Humanities Feature Bureau

In the Late 1970s, Almost a third of Cambodia’s people were murdered by the Khmer Rouge regime or died from starvation. A U.N.-backed court is finally trying these war crimes. But, closer to home here in Virginia, a Vietnamese-American artist and a Roanoke-based poet are exploring how to honor the victims through their art and forging a unique collaboration. Jesse Dukes has this report.

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On March 4th, bluesman John Cephas passed away at the age of 78.  Though late in life he performed around the world, Cephas learned his style of blues — called the Piedmont Blues — from family in Caroline County, Virginia.  Producer Steve Clark has more on Virginia’s Piedmont Blues.

We recommend these two resources to learn more about John Cephas:

• Library of Virginia’s 2009 African-American Trailblazers
• Virginia Folklife Program’s Master Profile of Cephas

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Matisse, Picasso, Chagall: an extensive collection of European Modern Art began a two-year tour around Virginia this month.  Sixty years ago, a private donor gave the paintings away, splitting them between the University of Virginia’s Art Museum and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond.  This touring exhibition reunites the works for the first time for display in Charlottesville, Winchester, Abingdon and Richmond.  Peter Solomon reports on “Matisse, Picasso, and Modern Art in Paris: The T. Catesby Jones Collection.”

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Southwest Virginia’s Carter Family made their first country music record in 1927. But favorites such as “Keep on the Sunnyside of Life” are still popular 81 years later, thanks mostly to the devotion of fans who preserve and adapt the Family’s tunes. But what is it about the Carter Family’s music that draws in such a loyal following? Reporter Beverly Amsler reports from this year’s Blue Ridge Folklife Festival in Ferrum, Virginia.

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