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CAMPUS INITIATIVES: SILK ROAD ENSEMBLE

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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