Join BAC at our 2nd annual gathering of Brooklyn's traditional artists, traditional arts organizations and the communities they serve as well as teaching artists and educators, funders, elected officials, and other friends of folk and traditional arts. Moderated by BAC Folk Arts Director Kay Turner, this gathering will address ways to preserve, sustain, encourage and expand traditional arts in Brooklyn.

This year, we’ll focus our town hall discussion on Brooklyn traditional artists’ response to Hurricane Sandy. We’ll examine how traditional and immigrant-based communities have been affected by this natural disaster, giving artists a forum to share stories from their own communities around Brooklyn. We’ll also explore how traditional cultures, particularly “water-based” cultures with island roots , use arts to cope, mourn and come together following storms and other disasters.

Folk Arts Day will also introduce BAC’s spring 2013 Harborlore festival, organized by Folk Arts Director Kay Turner. Harborlore: Where the River Meets the Sea in Brooklyn’s Folk Imagination will feature concerts, performances, educational workshops and symposia exploring the role of water in the songs, stories, dances and other artistic traditions of Brooklyn’s diverse communities. At Folk Arts Day, we’ll consider how the themes of Harborlore relate to life after Sandy. 

Following the meeting, a reception will offer camaraderie and food from a variety of Brooklyn's traditional cultures. Dishes will include chicken stew from Ghana, Moroccan couscous, Dominican rice and beans, Bangladeshi pitas, Indian biryani and more. 

Directions

RSVP to kturner@brooklynartscouncil.org

View our video clip from the 1st Annual Brooklyn Folk Arts Day.

Brooklyn Folk Arts Day 2011 from Brooklyn Arts Council on Vimeo.