Eastern cultures displayed in annual Silk Road festival

A program dedicated to the path Marco Polo followed to visit the Far East is coming to Bloomington this weekend. Hosted by the Azerbaijani American Cultural and Education Foundation, the 12th annual "Silk Road Bayrem" is dedicated to exploring the traditions and cultures of the countries along the historic route between Europe and Asia.\nThe Silk Road was traveled for 14 centuries before Polo, the famed Venetian merchant, used it to bring its riches and culture back to Italy.\n"The Silk Road was very important for the trade of silk and herbs," said Shahyar Daneshgar, executive director of the Azerbaijani American Cultural and Education Foundation. "Marco Polo made the passage very famous." \nThe event, which also receives support from several other international organizations on campus, divides its four events between two locations. A roundtable discussion about the music of the Silk Road as well as a film series will be held at the Monroe County Public Library from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday. The festival will move across the street to the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave., to present cultural and culinary samples of the route and a music and dance presentation from 5 to 9 p.m.\nThe path Polo and other explorers and traders traveled passed through China, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey. The event will showcase these countries through food, dress, artifacts, music and dance. The route introduced cultures from the East to Eastern Europe, resulting in a blend of culture.\n"We concentrate on the Middle East and Far East Cultures, but those who are familiar with Eastern European culture will recognize similarities in what they see at the festival due to mixing of cultures," said Edward J. Lazzerini, assistant director of the Inner Asian and Uralic National Resources Center.\nThe concert Saturday night will feature Salaam, a seven-member group that will play music from the eastern half of the Silk Road. Daneshgar's six-member musical group will represent music from the western half of the route.\nAt the concert, James Yang will play erhu, a two-string instrument from northern China, while his wife, Jenny, will perform a martial arts exhibition with the kun wu sword. This performance will represent both ancient and modern Taiwanese culture.\nDaneshgar said IU's involvement with the festival is appropriate. \n"Indiana University is unique in how it teaches the languages and cultures of all these countries along the Silk Road," Daneshgar said. \nHe said the festival attracts people from across Indiana and many nearby states because many immigrants from the countries represented enjoy seeing programs about their countries. \n"The audience will be basically split in half," said Silk Road percussionist Tim Moore, "between people from these countries and people who just want to learn about these cultures."\n-- Contact staff writer Benjames Derrick at bderrick@indiana.edu.