music will examine how popular music and musicians help preserve cultural identity locally and across national borders
Panel Discussions Saturday, April 19 Rialto Lobby 1:30 PM Free Panelists Info.	Reflections on Andy Palacio The Commodification of Culture: Punta as Preservation and Profit Reflections on the life and influence of the late Andy Palacio will be followed by dialogue on the performing arts as a commodity and as a tool of cultural preservation
Pre-show Lecture Saturday, April 19 Rialto Lobby 7:00 PM Free	Michael Stone, Cultural Anthropologist, Princeton University
A Tribute to Andy Palacio Saturday, April 19 Rialto Center for the Arts at Georgia State 8 PM More Info.	featuring The Garifuna Collective and Umalali special guests: Aurelio Martinez & Lloyd Augustine
Reception Sunday, April 20 2:00 PM Free Auburn Avenue Research Library	Meet and Greet Garifuna Musicians & Film Makers A reception for members of the Garifuna Collective, Umalali, Aurelio Martinez, Lloyd Augustine, and filmmakers whose works have been presented during the symposium

This project is supported by the Georgia Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities and through appropriations from the Georgia General Assembly.

Presented by the Georgia State University's School of Music, Rialto Center for the Arts, Office of Student Life and Leadership/Intercultural Relations, and the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African-American Culture and History

Garifuna Film Series

Tuesday, April 15 - Thursday, April 17

Tuesday, 12 PM - The Garifuna Journey
by Andrea Leland & Kathy Berger

The Garifuna Journey is a voice testimony of the history, the language, food, music, dance, spirituality, and resiliency of the Garifuna people. The Garifuna are descendants of African and Arawak-Carib ancestors who fought to resist slavery and to maintain their homeland on St. Vincent Island in the eastern Caribbean. For this love of freedom, they were exiled by the British in 1797 to Central America. Shot entirely in Belize, the filmmakers worked closely with Garifuna tradition bearers, anthropologists, and cultural activists during the research, scripting, production, and editing phases of this project. For additional information see: www.newday.com/films/GarifunaJourney.html

Wednesday, 12 PM - Play, Jankuna, Play: The Garifuna Wanaragua Ritual...
by Oliver Greene

One of the most popular Garifuna rituals is wanaragua, a three-fold system of masked Christmas processionals called Jankunú that is a unique blend of African, European, and Arawak and Carib art traditions. As dancers adorn themselves in colorful regalia to mimic past foreign oppressors they symbolically affirm their identity. In Play, Jankunu Play, descriptions of the three processions and dance styles are interspersed with interviews by Garifuna singers, drummers, dancers, cultural advocates, and scholars on the significance of rituals. Images of similar processionals in other locations include masquerade traditions in the Caribbean, North America, and England, and West Africa. For additional linformation see: www.der.org/films/play-jankunu-play.html

Thursday, 12 PM - The Garifuna -- An Enduring Spirit
by Robert Flanagan & Suzan Al-Doghachi

Set to the rhythm of traditional paranda music, this intimate documentary reveals Garifuna culture through the daily lives of these charismatic people of southern Belize. The Garifuna are the descendants of shipwrecked Africans and the Arawak-Carib  of St. Vincent Island. With the voices of their ancestors and the eternal rhythm of the drums to guide them, the Garifuna continue an unbroken and unique heritage with their own language, religion and
music.  This documentary features performances by paranderos Paul Nabor, Junior Aranda, and Gabaga Williams, and interviews with local Belizeans about significance of this musical art form. For additional information see: www.ajaxfilms.com/lasso

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Lecture Presentations

Saturday, April 19

11 AM - Punta in Office: The "Politics" of Garifuna Popular Music
with Oliver Greene

11:30 AM - Garifuna Global Groove
with Michael Stone

12:15 PM - UNESCO Proclamations & Popular Identity
Joe Palacio, Keynote Address

1 PM - Lunch Provided
Reservations Required - Rialto Box office 404-413-9TIX (9849)

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Panel Discussions

Saturday, April 19
1:30 PM - 2 PM

Moderator - Leslie Gordon
Director, Rialto Center for the Arts at Georgia State University

Oliver Greene
Ethnomusicologist, Georgia State University

Andrea Leland
Independent Filmmaker, Chicago/Virgin Islands

Greg Palacio
Painter, Los Angeles

Joe Palacio
Cultural Anthropologist, Belize

Michael Stone
Cultural Anthropologist, Princeton University

 

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Venue Locations

Rialto Center for the Arts at Georgia State University
80 Forsyth Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30303
(on the southwest corner of Forsyth and Luckie Streets)
Box Office Phone:404-413-9TIX (9849)
For directions see: http://www.rialtocenter.org/directions/index.html

Haas Howell Building, Room 150
75 Poplar Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30303
(Ground floor, on the northwest corner of Forsyth and Poplar Streets)

Auburn Avenue Research Library on African-American Culture and History
101 Auburn Avenue NE, Atlanta, GA 30303.  404-730-4001
(On the southeast corner of Courtland Avenue and Auburn Avenue)

 

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