The Folk Arts Program of the Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University will kick off its special events programming in conjunction with the exhibition "Devotional Displays: Personal and Community Traditions" with a FREE Community Day on June 8, 2008 from 2-4pm. Enjoy traditional devotional music and dancing from Hindu and Vietnamese Buddhist communities in Western New York and join in a conversation with members of the local Vietnamese Buddhist, Hindu, and Polish-American Catholic communities as they discuss home altars and devotional displays.

Members of the Tieu Hu Cultural Center in Buffalo will perform Vietnamese Buddhist devotional music and dance. Mr. Troung Ngo will lead musicians accompanying Dragon Dance players, and singers Miss Lieu Tong, Ngoc-Thuy Bui Victoria, and Mr. Dundee Duong. Students from Natya Dance School in Williamsville will perform an Indian classical dance dedicated to Genese, choreographed by Guru Teja Rao. Hindu Cultural Center member Mr. Nagarajan will lead members of the Hindu Community and community day attendees in the singing of bhajan, Hindu devotional songs.

Mark your calendars for our upcoming Devotional Displays Demonstration Series when we will explore these traditions in depth:

Sunday, June 29, 2008 2-4pm: Vietnamese Altars in the Buddhist Tradition

Sunday, Nov. 2, 2008 2-4pm: Hindu Altar Traditions

Sunday, November 16: Nativity Display Traditions

The exhibition also features thirty photographs from the museum's permanent collection depicting folk religious displays from a variety of cultures including: Mexican Day of the Dead altars, Christmas Nativity scenes, Italian-American St. Joseph's Day tables, Polish-American Easter displays, the Puerto Rican Rosario de la Cruz, Hindu domestic prayer altars, and Vietnamese ancestor altars influenced by the Buddhist tradition. A rotating media slide show of the museum's current research on devotional displays is also on view.

"Devotional Displays: Personal and Community Traditions" runs through December 14, 2008. The Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University is open Tuesday - Saturday, 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. and Sundays 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Admission is free.

For more information, please call Claire Aubrey at 716-286-8290.

This exhibition was made possible through generous support from the New YorkState Council on the Arts, a state agency.