ACTA从我们的1,000例传统艺术实践案例研究, is that the practice of gathering lies central to most cultural communities in the State of California, whether it is a Karuk community uniting to engage in a White Deer Ceremony, 一群奇卡诺人和墨西哥人参与 胡闹jarocho或者人们聚在一起庆祝中国农历新年. We have seen the incredible energy that goes into organizing these events, the powerful engagement that occurs at the event and the wonderful impact on people’s lives, 社区结合, 社区桥梁. It is for that reason that ACTA works to promote and advocate the practice of gathering in a significant and rich manner.
On August 16, 2015, ACTA gathered a group of Bay Area traditional artists and practitioners from the 生活文化资助计划 (LCGP)和 学徒计划 (AP) at the historical Heyday Books office in Berkeley, California. The meeting was to provide a chance to check in on the work that they are doing, 认识其他获奖者, and to partake in a discussion around traditional arts and storytelling. 这是ACTA在世界贸易组织的支持下举办的年度活动 沃尔特和伊莉斯·哈斯基金 以及他们的项目主管弗朗西斯·菲利普斯, who ACTA would like to thank for affirming our efforts and intentions.
ACTA要感谢所有出席会议的人, especially the traditional artists that contributed by demonstrating their art practice, 比如Ziya艺术中心的Arash Shirinbab, 谁现在是艺术大师的学徒 穆罕默德Bazargan 在ACTA 2015年的AP中，在波斯书法艺术中. 对于活动, Shirinbab shared that he is “learning this new style… it’s actually not 新风格 its almost 600 year old.” In comparison to the rich history of calligraphy, the ancient style known as Nastaliq is 新风格. 纳斯塔利克是一种非常复杂的风格, which becomes apparent in the manner which brushes or writing elements are used to develop degrees of brush strokes to give more nuance to lettering. Shirinbab interpreted an excerpt of an ancient poem by the Iranian poet Sa’adi (Shirazi), about the connectedness of human beings that is written in the Hall of Nations at the United Nations, 翻译为:
亚当的子孙是彼此的肢体，
由一个本质创造的.
当时间的灾难影响了一条腿
其他的四肢不能静止.
如果你对别人的困难没有同情心，
你不配被冠以人类的名字.
人们对这件作品的反应是无声的着迷, as the young calligrapher gracefully maneuvered a small writing brush over a large piece of art paper to create the visually stunning poem.
A second sharing of art was provided by the 好吧-known African American quilter 马里昂科尔曼 和她的徒弟奥拉·克莱, both of whom are members of the African American Quilt Guild of Oakland, 也在2015年的AP中. 艺术家们展示了克莱的作品 法院台阶 in which the apprentice was pushed by Coleman to think bigger around one of the basic patterns of quilting called the “block.“粘土, 利用步骤的主题, 形成了一种重复的模式，对步骤有影响, 金字塔, 钻石, 方形很能唤起人们的共鸣. 这篇文章的灵感来自于这个历史案例 布朗和. 教育委员会, and as a first time competitor in the Alameda County Fair in textile arts, 克莱因这项工作获得一等奖. The quilt stood approximately 5 feet high and 4 feet wide and integrted different types of fabrics, 当仔细观察时，会产生奇妙的纹理. 法院台阶 also integrated appliques with the names of the lawyers and the names of the plaintiffs of the cases leading up to 布朗和. 教育委员会, 还有一个黑白相间的洋娃娃, 参考案例研究, 肯尼斯·B的“娃娃测试. Clark and Mamie Phipps Clark that influenced the decision of the case. Coleman clarified that this quilt is a story quilt that would be hung on a wall rather than used as a bed cover. 不过, 功能性的床罩被子通常也有故事, 因为它们是回收材料的汇编, 家人的裤子, 衬衫, 或者是为人们索引记忆的窗帘.
The gathered group right away engaged in a discussion about the significance of storytelling in their art forms, 以及维持故事的重要性, 历史, 以及他们实践的文化表达所蕴含的意义. We first responded to Clay’s quilt and how this textile reached and opened personal memories and historical comprehension of the Civil Rights Movement and of the actual case, 用不同的方式对不同的人产生共鸣. 对于一个参与者, 她回忆起她小时候的情景, seeing a film on the “doll test” study and how the film resonated throughout her life. 讨论取得了各种各样的成果, from an acknowledgement of how deeply inherent history is in the forms of music and art that people practice, to asking hard questions of how do people rigid in the traditional practices connect with others that practice the same forms with the intention of innovating the forms, to recognizing how traditional arts and practices help us position ourselves in our communities and society and formulate a huge part of our identity.
这些类型的聚会, in where people are able to share experiences and have horizontal dialogue with each other, always leave those attending with much affinity and affirmation about the work they do. 这次特别会议做到了这一点, but it also left a sense of affirmation that there is a wonderful future for traditional arts, 作为聚会中最年轻的参与者, 茱莉亚金, 14岁的学徒 Kyong-il昂他是韩国舞蹈和击鼓大师，他说:
“I think that Ong sensei, which is teacher, she is really responsible for a Korean culture diaspora. 因为如果你仔细想想, how many times have you heard of Korean dance or even seen Korean dance?… We are lucky enough to be in a place that is accepting of other cultures… like a salad bowl of all these cultures living together. And my teacher is really responsible for reclaiming the Korean name, 有点像传播它，让它为人所知. 我的妈妈, the reason that she put me in Korean dance was because she actually met my teacher when she was 19 years old, 在她成名之前, 在她参加奥运会之前, 在所有这些之前. 我的妈妈 really fell in love with the Korean drum because of my teacher… and then she put me in Korean dance, 这对我这个韩裔美国人很有帮助, 找回我的韩国人身份, 连接到一种文化和遗产, 好吧, 有些礼物, 我不能完全连接到, 你知道, 我不在韩国, 但它帮助我找回了我的根. 我想她对所有的学生都这么做, even if they are half Korean or even if they just like Korean culture… and for her audience especially… to have an understanding of what Korean culture is because it is very rare and it is evolving a lot, 所以传统文化必须得到保护.”