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| Sunday on the Mall Each year the Smithsonian sponsors a Folklife Festival that is held right on the Mall in DC. This year's theme is the Silk Road Project. I had heard it was quite good so Jim and I went down on Sunday. It was impressive! We took pictures and wanted to share them and the cultural experience.. |
| A little background information about the Silk Road: |
| Most of the activities were set up in tents or covered with awnings. Some of the tents were covered with fabric facades such as this one below. I believe this one represents Samarkand, Uzbekistan, said to be one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. |
| The Ceramics Courtyard For centuries, porcelain production was known only by Chinese potters, later to be imitated across the Asian continent, and around the world. |
| I thought it was amazing that they did such delicate painting with such large brushes. What steady hands! |
| Many of the artists were older, but some were young also. |
| The Silk Grove Here we saw Indian and Uzbek silk weavers. Syrian weavers made brocades using a Jacquard loom. |
| Everything was quite colorful! |
| This loom was huge! |
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| This man was a stone carver. Can you imagine squatting like this all day? |
| Istanbul Crossroads This miniture of the Hagia Sophia was beautiful. The Hagia Sophia is said to embody the complexity of the Silk Road history. It was orginially a church, than a mosque, and now a museum. |
| This Indian woman was doing embroidery - no design or lines to follow! |
| This young man was making a Chinese style banjo. We later heard them playing this type of instrument. Sounded just like our American banjos - just played differently. |
| We saw a few cooking demonstrations, but you could not buy or eat this food (food sanitation nightmare I was told!). They did sell food at the Italian Trattoria, the Afghan Caravanserai, the Chinese Kitchen, and the Japanese Inn. |
| Hope you enjoyed your visit to the Smithsonian Silk Road Project. To learn more click on these web sites: www.silkroadproject.org/smithsonian www.silkroadproject.org www.folklife.si.edu |
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