Silk Road Festival showcases culture

Bloomington residents and students will have the opportunity to travel halfway around the world and experience the cultures of Central Asia without even leaving Kirkwood Avenue this weekend. Saturday The annual Silk Road Bayram will take place in conjunction with several IU summer programs Saturday and Sunday.\nThe heart of the Bayram (a Turkic word meaning "festival") will take place Sunday afternoon from 3-5 p.m. at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. At the festival, the highly regarded Silk Road Ensemble will perform, along with an array of other artists from around the world.\n"(The Silk Road Festival) is an exciting event for Bloomington because it's a small town; it exposes people to the beautiful and unique cultures of the world in a hands-on way," said Graduate assistant and employee of the Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center Aimee Dobbs. "There are many things in one short weekend."\nFor the extra curious, however, the Silk Road Festival is not just a two-hour concert. Saturday evening from 7-8 p.m., IU professor and Silk Road director Shahyar Daneshgar and visiting kamancha artist Mr. Imamyar Hasanov will be giving a lecture/demonstration on "The Anatomy of Mugham." Mugham is a kind of music typical of Azerbaijan and the east; it will be a central focus of Sunday's Bayram. Unlike the rest of the weekend's Silk Road events, Saturday's instructional demonstration will take place in Sweeney Hall, room 015.\nIn addition to a rich musical program, the Festival will feature an extra cultural component before the concert on Sunday. An hour before Silk Road takes the stage, beginning at 2 p.m., booths from all the countries of the geographical Silk Road will be set up at the Buskirk-Chumley.\nThose wishing to learn more about the countries ranging from Turkey to China can arrive in the mid-afternoon to sample a cultural buffet of Asia. Though there may not be actual food served, patrons can see traditional clothing, crafts, and artifacts from featured countries. Booths are being set up chiefly by the professors and students of IU's summer workshop in Slavic and Eastern/Central Asian languages.\nSome participants in the workshop are returning summer students who attended the event last year. Known as one of the biggest events of the summer to many of the language workshops, the Silk Road Festival is anticipated by both those who have been and those who have not.\n"Last year, the (musical group) Silk Road was exceptional," said Scott Bailey, workshop participant and student of Kazakh. "The conference on music and demonstration were very interesting because they talked about music theory and had (many) different instruments; it was a lot of fun."\nAfter the lectures, demonstrations, and intercultural displays, the main draw of the festival will finally begin -- its infectious music. As well as the talented Silk Road group, renowned kamancha artist Imamyar Hasanov will be making his Bloomington debut. The kamancha is a stringed instrument comparable to a violin, and it is frequently featured in eastern music. Hasanov is very highly regarded in his art, and Bloomington is extremely fortunate that he has responded to invitations from IU departments and cultural organizations.\nThe Silk Road Ensemble in itself is said to be a very passionate and gifted group. Incorporating different types of sounds, such as strings and percussion, the band sings and dances to enhance their performance. \n"Our professor dances and plays the drums for 'Silk Road' -- he'll even occasionally play the guitar in class. He did it during our midterm," said workshop participant and student of Azeri Deon Burchett. \nDr. Shahyar Daneshgar, director of the Silk Road festival, also shared his thoughts on the relevance of the festival to Bloomington.\n"After the firebombing, the concert is a great way to show that Bloomington is an open and cultured community and also to display the art of the Muslim world," he said.\nAll Silk Road events taking place this weekend are free of charge, but anyone who is still unsure about attending can visit www.silkroadensemble.com or www.usacc.org/kamancha/. The latter Web site features audio samples of kamancha music.