A Folklorist's Tale: Stories of Tangible Culture, Intangible Culture & the Politics of Culture

Folklorist and scholar Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett drew from her multifaceted career to explore the role of folklore in shaping contemporary cultural discourse. Specifically, she discussed her experiences as chief curator charged with creating the multimedia narrative exhibition at the recently opened POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. How did she approach blending intangible cultural heritage with tangible cultural artifacts to tell the thousand-year story of Polish Jews in a place where little tangible heritage remains? What were the political and cultural challenges in bringing this history to life? And how did her training as a folklorist influence and shape her curatorial decisions?
Speaker Biography: Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimbett is distinguished professor emerita of performance studies at New York University and served as chief curator of the core exhibition at the recently-opened POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw. Originally from Toronto, she received her doctorate in folklore from Indiana University and began a multifaceted career in both academic and public sector work.
For transcript and more information, visit www.loc.gov/tod...