Roots and Comparisons (by Martha)

 

Where was this photo taken? What time of day is it? 

The answers to these questions inform my Capstone, believe it or not! This is a picture of a road in Föllinge, northern Sweden, at 1:30AM, in mid-July 2005. I had met two teachers, school teachers, in Sweden, and I started to question my future. I also began to understand my connection to Scandinavia, which comes not from familial roots, but from music and dance, and to see that this was my future. I knew that somehow it would be connected to Sweden.

One of the symbols of Sweden is the dalahäst. Not only is found here, in giant size, by the side of the road in Avesta, Sweden, but it's also found in the Folk Arts Trunk that belongs to the Nordic Heritage Museum in Ballard. I chose to put a dalahest in the trunk because it is such a strong cultural symbol, understood across cultures, yet it is still hand made in a small town in central Sweden.  It is clearly folk art, although it also serves perhaps as a toy.



Another way to think about customs is to ask what is the same.

Det är jag, efter sista konsert i programmet, och jag har fått en roz. Det är samma i Amerika, att vi får blommen när vi har spelat bra eller...den här roz jag fått från min vännina, Ulla. Jag har spelat solo, men andra studentar har spelat bara i gruppen.

Translation
This is me after playing the last concert in the program, and I have received a rose. This is the same in America, that we get flowers when we have played well or... This rose I received from my friend, Ulla. I played a solo, but the other students chose only to play in groups.

My capstone is based on learning in informal learning environments like museums and being able to share culture and history within classrooms that are formal environments, like public schools. My job is to evaluate the outreach programs at the Nordic Heritage Museum, programs that do the aforementioned functions.