A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to view a remarkable exhibit of photographs made by Cedric Chatterley and the images have not left my mind.  A few of the photographs came from the Barbara Lau and Cedric Chatterley Collection (#20025), a phenomenal collection of interviews, photographs, and manuscript materials documenting the lives and culture of South East Asian immigrants to North Carolina. Lau and Chatterley’s collaborative ethnographic work with their consultants from the Cambodian communities in North Carolina resulted in an incredibly rich and informative body of materials and we are honored to be the repository.  Details on the exhibit, on view until June 29 at the Durham Public Library follow below.   Have a great weekend.

North Carolina at Work: Cedric Chatterley’s Portraits and Landscapes of Traditional Labor

An exhibition organized by the North Carolina Folklife Institute:

On display April 29 —June 29, 2012

Location: Durham County Main Library (300 N Roxboro)

Free and Open to the public

Chatterley’s photographs depict North Carolinians at work and the landscapes that surround them. At-work images in their lived environment evokes a strong sense of place that many North Carolinians feel, and visitors expect to experience. This exhibition will foster conversations about the relationship between work, the environment/place, identity, and community.

Drawn from the NCFI archives, these images spring from projects undertaken by the Folklife Institute and the Folklife Program of the North Carolina Arts Council.

This exhibit is curated by Liz Lindsey, with curatorial assistance by students in the “Mount a Real Documentary Photography Exhibit” continuing studies class course at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University.  Co-sponsored by Durham County Library and the Center for Documentary Studies

http://www.durhamcountylibrary.org/

http://cds.aas.duke.edu/

Supported by the North Carolina Arts Council and the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation

http://www.ncarts.org/

http://www.marydukebiddlefoundation.org/

The North Carolina Folklife Institute is also supported by the National Endowment for the Arts. Its archive projects are supported in part by a grant from the Visual Resource Association Foundation.

http://www.arts.gov/

http://www.vrafoundation.org/

“Mount a Real Documentary Photography Exhibit” continuing studies course at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, (April 7 —April 28, 2012)

Organized by the North Carolina Folklife Institute, supporting the People’s Arts since 1974 • http://www.ncfolk.org/

It has been a pleasure to have filmmaker and Folkstreams founder Tom Davenport working in the Southern Folklife Collection Ben Jones Film and Video Studio this week. Tom, along with the assistance of folklorist T. C. Owens, has been working through the original 16mm outtakes from the 1986 film, A Singing Stream. The entire documentary, which chronicles the lives of the Landis family of Granville, North Carolina, can be viewed at Folkstreams.net.

With interviews and stories, and scenes from daily life, reunions, gospel concerts, and church services, the film traces the history of the Landis family, highlighting the role of traditional acapella gospel singing in their relationships with each other and their community.  Particularly featured are performances by her sons’ gospel quartet The Golden Echoes.

Tom is looking at the original footage to see what scenes might be incorporated into a new film, tentatively titled Son of Singing Stream. Judging from his work here over the past three days, we can’t wait to see the results.

For more information about Tom Davenport’s films and A Singing Stream, see the following collections in the SFC:

• Tom Davenport Papers (#20025)
• Folkstreams.net Collection (#20384)
• Daniel W. Patterson and Beverly Bush Patterson Papers, 1775-2001 (bulk 1964-2001) (#20026)

We often have banjos on the mind here at the SFC and having recently pulled out some of  our favorite Earl Scruggs LPs we thought it might be nice to share a track.  Enjoy some “Jazzing” from the 1967 Columbia LP, Strictly Instrumental, call no. FC-18002. 

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The life of the late musician, documentarian, and scholar Mike Seeger will be celebrated with a tribute concert and lecture at the Wilson Special Collections Libraryon March 23, 2012.

Seeger, co-founder of the folk revival group the New Lost City Ramblers, died in 2009. He was a member of the famous Seeger folk family, along with musician siblings Pete and Peggy Seeger and their musicologist parents Charles and Ruth Crawford Seeger.

The 6:30 p.m. concert will feature musicians who performed with or were influenced by Seeger: John Cohen (a co-founder of the Ramblers), Alice Gerrard, Ginny Hawker, andTracy Schwarz.

Prior to the concert, historian and author Bill C. Malone will give a 5:30 p.m. lecture on his new biography, Music from the True Vine: Mike Seeger’s Life & Musical Journey (UNC Press, 2011). At 6 p.m., Malone will moderate a panel discussion with the concert performers.

Malone, an emeritus professor of history at Tulane University, is known for his studies of Southern folk and country music. Music from the True Vine presents Seeger as a gatekeeper of American roots music and culture, showing why generations of musicians and fans of traditional music regard him as a mentor and an inspiration.

Seeger recorded almost forty albums and was nominated for six Grammy Awards, including three for solo work. He also interviewed and produced field recordings of traditional musicians. The National Endowment for the Arts honored him with a National Heritage Fellowshipin 2009.

The program is sponsored by the Southern Folklife Collection in Wilson Library, which holds the collected papers of Mike Seeger, as well as those of Gerrard and Malone. The Friends of the Library and UNC Press are program co-sponsors.

Books will be available for sale and signing, courtesy of the Bull’s Head Bookshop.

Please join us.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Wilson Special Collections Library, Pleasants Family Assembly Room
5:30 p.m. Lecture by Bill C. Malone
6 p.m. Panel discussion with Bill C. Malone, John Cohen, Alice Gerrard, Ginny Hawker, and Tracy Schwarz
6:30 p.m. Concert featuring John Cohen, Alice Gerrard, Ginny Hawker, and Tracy Schwarz
Free and open to the public
Information: Liza Terll, Friends of the Library, (919) 548-1203