SILK ROAD PROJECT 2008
Members of cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk
Road Ensemble will be in residence at RISD again in 2008. Silk Road Ensemble storyteller Ben Haggarty and four musicians will be on
campus working with students from February 18-23 and again from May
13-21. A larger group of Ensemble members will be on campus in April for a
family concert presented in the RISD Auditorium on Sunday, April 6.
This year's residency involves the
spring semester course Folktales in the Digital Age, an interdisciplinary
class that combines writing, picture-making, music and performance.
Co-taught by RISD Illustration Professor Judy Sue Goodwin-Sturges and English Department Lecturer Jenn Brandt, the class will enable RISD students to work with storyteller Haggerty
and several Silk Road musicians in exploring traditional folktales,
the elements of story and storytelling across a variety of media. During
the latter part of the semester, students will develop individual projects
that will culminate in a public performance with this core group on
May 20.
These annual residencies provide members of the Silk Road Ensemble the opportunity to work with RISD students
and faculty in exploring cross-cultural and interdisciplinary artistic
expression through workshops centered on music, storytelling, art and
other cultural traditions. The 2007 residency focused on two performance
pieces-in-progress: Indigo, which traced the evolution and cultural
migration of the dye, and Blue & White, which explored the
development of the ceramics characteristic of regions along the Silk
Road. Musicians worked with students and faculty in a Textiles course
exploring the uses and creation of indigo dyes and in a Ceramics course
focused on the age-old tradition of white and cobalt-glazed porcelain
ware. During the residency, the musicians also developed and rehearsed
both performance pieces in anticipation of their public debuts in Chicago.
The 2007 residency culminated in a public screening of the 1926 animated
silhouette film The Adventures of Prince Achmed, with a score
composed and performed live by the Silk Road Ensemble.
In 2006 and 2007, RISD students in
Graphic Design, Industrial Design and Interior Architecture also worked
with Ernesto Aparicio, a critic in the Graphic Design Department, to
develop portable set designs for the Silk Road Ensemble's performances
throughout the world. They presented their ideas for traveling sets
to the Silk Road Board of Directors at a January 2007 meeting in Boston
(see gallery of images above).
The ensemble is part of the Silk Road Project, a not-for-profit arts, cultural and educational
organization founded by Ma in 1998 to promote innovation and learning
through the arts. Its name and focus stems from the migration of art
and ideas along the Silk Road, the historic trade route that connected
the people and cultural traditions of Asia and Europe. The fusion of
fine arts, design, music and storytelling facilitated through RISD’s
partnership with Silk Road underscores the philosophy of both organizations
about the value of global exchange: “When we enlarge our view of
the world we also deepen our understanding of our own lives and culture,"
Ma says.”Through this journey of discovery, [we hope] to plant
the seeds of new artistic and cultural growth, and to celebrate living
traditions and musical voices throughout the world.”
Ford Motor Company is a Global Corporate
Partner to the Silk Road Project as part of its longstanding tradition
of arts education support.
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