MUSIC director's aim is cultural preservation by Joan Johnson ('78) Afghanistan, at the crossroads of Asia, is no stranger to invasion and conquest. Time and again her people have rebuilt their homes from the ashes of war. But now, they are being driven from their land. They fight a guerrilla war against a modern military force. They struggle to survive in refugee camps in Iran and Pakistan. Fearing that the rich and ancient culture of the Afghans will not survive the Soviet onslaught begun in 1979, Theonie Gilmore ('78 MAl and the board of MUSIC, Center for the Preservation of Endangered Arts, decided to focus on Afghanistan's threatened culture as the new organization's first project. Their purpose was twofold: to film a documentary of Afghan arts, culture and traditions, and to use the project as a source of income to fund Center activities. MUSIC, an acronym for "movement, universal beauty, sounds, instruments and cultures," was founded by Gilmore in 1983. She is also director of the organization whose purpose is to build public awareness of indigenous cultures endangered by political, economic and social upheavals. Theonie Gilmore ('78 MA), who founded MUSIC, Center for the Preservation of Endangered Arts, learns to play most of the indigenous instrumenls she encounters, like this Iranian drum. She also enjoys the native costumery, and bought this Kuchi family heirloom from a man in a bazaar who needed the money to return to Afghanistan to fight. "The Afghan culture is one of the most endangered in the world," Gilmore says. "Of the world's twelve million refugees, five million are from Afghanistan." She points out that this represents more than a quarter of the country's population. "The Afghan people are like a metaphor for all men. They are fighting for their country, their way of life. They are standing up against a powerful country.. . getting very little help." Planning for the documentary began in late June 1983 and four months later, the filming parry left for the refugee camps of Pakistan wilh the blesSings of both the United States and Pakistan governments. It was important to go in the fall to avoid the extremes of summer temperatures as high as 1200 and the bitter cold of winter. Gilmore says they were also spurred on by warnings that it was urgent to leave as soon as possible. "We were told lhat in another year it might not be possible to go at aiL" RaiSing money to undertake the ambitious project was not easy. "The foundations wouldn't even talk to us," Gilmore says. "They considered us upstarts - they weren't even interested." So she refinanced Ihe family cars; then, against the advice of family and friends, she refinanced her house. "It's worth it to me to risk it," Gilmore says. "The Center is something I really believe in." Gilmore travelled to Pakistan with 725 pounds of camera and sound equipment and a team of four, including a cinematographer, a technical director and two cultural specialists. A free-lance journalist who had lived in Afghanistan joined the team in Pakistan to help with interviews in the camps. The group visited four "model camps" out of the several hundred refugee camps on the northwest frontier. They filmed people at work and children at play. They interviewed individuals from all walks of life - potters, weavers, musicians, tribal leaders and school children. They also obtained rare interviews with several Afghan women, describing the changes in their lives. Although existence in Ihe camps is only at survival level, the arts continue to be an important part of the Afghans' daily lives, Gilmore found. "The time is taken to surround themselves in their homes, in their tents, with hand-crafted goods thai they treasure and that will be passed on to future generations." "The potter who we have on film was complaining that the clay soil was not up to the quality in Afghanistan - but he was still making pottery that was both beautiful and utilitarian," she noted, adding, "The bridles on horses were always beaded. Even gun straps were beaded." Gilmore was touched by the traditional hospitality and strong sense of family that the refugees kept intact despite the uprooting. "Even with so little themselves, when a new group arrived at a camp, others would shelter them until they were registered and could get their own tea and flour allotment. . , They would share their bread with us, even when it was all they had." It was to preserve such ancient values that the people fled their homes, where Russian soldiers were known to "dishonor the Afghans by acts such as stepping on the Koran or destroying it," said Gilmore. The team returned from Pakistan after two weeks, bringing ten hours of videolape footage with them. Although others have visited the camps and recorded the impact of the war on the Afghans, Gilmore was told they were the first group to come for the specific purpose of documenting Afghan arts and culture. Gilmore expects the one-hour film to be ready for showing at Portland's Artquake Festival in September, National Public Broadcasting has also expressed interest in the documentary and "In every country there are endangered folk traditions.. . MUSIC can help. . ." eventually she hopes to distribute it internationally to raise funds for MUSIC. Gilmore first became interested in preserving ancient cultures in 1978 when she attended a PSU class on music of the Middle East taught by visiting professor Robert Ataie. listening to Ataie's tapes of the folk music of Iran, she thought how wonderful it would be to find some way to keep the old ethnic traditions alive. She continued to turn the thought over in her mind and finally. in January 1983, she decided to form an organization dedicated to that purpose. She rented a Post Office box and designed a logo based on the MUSIC acronym. Her plans were interrupted, however, when her husband, William Gilmore, who laught in the PSU Mathematics Department, was found to have a rare form of cancer. She took a leave of absence from her 20-year career as a music specialist in the public schools to spend time with him. Gilmore said they often talked about her idea and her husband encouraged her to go ahead with her plans. So, after Bill Gilmore died in April 1983, she threw herself into forming the Cenler. Still on leave from her job, she found that the hours of research, organizing and fund raising helped her to deal with her grief. Dressed in a wine-colored shalwar and chemise, the comfortable national costume of Pakistan, Theonie Gilmore talks about MUSIC's future. "In every country there are wonderful folk traditions that are endangered. .. In Norway, it's the Laplander; in the United States, it's the American Indian... MUSIC can help bring ConIinuecI on P. 7 5
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