Folk & Traditional Arts Program

Need to talk it through?

In addition to the resources listed below, Iowa Arts Council staff is ready and willing to consult with you or your organization about folk & traditional arts ideas, plans, and opportunities. 

Assistance can range from a simple email or phone conversation, to more in-depth consulting.  Reimbursement for travel (at state rates) or staff time (at $25/hour) may be requested for consultations that require substantial time; however we make every effort to keep such costs to a minimum.

For assistance with folk & traditional arts, contact:
Riki Saltzman
Riki.Saltzman@iowa.gov
515-242-6195

Resources

New Iowa Folklife Curriculum Available

The Iowa Arts Council is pleased to announce the debut of Iowa Folklife Volume II., which explores the traditional music, foods, dance, rituals and crafts of Iowa’s diverse cultures. This online resource includes content pages, photos, audio samples, suggested readings, lesson plans, and a variety of online resources for students (k-12) and educators. Use the whole curriculum or just one unit! Enhance your experience by inviting featured traditional artists or those from your community into your classroom. Consult the Folk & Traditional Artists link for each unit, the Iowa Folklife Roster, or Iowa Roots for artist contact information, and apply for an Iowa Arts Council grant for artist fees and other program expenses.

Iowa Folklife: Our People, Communities and Traditions (curriculum guide)

This updated kit (lessons, CD, videos, links, and support material) is available online (click on hotlink above) and in hard copy at all Iowa junior and senior high schools as well as in all senior citizen centers, Iowa college and university history and education departments, State Library, and the State Historical Society of Iowa resource center. The lessons and support materials may be copied for educational purposes only; materials may not be copied and resold for profit.

Iowa Roots

Iowa Roots features stories, music and talk with traditional artists from a variety of ethnic, geographic, occupational and religious groups found in Iowa. Iowa Roots is a production of the Iowa Arts Council and WOI Radio, part of the Iowa Public Radio group and based at Iowa State University in Ames..

Iowa Folk & Traditional Arts Roster

This resource provides contact information for Iowa folk and traditional artists. These artists may be contacted for a variety of public programs about Iowa folklife. Find members of this roster by searching the Iowa Artist Directory.

Iowa State Fare

These 1996 studio recordings feature eight ensembles and one solo performer selected to appear in the Iowa Sesquicentennial program at the Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife. Iowa State Fare showcases the vitality and diversity of the state's musical traditions on the occasion of the celebration of 150 years of Iowa statehood. Scandinavian string band melodies, Meskawaki Indian love songs, gospel harmonies, polkas, old-time fiddling, Mexican folk songs, and blues are some of the vibrant community-based musical traditions presented in this unique collection of Iowa music. The CD booklet features essays, bibliographic information, and lyrics with translations. Produced by Folkways Records, it is available from the Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies at the Smithsonian Institution.

Midwest Folk Festival

This regional festival takes place in different years in Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois. The event features folk and traditional artists from the states involved. The local organizations responsible for the festival each year focus primarily on artists from their host state. These events are funded by State Arts Agencies, the National Endowment for the Arts, and local sponsors.

NINTH ANNUAL MIDWEST FOLK FESTIVAL COMES TO WESTERN ILLINOIS

The ninth annual Midwest Folk Festival returns to historic Bishop Hill, located just west of the Quad Cities in the Illinois’s Henry County, August 1-2, 2009. The Illinois Arts Council and Bishop Hill Heritage Association in conjunction with Company of Folk, the Iowa Arts Council, and Wisconsin Arts Board proudly present this free outdoor event that celebrates diverse cultures and folk artists of the sponsoring states. The once bustling 19th century communal settlement of Bishop Hill preserves a cultural legacy and provides an exciting location for this event. The annual festival has drawn thousands of visitors in its various locations.

The festival will showcase the music and dance styles of a diverse group of ethnic and folk artists from the region. Work created by approximately a dozen artists and showcasing a variety of cultures represented in the Midwest will also be on display. A family area, led by participating festival artists, will offer hands-on activities for children of all ages.

Bahri Karacay of Iowa City will be on of the featured Iowa traditional artists at this festival.

