Spotlighting Traditional Cultures in Oregon, Feb. 7

EUGENE, Ore. – (February 5, 2020) – The Museum of Natural and Cultural History’s Oregon Folklife Network has partnered with Romania’s Alexandru Stefulescu Gorj County Museum to develop a cultural exchange project focused on indigenous and place-based traditions. Funded through an award from the Communities Connecting HeritageSM program, the project will culminate with public programs at the Gorj County Museum in Târgu Jiu, Romania in April and at the University of Oregon’s museums and Knight Library in May. Communities Connecting HeritageSM is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. government and administered by World Learning. The Oregon-Romania project represents one of six international efforts supported by the program this year. Each of six U.S.-based organizations was matched with an overseas counterpart during initial training and has since been collaborating to develop public presentations and online products. “World Learning is proud to be part of the Communities Connecting Heritage program and support these exchanges, which promote mutual understanding and international ties through experiential learning and the arts,” said Cari Graves, World Learning’s director of youth global exchanges. “We look forward to welcoming 12 diverse cultural organizations and dozens of participants from across the globe in the coming cycle.” Titled Exploring Indigeneity, Place, Traditions, and Transmission, the Oregon-Gorj County (Romania) project will examine women’s traditions of regalia making and storytelling in Pacific Northwest Native American cultures as well as Romanian traditional folk costumes, rug weaving, icon painting, and woodcarving. Participants include Oregon indigenous artists Roberta Kirk (Wasco bead and shellwork/regalia) and Esther Stutzman (Coos/Kalapuya storytelling and language revitalization); Romanian traditional artists from the Oltenia region; Florin Gheorghiu (Byzantine Icon Painting, wood carving); and Filomela Sirbu-Tristere (traditional clothing/embroidery and loom weaving). Students from the University of Oregon and from Gorj colleges and high schools will be actively involved throughout this six-month project—learning about cultural traditions, documenting traditional artists, collaborating with staff and artists to plan public programs, and developing digital products such as podcasts or virtual exhibits. “Our staff is extremely excited about this partnership with Oregon native culture keepers, Romanian traditional artists, and students. It represents a unique opportunity to collaborate with our sister museum in Gorj and to support student-conducted research and program development—live and virtual,” said Riki Saltzman, Oregon Folklife Network‘s executive director. “It’s a great example of students and artists working together to tackle challenging issues around decolonization, intangible cultural heritage, cultural documentation, and representation of living traditions.”