About the Author

Olivia Cadaval, Washington, DC, is a curator at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

Sojin Kim, Washington, DC, is a curator at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

Diana Baird N'Diaye, Washington, DC, is a curator at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

Reviews

Touting democracy rhetorically is different than steadily working to make it happen. For fifty years, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival has been celebrating, recognizing, and documenting the many local-global cultures that make life richly expressive of what's real, everyday, and worthwhile. In an era of shrill, divisive posing, this book is an oasis of thoughtful and thought-provoking reflection on sustained organizing work. This engaged dialogue-driven public curating is cultural democracy in action."" - John Kuo Wei Tchen, historian and co-founder of the Museum of Chinese in America