OHIO’s 2020 Global Arts Festival to bring Diversity and the Arts to Athens

Update: The Global Arts Festival will be postponed until further notice. 

Ohio University’s 2020 Global Arts Festival will celebrate the impact all forms of art have on health and wellness across the globe with numerous events from March 30 to April 3. Events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.

“The activities of the Global Arts Festival are geared towards introducing our students to different ways of conceptualizing the arts and potentially opening up new avenues of creativity, expression, and aesthetic appreciation,” says Paschal Yao Younge, professor of world music at OHIO’s School of Music, who co-directs the Global Arts Festival with Zelma Badu-Younge, professor of dance at OHIO’s School of Dance. “Our goal is to introduce a variety of musical sounds and dance movements from all over the world and expand the musical experiences in addition to helping students understand that many areas of the world have music and dance as sophisticated as their own.”

Younge adds that the Festival offerings aim to help students discover many different but equally valid ways of constructing music, dance, film and visual arts.

Beginning Monday, March 30, the 2020 Global Arts Festival week will offer more than 15 workshops and lectures demonstrating the confluence of art, health and wellness; multiple music, dance and theater performances; an international fashion show; and a keynote speech by a leading international figure, Ben Dotsei Malor of the United Nations.   

Malor, chief editor at UN News at the United Nations’ Headquarters in New York City, will speak on “Education and Health Partnership: The Role of Academic Institutions in Promoting United Nations SDGs.” His talk will take place at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium on April 2 from 4:30 to 6 p.m.

The 2020 Global Arts Festival week will culminate with the 10th World Music and Dance Concert on Friday, April 3 at 7:30 p.m., also at the Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium.

The event features the National Dance Company of Ghana, the Messiah College Symphony Orchestra, the Largemouth Brass Band, the Ohio University African Ensemble, the Ohio University Steel Band, the New Chords on the Block acapella ensemble, and the multi-ethnic ensemble Azaguno. Tickets to the 10th World Music and Dance Concert can be purchased here.

The festival will also include performances of Tantrum Theater’s production of “Objects in the Mirror” by Distinguished Professor Charles Smith at the Elizabeth Evans Baker Theater in Kantner Hall. Tickets can be purchased here.  

Also, a part of the festival is Athens’ International Street Fair, which will take place on Saturday, April 4 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Court Street. The event is free and open to the public.

The second annual Global Arts Festival Symposium: Arts, Health, Wellness and Sustainable Development will take place in collaboration with the 2020 Global Arts Festival at multiple locations on the Athens campus March 31 to April 1. The Symposium features 12 sessions and 36 presentations focused on the symposium’s theme.

“The symposium will create opportunities for an intellectual exchange of ideas, concepts, and recommendations to aid artists, educators, healthcare professionals, policy makers, and others working at the intersections of art, public health, wellness and community development,” Younge said.

The OHIO-wide series of events also has an exhibition on international costumes curated by Helene Siebrits, associate professor of costume design and head of OHIO’s costume program currently on display at the Multicultural Gallery at Baker University Center. The exhibition runs through the end of May.

The 2020 Global Arts Festival and the second annual Global Arts Symposium are sponsored by the College of Fine Arts; Arts for OHIO; the International Student Union; the Office of Global Affairs and International Studies; the Center for International Studies; the Performing Arts and Concert Series; the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine; Azaguno; the Office of the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion; the Multicultural Center; the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs; the Campus Involvement Center; the Black Student Cultural Programming Board; the Scripps College of Communication; The Movement Organization; Berekum African Market; Jackie O’s Brewery; and the Puffin Foundation West.  

The 2020 Global Arts Festival complete schedule of events can be found here.

The 2nd Annual Global Arts Festival Symposium: Arts, Health, Wellness and Sustainable Development schedule can be found here.