Ramadan is celebrated across the Muslim world during the ninth month of the lunar calendar. This year it falls May 5 through June 5. The word Ramadan comes from the Arabic “ramada," to be hot. The month is marked by fasting from sunrise to sunset, nightly prayer, abstaining from bad habits, and celebrating family and community through special …
Archives for May 2019
ARTIFACT: An Unnamed Fishing Vessel
ARTIFACT: An Unnamed Fishing Vessel SIZE: 90 feet FOLKLIFE: Transportation, fishing, migration, art, grief, memorialization by Robin Reineke On April 18, 2015, approximately 1,100 people boarded a nameless fishing vessel designed for a maximum of 15 off the coast of Libya. They had come from Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, …
Youth Stories in Nogales June 6
Join Southwest Folklife Alliance and VozFrontera for a special screening of youth videos on life in Ambos Nogales. Thursday, June 6, 2019 5:30-7:30 Pierson High School Auditorium 451 N. Arroyo Blvd., Nogales, AZ 85621 DocuNogales is a pilot project of VozFrontera, a program of SFA, making culture and heritage in the borderlands more …
Thinking Like a Folklorist: How Writing Docudramas Taught Me to Listen
by Milta Ortiz I came to playwriting from poetry, where I focused on writing from personal experience. When I started writing plays, I carried that along, writing from my own life, throwing in a bit of fiction for dramatic affect. I prided myself in writing dialogue and never considered writing a play based on what people said word-for-word in …
Cuban artist Nereida García-Ferraz visits border communities and artists
Our program to boost cultural activities and bring opportunities to youth and artist in border communities, VozFrontera, got a splash of cultura cubana this spring with a visit from Nereida García-Ferraz, a mixed-media artist who splits her time between Miami and Havana, Cuba. Born in Havana in 1954, Nereida migrated to the United States in …