Smithsonian Folklife Festival
On the Move:
Migration and Immigration Today
The Basque and California programs invite visitors to reflect on how immigration and migration impact their lives today in the activity and presentation tent, On the Move: Migration and Immigration Today.
Here we consider the journeys of our communities—their struggles, hopes, and resilience. We reflect on such questions as: how do we define ourselves? How does moving change this? Where is “home”? How do we connect the traditions of past generations with those of new communities? What happens to those who have been left behind? How might we help others immigrating or migrating today? If forced to move, what would we do and what would we take? How would we cope with the challenges of migration and immigration?
Join a conversation—in person and via social media—about historical and contemporary immigration experiences and issues. Attend a workshop on collecting family histories. Participate in a poetry slam or a sing-along which conveys the immigrant experience through verse and music. Tell and listen to stories as visitors share their personal narratives. Learn where you can you can contribute to your community’s stories. Map your own experience of being “on the move” in our tent on the National Mall, and then see visitors’ stories incorporated onto a digital world map in the Arts and Industries Building.
Presentations and activities are led by our partners and special guests, including the Alliance for California Traditional Arts, American Anthropological Association, American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, Basque Library of the University of Nevada, Basque Museum and Cultural Center, National Museum of American History, Radio Bilingüe, storyteller Noa Baum, and others.
WORKSHOP TOPICS
On the Move
Objects, coping, traditions, gardens, food, poetry
Tell Your Story
Lean how to do an oral narrative, postcards from the Textile Museum, making stories concrete
Music on the Move
Basque American music, music of loss and found, learning to adapt, blues
Becoming a Citizen
Naturalization experiences, preparing for the test
Challenges of Living in Multiple Communities
Iraqi Kurd community, voices of young adults, mixed marriages
Forced Migration
Japanese American experience, Chinese American experience
Children and Immigration
Operation Pedro Pan, Kindertransport, Dreamers
Check back for a complete schedule in June
Blog Posts
What is it like to be an immigrant?
The experiences of people moving to and within the United States makes up the evolving texture of the American landscape.
Storyteller Noa Baum
Noa uses the power of storytelling, an age-old performance art, to help people cope with the challenges of moving to a new community.