Textile Origin Stories

Virginia Folklife Demonstrations

Discover the African origins of selected textiles and musical expressions as curated by the Elegba Folklore Society in partnership with the Virginia Folklife Program of Virginia Humanities. Contemporary practices are richly paired with their origin stories. Sample indigo fabric treatments of Mali, Nigeria’s aso oke or Ghana’s kente and African American art quilts or dolls or fashion. Engage with the ngoni, the banjo and the blues, then follow the music back to Africa as supplied by the 21-string kora and the djembe drum. Explore material culture that evolves from the earth: discover the works of five textile artists and learn about gourd string instruments and the African roots of the banjo. Enjoy intimate performances and conversation on the Folklife Workshop stage. Come into the village. Founded in Richmond in 1990, the Elegba Folklore Society, Richmond’s cultural ambassador, is a non-profit that provides cultural arts and cultural education through a variety of programs and services. 

Schedule

Join us for artist demonstrations and performances that mix music and conversation.

Saturday

Folklife Workshop Stage
1:00 - 1:45 Elegba Folklore Society’s Djembe Ensemble featuring Amadou Kouyate (drum call and musical origin stories)
2:00 - 2:45 Corey Harris and Lamont Jack Pearley (piedmont blues)
4:00 - 4:45 Mamoudou Nango, Indigo Dogon Project, Mali (indigo dyeing and fashions)
5:00 - 6:00  Lady E (blues)

Artist Tents
12:30 - 1:00 Gourd Banjo Demonstration with Dena Jennings and Samaria Marley
2:45 - 3:15 African Design Aesthetics with Kamala Bhagat 
4:30 - 5:00 Textile Patchworking with Martha Jones Carter 

Sunday

Folklife Workshop Stage
1:00 - 1:45 Justin Golden (acoustic blues)
3:00 - 3:45 Cheick Hamala Diabate (ngoni, Malian music)
4:00 - 4:45 Kamala Bhagat, Priyah Bhagat, Unicia R. Buster and Martha Jones-Carter with Omilade Janine Bell, Elegba Folklore Society (conversation with textile artists)
5:00 - 6:00 Andrew Alli (blues harmonica) 

Artist Tents
12:30 - 1:00 Flatfooting Dance with Dena Jennings
1:45 - 2:15 Shuka: A Maasai Textile Tradition with Priyah Bhagat 
2:45 - 3:15 Adinkra Printmaking and Proverbs with Unicia R. Buster

ARTISTS

Featured
Andrew Alli
Andrew Alli

Blues Harmonica
Richmond, VA

Andrew Alli has forged his path within the world of blues harmonica. He stumbled across the instrument by hearing a street busker, and the harmonica completely changed Alli’s life trajectory. Over the years, Alli has developed a unique sound which strikes a balance of traditional styles with fresh approaches thanks to his swing, tone, and heart.

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Corey Harris
Corey Harris

Blues performer and scholar
Charlottesville, VA 

Corey Harris is a guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and band leader who has carved out his own niche in blues. A powerful singer and accomplished guitarist, he has appeared at venues throughout the North America, Europe, Brazil, The Caribbean, East and West Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

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Dena Jennings
Dena Jennings

Gourd Instrument Making
Nasons, VA 

Dena Jennings is a physician and artist in Central Virginia. She was born in Akron, Ohio during its booming years of ingenuity as the rubber capital of the world. Her father was an executive at Goodyear International; her mother, a banker at a hometown savings and loan. On her mother’s side, Jennings can trace her ancestry in Appalachia back five generations.

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Elegba Folklore Society Djembe Ensemble featuring Amadou Kouyate
Elegba Folklore Society Djembe Ensemble featuring Amadou Kouyate

No matter your age or background, the spirit and the openness of the Elegba Folklore Society will enchant you. In a way that perhaps you will expect or in a way that is totally spontaneous, your energy will blend beautifully with ours, closing the gap between performer and audience.  Participants find themselves swept up in a universal cultural energy that links them with the global significance of this timeless art form. 

Read More →
Kamala Bhagat
Kamala Bhagat

Afro Leisure + Afrofuturist fashion design
Richmond, VA

Kamala Bhagat is an artistic cultivator dedicated to the practice of regenerative design. She channels creative storytelling through her Afro Leisure designs, serving as a canvas weaving together threads of creative expression, ancestral homage, and ethical principles. Focusing beyond mere craftsmanship, she delves into a realm of textile aesthetics inspired by the narratives of the earth — creating pieces that resonate with cultural depth and environmental consciousness.