Born in Erzurum, Turkey, Bahri Karacay appeared regularly in annual school folk dance performances from the time he was in second grade. In the sixth grade, he joined Turkey's first children's folk music choir and just after six months, he was performing solo in a sold-out concert organized for the independence day of his hometown At 14, he was hired by the government-owned radio station as part of its Folk Music choir. Some of Bahri’s recordings from those years were placed in the national folk music archives of Turkey.

Bahri took a break from performing to attend college and graduate school in Turkey, Germany, and the U.S. After he earned his Ph.D. from Ohio State University, Karacay formed a band called Turkana, which has toured the U.S. and Canada, and was featured on National Public Radio.

Now a pediatric neurology researcher at Children's Hospital at the University of Iowa, Bahri also plays with a variety of bands in Iowa City; he is also the nucleus for the new Turkana, with renewed emphasis toward performance and composition of Turkish popular music.

Karacay’s instrument of choice, the saz, resembles a lute with a long neck and is similar to an Arabic ’ud or an Indian tambura. Played throughout the Middle East, the saz traveled to those parts of Europe under Ottoman rule.  This solo instrument is used most frequently to accompany love songs, and, for immigrants, songs about their homeland. It is also used partly in religious (Sufi) music as well as to accompany Turkish folk dancers. The is saz is a symbol of Turkish traditional music, though today, it is also played with a variety of other traditional (and not so traditional) instruments in popular bands.

When Bahri Karacay plays his saz and sings, his deep connection to his music is transparent. He plays for the sheer joy his music brings him.

For more of Karacay’s music and talk about his music go to his website (www.bahrikaracay.com) or Iowa Roots (http://www.iowaartscouncil.org/programs/folk-and-traditional-arts/iowa-roots/season-three/bahri-karacay.shtml)

For more information about the 2009 Midwest Folk Festival in Bishop Hill, Illinois, contact Susan Dickson, Director of Ethnic and Folk Arts, Illinois

Arts Council by phone 312/814-6740 or email susan.dickson@illinois.gov. For more information on Bishop Hill, visit www.bishophill.com, www.visithenrycounty.com, or www.bishophillartscouncil.com.

Cultural Organizations and Translators – Resource List

This listing provides dozens of names of individuals and organizations providing helpful connections to cultural communities in Iowa: African, European, Asian, African American, American Indian, Latino, and more.

New Immigrants and Refugees

Iowa has become a place of refuge for many culture groups. Their presence offers Iowans a unique opportunity to learn about diversity, new customs, and traditions. The unique cultures in our societies are often misunderstood, however, making it difficult for newcomers to adapt to their American homeland.

Some of the immigrants and refugees who are working hard to make Iowa home include Afghanis, Asian Indians, Bosnians, Iraqis, Latinos (Colombians, Cubans, Salvadorans, Guatemalans, Mexicans, Nicaraguans, Peruvians), Pakistanis, Russians, Somalis, Southeast Asians (Tai Dam, Vietnamese, Lao, Cambodians, Hmong), Sudanese (Nuer, Shilluk, Maban, Dinka).

We can:

• provide information on traditional beliefs, dance, foods, medicine, foods, gender roles, holidays, music, religion, religious prohibitions, rites of passage, and cultural differences
• assist with diversity training, ethnic community tours, event planning (for culture days, diversity days, folklife festivals and community tours),
• identify speakers on a variety of cultural issues, identify traditional artists, and make translation referrals.

Iowa State Archives

The Iowa State Archives serves as the custodian of a special collection of Iowa Folklife materials.

Publications on Iowa Folklife

Other folklife publications are available in the State Historical Society of Iowa Library.

Folklife on the Web

Visit TAPNET to learn about other interesting programs in the field of folklife. A number of resources are available for those interested in tradition bearers, traditional music, archival materials, and folklife in general. http://tapnet.org/link.htm

The Educational Cyber Playground

The Educational Cyber Playground offers many great resources for educators using the traditional arts.  www.edu-cyberpg.com

Ongoing Research

Research on Iowa Folklife is a continuing process. If there are traditions that should be documented, please contact the Iowa Folklife coordinator.