Project Preserves Folk Art and Culture from Brazil to South Korea
April 19, 2017
The LAII is pleased to recognize the ongoing success of the International Business Students Global (IBSG) and their efforts to preserve folk art and culture around the world, from Brazil to South Korea. Under the guidance of their faculty advisor, Dr. Manuel Montoya, the students' efforts began in 2014 in coordination with the FIFA World Cup, and continued from there to the 2016 Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Today, the initiative has only continued to grow and is now set to be held in conjunction with the upcoming Olympic games to be held in South Korea. Dr. Montoya is an Associate Professor of Global Structures and International Management in the Anderson School of Management, and a faculty affiliate of the LAII. His and the students' work was recently featured in the UNM Newsroom, the coverage of which we have reprinted below.
UNM Newsroom: Preserving Culture through Folk Art
Experience art from around the world and support economic empowerment in a unique, locally-designed pop-up marketplace on UNM Campus.
International Business Students Global (IBSG), an honors student organization based at UNM's Anderson School of Management, will host the World Folk Art Movement Pop-Up Market (WFAM) on Friday, April 28 in partnership with UNM's Engineers Without Borders and the College of Fine Arts. It will be open from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. on the Cornell Mall, as part of the Arts Unexpected event.
"Market goers will be able to see, touch, learn about and even take home a piece of handmade work with value beyond the price tag," said Audriana Stark, IBSG board chair. "The Folk Art Market will engage people in the celebration of our diverse cultures and the ways in which our stories are preserved and passed down from generation to generation. After all, each of us defines all of us."
The market is an interactive art installation designed to showcase the theme, #artsaves. It is part of the larger World Folk Art Movement, which demonstrates how folk art can drive socio-economic empowerment and cultural preservation.
A three-dimensional geodesic dome will house the market, and is designed to tell the story of #artsaves through vignettes of local and global folk artists. The structure was created from canvas panels designed by local artists to showcase art's ability to preserve what words alone cannot.
"Art saves culture through passing on tradition; art saves language, music, and craft; art saves families and communities through economic and social development," said Claire Stasiewicz, WFAM project manager. "Also, art saves lives by providing employment and safe spaces for individuals around the world."
The World Folk Art Movement Pop-Up Market at UNM is the first of many installations designed to be replicated at mega-events, specifically the upcoming 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The project is the continuation of the group's emerging economies consulting program that originated with a project in the Brazilian Amazon during the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
To learn more, visit the group's website or watch this mini-documentary:
The World Folk Art Movement from The Brothers Lane on Vimeo.
