We are off and running with our exciting partnership with CenterStage and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, designing educational outreach programming through our World Culture in Context program for the 2025-2026 U.S. touring season.
We are deeply grateful for the opportunity, and this past spring and summer we traveled with U.S. delegations to produce short films with artists from Pakistan, Ukraine, Egypt and Indonesia, showcasing their brilliant work and unique connection to their geographical region and cultural communities. We will be hard at work producing these artist videos along with accompanying curriculum materials to be ready for CenterStage’s 8th Season, starting in the fall of 2025.
Papermoon Puppet Company: Yogyakarta, Indonesia
At the end of April, Josh headed to Yogyakarta, Indonesia, where he visited with Papermoon Puppet Company. While Indonesia, especially Java, is known for its ancient puppetry traditions, Papermoon uses elements of tradition and community storytelling to create a contemporary practice that is a world unto itself. Their work is entirely wordless and each puppet shares the same facial expression, a daydream face, that allows puppeteers and audiences to share myriad deep emotions together. Josh visited their studio, documented their story and ate some delicious food along the way.
Khumariyaan: Islamabad, Pakistan
In early June, Josh headed to Islamabad, Pakistan, to meet up with Khumariyaan, a powerhouse band out of Peshawar that uses the lute-like rubab as the foundation for a propulsive reinterpretation of traditional melody. When not eating Pashto bbq, Josh spent time with the group learning more about how they built their sound, using both steel-string and nylon-string guitars to offset the sound of the rubab. Josh was also able to connect with CCV collaborator and Pakistani musical star Zeb Bangash.
Far From Home
Unfortunate political unrest and war in Eastern Europe and the Middle East necessitated that Jon and the CenterStage delegations connect with Ukrainian singing group Kurbasy and Egyptian oud master Mohamed Abozekry in alternative locations from their homes.
Kurbasy: Warsaw, Poland
In April Jon met up with Kurbasy in Warsaw, Poland, where together they embarked on a multi-day adventure to find a suitable shooting location free from distracting noise and crowds. Their video shoots became almost comical as they were repeatedly interrupted by everything from public weddings, overzealous and noisy pigeons and even an unexpected airshow overhead, but the quest ultimately brought the group closer together and introduced them to many of Warsaw’s loveliest parks.
In the end they settled in a forest outside of the city, which turned out to be perfectly appropriate for the performance Kurbasy prepared for their tour. They composed that performance in a wooded area behind their singer Maria Oneschak’s home during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mohamed Abozekry: Paris, France
Jon and the CenterStage crew met up with the remarkably talented young oud master Mohamed Abozekry in Paris, where he makes his home when not in his native Cairo. Mohamed was a childhood prodigy of the ancient style of oud playing in Egypt, graduating at fifteen from the world-renowned Arabic Oud house in Cairo. He was the youngest oud teacher in the Arab world, and in 2009 was awarded first prize at the International Oud Competition in Syria.
As Mohamed has grown and developed as an artist, he has taken the oud to unprecedented and exciting heights. As he explained during his video shoot, he developed a unique style—adding the use of his fingers to the traditional plectern method of instrumentation, as well as the addition of a funk-like slapping bass element. This creates a one of a kind sound that allows him to transcend musical boundaries, and, just as importantly, transform what has always been a lead instrument into one that can accompany and jam with others.
We will be hard at work this fall and winter to get these videos and educational materials to include World Culture in Context for CenterStage’s upcoming tours of these incredible artists!
Center Stage is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs with funding provided by the U.S. Government. It is administered by the New England Foundation for the Arts in cooperation with the U.S. Regional Arts Organizations. General management is provided by Lisa Booth Management, Inc. www.centerstageUS.org.
