A Folklife Festival for Newfoundland and Labrador: Issues in the Presentation of Culture in Festival Events

The intern will work with the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL) on a research project to create a model for an annual Intangible Cultural Heritage Folklife Festival. The student will organize and oversee a one‐day festival, and will focus on creating a framework for appropriate cultural presentations following a festival format, sensitive to the needs of grassroots cultural groups. The student will prepare an organizational manual which will discuss details about choices made for performance contexts, issues of choosing presenters for the performances and demonstrations, and issues of repertoire, performance styles, and audience expectations. The event will be documented through still and video photography, and archived through Memorial’s Digital Archives Initiative. The development of a framework for appropriate cultural presentations, and research leading to a manual for community development of folklife festivals, will be of immediate relevance to HFNL in developing an annual provincial folklife festival.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Gerald Pocius

Student:

Ryan Davis

Partner:

Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador

Discipline:

Other

Sector:

Education

University:

Memorial University of Newfoundland