{"id":25217,"date":"2015-08-31T18:44:00","date_gmt":"2015-08-31T22:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=25217"},"modified":"2016-11-10T10:53:28","modified_gmt":"2016-11-10T15:53:28","slug":"smithsonian-folklife-festival-media-internship-brings-indonesian-student-to-the-mall-to-help-celebrate-peru","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/smithsonian-folklife-festival-media-internship-brings-indonesian-student-to-the-mall-to-help-celebrate-peru\/","title":{"rendered":"Smithsonian Folklife Festival media internship brings Indonesian student to the Mall to help celebrate Peru"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eastern Mennonite University senior Victoria Gunawan, a native of Indonesia, spent her summer among Peruvians on the National Mall in Washington D.C. As a media intern at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival<\/a>, she recorded the painstaking creation of a replica of the famous \u201cQ\u2019eswachaka\u201d swinging bridge by Peruvian craftsman, and was honored to be among the select few to cross its woven path.<\/p>\n

She also fell in love with alpacas, videoed the Blessing of the Festival<\/a>, learned a bit of the endangered Kukama language<\/a>, and helped orient visitors<\/a> to the variety of goings-on during the two-week festival.<\/p>\n

Now back in Harrisonburg, Gunawan says her summer living at the Washington Community Scholars\u2019 Center<\/a> (WCSC) and working for the famous Smithsonian Institution is still a bit of a blur: Though her peers and professors told her many times about what a privilege her summer job was, \u201ceven now, I\u2019m still trying to process that \u2018woohoo\u2019 moment, like, \u2018Hey I was at the festival, and I did work at that prestigious place.\u2019 I still can\u2019t believe it,\u201d Gunawan said.<\/p>\n

‘Career-launching’ internships<\/h3>\n

Gunawan, a visual and communication arts<\/a> major, takes moving to a new place and meeting new people in stride. She first came to the United States to study at Hesston College, and eventually fell in love with the EMU campus, transferring for her junior year.<\/p>\n

\"Vicky<\/a>
Victoria Gunawan crosses the handwoven bridge on the Mall. (Photo by Dave Walker, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201c[The student that inspired me to attend EMU] left after my first spring semester, but she helped me to transition here,\u201d Gunawan said, adding that the pair are still friends today.<\/p>\n

Gunawan began thinking about her summer plans in January with the help of WCSC director Kimberly Schmidt<\/a>. After years of living in the D.C. area and networking on behalf of EMU students, Schmidt has contacts in the Smithsonian Institutes, including the Folklife Center, which hosts the annual festival on the Mall, the National Museum of the American Indian<\/a>, the Anacostia Community Museum<\/a> and the Latino Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s always excited when a student lands a prestigious internship at these important cultural institutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that as word gets out, more EMU students will apply to these internships. We\u2019ve had great success partnering with the Smithsonian. These are career-launching internships and though the application process is highly competitive, the Smithsonian is interested in working with our students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gunawan did indeed survive a competitive interview process. Though experienced in different aspects of public relations and marketing through internships with the university\u2019s marketing and communications department, she had no idea of what the next nine weeks would hold in store.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though my supervisor told me to get familiar with the [Folklife Festival] website, and I was, I still wasn\u2019t sure of what was happening where and when,\u201d Gunawan said. \u201cFor me, every day was a completely new day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reporting on the ground<\/h3>\n

Her work started before the festival began. Gunawan posted daily \u201clittle glimpses\u201d on Twitter and Facebook of what visitors would see in a few weeks.<\/p>\n

\"Gunawan<\/a>
Gunawan shot video and took photos of people and events during the festival, which focuses on one country or region’s indigenous traditions. (Photo by Victoria Gunawan, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When festivities actually started on June 24, events kept Gunawan busy.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day, my supervisor and I would look at the schedule and see what was happening, and we would try to cover those events, either by taking pictures, or small Instagram 15-second videos or Vine six-second videos, or even just by getting a quote from one of the participants,\u201d Gunawan said.<\/p>\n

The internship did not come without challenges: some Peruvians communicated only through a Spanish translator, and there were many indigenous people who did not speak Spanish.<\/p>\n

Despite the challenges, Gunawan did not forget to enjoy herself while she was there. Over two Fridays, alpacas were brought in for a ritual performed by the weavers from the Chinchero community in Peru.<\/p>\n

The alpacas \u201cwarmed my heart,\u201d Gunawan said. \u201cOne of the communities in Peru has a traditional fiber blessing ceremony for when the alpacas give birth. They have a whole ritual of praying to the Pachamama, or Mother Earth, their Apu, or mountain spirit, their ancestors, and natural forces for safety on their land. They sprinkle the alpacas with this drink called chicha<\/em>, which is fermented corn alcohol, while saying the blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crossing the bridge<\/h3>\n

Although alpacas were Gunawan\u2019s personal favorite, the Q\u2019eswachaka bridge<\/a> was monumentally impressive, she said, the big \u201cicon they were going for.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFour communities in Peru re-build a bridge every year between these two really high cliffs. It\u2019s a 600-year tradition,\u201d Gunawan said. The same crew that rebuilds the bridge spanning the Apurimac River<\/a> near Huinchiri each June hustled to finish their project at home so that they could travel to the United States to build a smaller replica.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The bridge on the Mall showcased the living tradition of woven architecture, passed through generations of Peruvians. (Photo by Victoria Gunawan, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gunawan was in charge of documenting the bridge building for social media, catching every moment from casting the first rope to tying the last knot. Although the public was not able to walk on the bridge, event staff had the privilege to cross if they choose, and Gunawan \u2014 most likely the first and last Indonesian to cross the Q\u2019eswachaka Bridge, she says \u2014 was excited about the opportunity.<\/p>\n

Her only regret was her inability to cover every event. This was both an outcome of the small size of the social media unit (consisting of Gunawan and her supervisor exclusively), and the numerous events taking place day to day.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough the work of other [interns], I got to see what was happening in other places,\u201d Gunawan said.<\/p>\n

As she prepares for her final year at EMU, Gunawan says she\u2019ll carry her memories of this summer, along with hopes of one day returning to work at future Folklife Festivals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eastern Mennonite University senior Victoria Gunawan, a native of Indonesia, spent her summer among Peruvians on the National Mall in Washington D.C. As a media intern at the Smithsonian Folklife ... read more about Smithsonian Folklife Festival media internship brings Indonesian student to the Mall to help celebrate Peru<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25277,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17571,4513,14139,12507,12632],"tags":[6795,9278,15432],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-25217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-internship","category-student-life","category-student-profiles","category-vaca","category-wcsc","tag-diversity","tag-kimberly-schmidt","tag-victoria-gunawan"],"yoast_head":"\nSmithsonian Folklife Festival media internship brings Indonesian student to the Mall to help celebrate Peru - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/smithsonian-folklife-festival-media-internship-brings-indonesian-student-to-the-mall-to-help-celebrate-peru\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Smithsonian Folklife Festival media internship brings Indonesian student to the Mall to help celebrate Peru - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Eastern Mennonite University senior Victoria Gunawan, a native of Indonesia, spent her summer among Peruvians on the National Mall in Washington D.C. 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