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Lady E
Lady E

Blues
Richmond, VA 

Ethel Barnett-Johnson, known to most as De Lady E, Lady E,  or simply Lady, was born in Pensacola, Florida. She was raised in a family of singers, her mother was a preacher and her father, a promoter, sang in a gospel group for many years. Lady E started singing gospel in the church when she was only five—her mother often invited her to sing before or after a sermon.

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Lamont Jack Pearly
Lamont Jack Pearly

Applied Folklorist and Blues Musician
Bowling Green, KY

Lamont Jack Pearley is the executive director and founder of Jack Dappa Blues Heritage Preservation Foundation and the African American Folklorist Magazine. He is an applied folklorist, African American traditional music historian, and a traditional country blues practitioner inducted into the New York Blues Hall of Fame as a Great Blues Historian and TV/Radio Producer, and Great Blues Artist.

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Mamoudou Nango
Mamoudou Nango

Indigo Dyeing & Designs
The Indigo Dogon Initiative, Mali

Mamoudou Nango is master craftsman from a large indigo dyeing family in the Bandiagara region of Central Mali, a region known as “Dogon Country.” For years he worked as a government-certified tour guide and as a village facilitator for the NGO Delta Survie, which serves rural communities and promotes gender equality in Mali.

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Martha Jones-Carter
Martha Jones-Carter

Cloth Dolls and Art Quilts
Richmond, VA

Since Martha Jones-Carter’s early childhood in the closely knit Northside Washington Park neighborhood, her art has always been a strong part of who she is. In her words: “For as long as I can remember I have been very creative with my hands. I drew and made whatever I visualized in my head, which allowed me to learn and develop many art techniques using various art mediums.

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Priyah Bhagat
Priyah Bhagat

Doll Artist
Chesterfield, VA 

Priyah Bhagat is a self-taught black doll artist who is passionate about doll making, including its history and its traditions. For over ten years, she has worked from her home in Chesterfield to create cloth dolls and doll crafts that empower and celebrate the beauty and resiliency of black culture.

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Samaria Marley
Samaria Marley

Gourd Instrument Making 
Brandywine, MD

Samaria Marley is a mother, musician, a farmer, and an herbalist. Born in Texas, and raised in Massachusetts, her family can trace their maternal roots to Virginia and Kentucky, which perhaps explains why Samaria was drawn to play and perform Afro- folk music with VeVe & Tha Rebels in Washington, DC.

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Unicia R. Buster
Unicia R. Buster

Art Quilts
Richmond, VA 

Having worked as a cashier, a prep cook, an administrative assistant, a teacher’s assistant, a graphic designer, an art specialist, an art teacher and, currently, a program manager, Unicia R. Buster created a personal modality to making art. She utilizes her different skill sets to not only perform a job, but to do create as a part of life, and she plays her part using all of her abilities.

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About the Elegba Folklore Society 

No matter your age or background, the spirit and the openness of the Elegba Folklore Society will enchant you. In a way that perhaps you will expect or in a way that is totally spontaneous, your energy will blend beautifully with ours, closing the gap between performer and audience, art and viewer. Participants find themselves swept up in a universal cultural energy that links them with the global significance of these timeless art forms. We are proud to be your resource for African world cultural arts. Together, let’s explore the richness of Mother Africa’s gifts to us through interactive artistic, cultural experiences. Her influences are many. Come with your family family to visit us in the Textile Origin Stories craft tents. Let’s learn, let’s affirm, let’s enjoy. Among the Yoruba, Elegba is the Orisa or intercessor who opens the roads, bringing clarity out of confusion. We hope our programs and services are, indeed, road-opening experiences. Learn more at efsinc.org.

About the Virginia Folklife Program 

The Virginia Folklife Program works to document, sustain, present, and support cultural traditions across the Commonwealth. We offer Folklife Apprenticeship awards, we produce documentary media, support new cultural research, and we connect artists to audiences across the state. The Virginia Folklife Program was founded at Virginia Humanities in 1989 and receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts and Virginia Commission for the Arts. Learn more at virginiafolklife.org.

The Richmond Folk Festival Virginia Folklife Area is co-presented by the Virginia Folklife Program and the Center for Cultural Vibrancy.