Silk Road Chicago

If you heeded arts news from Chicago yesterday, you probably wouldn’t have found what I was insinuating before, as the event was moved to today as a result of the immigration march on Monday.

Today, however, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Art Institute of Chicago, and the Silk Road Project announced the yearlong and citywide Silk Road Chicago celebration. Articles ran in today’s Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times and local news will undoubtedly carry it tonight.

Chicago is the first city in the world to become the scene of an immense collaboration between Yo-Yo Ma and his Silk Road Project and various partners around the city. The event was presented by Yo-Yo Ma, Commissioner Lois Weisberg, Laura Fried of the Silk Road Project, James Cuno of The Art Institute, and Deborah Card of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, at the Chicago Cultural Center.

I had the pleasure to meet Yo-Yo Ma briefly before the event. He seemed tremendously excited to kick off the yearlong celebration. During the presentation, he explained how Chicago, one of the most diverse city’s in the world, was the ideal city to host his dream of bringing the Silk Road and the ideas it represents to the people.

From June 2006 to June 2007, hundreds of Silk Road themed events will take place in Chicago at places such as The Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, Steppenwolf Theatre, Symphony Center, and The Art Institute. Events planned in Millennium Park are especially exciting, as they are free and open to the public, including a June 26 concert with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble.

I really do share in all the enthusiasm, not just because I have worked on the project, but mainly because I know first hand how culture moves around the world as an immigrant to this country, albeit another Western country. For that very same reason, I was delighted by James Cuno’s speech during the event, in which he mentioned that political and ideological pressure results in defined and enclosed cultures that really don’t exist. Cultures are organic and give and take from each other, or as Mr. Cuno explained, none of the paintings at his museum were made in cultural solitude and isolation.

Look tonight for coverage on Chicago’s local stations and in the meanwhile, visit the Silk Road Chicago Web site. Even better, if or when you can, visit a Silk Road Chicago event this summer or during the CSO’s and Art Institute’s 2006-2007 seasons.