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Opinion Pieces by Executive Director
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Why Do They Love Us So Much
John Ferguson, Executive Director, American Voices
Published in the Christian Science Monitor, October 9, 2006
On Sept. 12, 2001, American culture suddenly became a premium export product. The attack that was both a tragedy and an awakening for our nation propelled my small not-for-profit organization, American Voices, into overdrive and onto the stages of Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Beirut, Lebanon. Our mission – to bring American musicians and culture to parts of the world emerging from isolation and conflict – transformed overnight from being a quaint endeavor in the aftermath of the cold war to an essential tool in communicating who we are as a people and as a nation.
I moved to Europe in 1989 to pursue my career as a concert pianist. Immediately, I was drawn into an exciting cultural dialogue with the newly open societies of eastern Europe and the USSR.
American Voices worked closely with the United States Information Agency (USIA) to provide performances and expertise. We also donated music scores and educational materials of American genres such as musical theater, country, ragtime, jazz, blues, and opera.
The intense dialogue of the early 1990s gradually slowed to a halt as Congress put an end to the USIA in 1999 with the rationale that we had “won the cold war.” The short-sightedness of this decision became glaringly apparent as we woke to new realities and responsibilities in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks.
As one of the few US arts organizations with extensive experience in the Middle East and Central Asia, American Voices was able to respond nimbly to the new challenges of communicating American culture and values abroad. Within months of the disaster, we were organizing jazz festivals, Broadway shows, and opera performances with Azerbaijanis, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Turkmen, Lebanese and Omanis.
The culmination of these efforts was our Jazz Bridges Afghanistan project last October – the first concert of American music for an Afghan audience in more than 25 years. It was a heartwarming week in which we brought a quartet of jazz musicians together with five traditional Afghan musicians and an Afghan pop trio. Our concerts had the Afghan audience dancing in the aisles, and these joyous images were broadcast nationwide by radio and TV. This project will start to reach a wider audience in the West through our upcoming concerts in February 2007 at the festival of Muslim cultures in London.
After an initial surge of support from Congress and the White House in 2002, funding for cultural diplomacy has again run out of steam. However, the need to communicate our vision and values as a nation has never been more urgent. Given the huge audiences American cultural programs draw, the glee local media take in broadcasting our interactive performances and the tiny fraction of the federal government’s budget that these programs cost, exporting our culture is cost-effective over the long term in promoting mutual understanding and, therefore, security.
Our culture is powerful. The musical art forms that American built grew from the intermingling of our myriad ethnic and folk traditions. Ragtime, blues, country, Broadway, and jazz are among the best ways we have to communicate the best of what we are as a nation to the rest of the world.
It might be a stretch, but try for a moment to imagine the hope and inspiration a Broadway show, blues festival, break-dancing workshop, or concert can bring to an entire nation emerging from isolation or conflict.
A frequent comment from Afghans who saw the performance in Kabul was, “Your concert makes us feel normal again.” If you factor in local musicians performing these genres together with a handful of American soloists or, better yet, fusing their traditional music with ours, it becomes especially powerful.
There
is still a deep well of appreciation for our culture and ideals. It would be
wise public policy to nurture this appreciation. Through artistic dialogue, we
can lead each other out of the gathering darkness of mutual distrust. The
possibilities for this type of exchange are endless, and Americans, more
than any others, have the means and the imperative to continue the
communication. • John Ferguson is executive director of American Voices, a
nonprofit organization based in Houston that brings American cultural diplomacy
to more than 80 countries worldwide.
Hip Hop Diplomacy
John Ferguson, Executive Director, American Voices
Published in the Christian Science Monitor, November 23, 2006
By John Ferguson
HOUSTON
The 15 teenage hip-hop dancers break into a sweat as the demands of Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation” take their toll. Despite the air conditioning in the sparkling new cultural center, the 125-degree heat finds its way inside. Dance teacher Michael Parks Masterson takes the students to task over a fumbled step. “You guys are awesome, but you must concentrate,” he shouts.
There are only seven more days to prepare for the Unity Performing Arts Academy gala performance. Hip hop, one of America’s newer cultural exports, is about to make a debut in northern Iraq.
In a leap of the imagination supported by the State Department and the US Embassy in Baghdad, this summer my small not-for-profit organization, American Voices, created a 10-day conservatory of artistic expression and learning for Iraqi performing artists. For nine days, the participants proved that Iraqi unity is not necessarily a myth – and that cultural diplomacy can work wonders, even in conflict zones.
In a country that has seen little, if any, cultural exchange with the US for decades, the hunger for knowledge was palpable. With a faculty of 10 Americans teaching ballet, hip hop, musical theater, jazz, chamber music, and orchestra, the students were treated to a smorgasbord of learning previously unavailable to them.
There was extraordinary energy in the air as Iraqis put in 12-hour days studying “cool new things,” as one of them put it, from Vivaldi’s Baroque style to a choreography of George Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm.” With participating groups ranging from the youth theater of Irbil, Iraq, to the Iraq National Folk Dancers’ more experienced artists, there was a unique blend of ages, ethnic groups, languages, and art forms.
While the 10-day program began with some mutual wariness among the groups from various regions of Iraq, by the end, there was strong camaraderie. Perhaps most remarkable was the Unity Orchestra, comprised of 130 players from all four of Iraq’s principal orchestras. It left an indelible impression of what united Iraqis could achieve in the realm of art.
Once back home, however, each orchestra faces unique challenges. Baghdad’s Iraq National Symphony Orchestra braves rehearsals and performances amid terrible violence. Irbil’s orchestra is still on informal strike after years of salaries not rising above $30 per month. Suleimaniya’s two orchestras are younger, active, and relatively well trained – this summer a group of its members won second prize at a youth orchestra competition in Vienna. At the gala concert, all of the orchestras came together to give a buoyant performance of music by Duke Ellington and Iraqi composers. At the final reception we danced till dawn – despite the awareness that for most, tomorrow would bring a return to the uncertainties of Baghdad or the isolation of the Kurdish regions.
Two months later, the faculty still gets almost daily messages from participants. Some are requests for help with a double bass bridge or advice on how to teach from a method book we donated. Many simply say thanks for offering a glimpse of a way forward and breathing new life into Iraqi conservatories and arts organizations. Many Iraqi performing artists tell me they have toiled for so long and in such isolation that they assumed the world either did not care or had forgotten them.
Repairing America’s image and standing in the world will require group effort. The US government cannot and should not do this alone. As someone deeply involved in the field of cultural diplomacy for close to 20 years, I would like to see cultural exchange written into the mission statements of America’s arts organizations and places of learning: more effective exchanges, more scholarships, more hip hop. In the case of Iraq, such programs not only help heal Iraq’s deep-seated divisions but also give Iraqis much needed insight into the US and its culture, beyond foreign policy.
Fears that the US may be forcing cultural diplomacy programs upon an unwilling or indifferent public are, in my experience, unfounded. From Iraq to Vietnam to Venezuela, audiences are clamoring for more. Many Americans assume that our culture is as unwelcome abroad as our foreign policies often are, but we should not underestimate the sway our unique arts forms hold over audiences deprived of cultural contact with the US.
In the post-9/11 world, nations must develop ways to not only understand but also embrace each other. Art, music, and dance can help facilitate such positive exchange. It is time for new visions of what is possible – even essential – in America’s cultural relationship with countries emerging from conflict or isolation.
Pianist John Ferguson is executive director for American Voices.
