Staten Island Arts

From June through September the COAHSI Folklife program will present “The Mobile Heritage Project:Living culture in your neighborhood” (MHP), a series of free interactive program (workshops, demonstrations, performances, and symposium) that will circulate traditional art forms— (folktales, drum, dance, food, poetry, oral history, language)—in highly visible, open air, and accessible public spaces in the center of our island’s daily life.  From the mountains of Atlantic Salt, to the FDR boardwalk, the MHP will explore the process of movement and circulation that expressions from Liberia, Sri Lanka, Puerto Rico, Ireland, and Mexico confront as they grace our island’s everyday life. The program will culminate with a symposium at the Port Richmond Library’s historic Chimes Theater and will explore how we can move these important cultural ecosystems safely into the 21^st century, together.  This program was sponsored in part by Con Edison, the Nicotra Foundation, and the New York State Council on the Arts.
From June through September the COAHSI Folklife program will present “The Mobile Heritage Project: Living culture in your neighborhood” (MHP), a series of free interactive program (workshops, demonstrations, performances, and symposium) that will circulate traditional art forms— (folktales, drum, dance, food, poetry, oral history, language)—in highly visible, open air, and accessible public spaces in the center of our island’s daily life.  From the mountains of Atlantic Salt, to the FDR boardwalk, the MHP will explore the process of movement and circulation that expressions from Liberia, Sri Lanka, Puerto Rico, Ireland, and Mexico confront as they grace our island’s everyday life. The program will culminate with a symposium at the Port Richmond Library’s historic Chimes Theater and will explore how we can move these important cultural ecosystems safely into the 21^st century, together.  This program was sponsored in part by Con Edison, the Nicotra Foundation, and the New York State Council on the Arts.

Calendar of Events

Live From the Poem Mobile @ LUMEN: Video Art and Performance Festival
Saturday · June 23 · 6-11pm · Atlantic Salt (561 Richmond Terrace) Staten Island, New York
Bowery Arts + Science and City Lore will be collaborating with COAHSI Folklife’s “Mobile Heritage Project” to present a selection of poetry, projections, and music from Staten Island’s Sri Lankan, Liberian, and Mexican communities.

Bards & Bomba on the Boardwalk: Exploring rhythms and connections from Mali to Puerto Rico
Saturday ·July 14· 2 – 4pm · FDR Boardwalk South Beach (Gazebo)
A musical dialogue between Puerto Rican Bomba musician—Jose Ocasio, and Kora musician and Griot from Mali –Salieu Suso.

Foodways & Folkways of Oaxaca, Mexico
Saturday · July 28 · 12-2pm · Staten Island Mall Greenmarket 2655 Richmond Avenue (inside main entrance parking lot)
Traditional Music, Poetry, and Tortillas from Oaxaca featuring David Suarez, Victor Soto, and Irma Flores.

Sound Moves:  Exploring the physical and cultural communication between rhythm and the body within Irish and Puerto Rican musical traditions.
Saturday · August 4th 2pm-4pm · Richmondtown Public Library (200 Clarke Avenue)Explore the dialogue between dancer musician within Puerto Rican Bomba and Irish traditional music and how these rhythms are used in the Golden Gate Rehabilitation facility. This interactive workshop and demonstration will include basic group participation encouraging socialization, movement, and mobilization.

Liberian Story Circle from the African Market
Saturday, September 1, 2pm-4pm
African Market (btwn 140 and 160 Park Hill Avenue)

Symposium: Serving and Safeguarding Living Folkways on Staten Island
September (tbd) · Port Richmond Public Library in the Historic Chimes Theater
This program will be co-sponsored by the Immigrant Service Providers Network of Staten Island and will feature leaders in the field of cultural preservation to discuss best practices in the field of cultural safeguarding.