Library and Western Maine Storytelling receive grant for performances

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Eshu Bumpus and Motoko, who will be performing in Farmington on June 13.
Eshu Bumpus and Motoko, who will be performing in Farmington on June 13.

FARMINGTON – Thanks to a grant from the New England Foundation for the Arts, Farmington will host two performances on Saturday, June 13, by the Massachusetts duo, Eshu Bumpus and Motoko.

Bumpus’s African-American traditions and jazz musicianship will blend with Motoko’s Japanese traditions and mime artistry in a morning show for families at the Farmington Public Library and an evening performance for adults at the Emery Community Arts Center at the University of Maine at Farmington.

A New England States Touring Grant from the New England Foundation for the Arts will make the June performances possible. NEFA aims to build connections among artists, arts organizations, and funders, powering the arts to energize communities in New England, the nation, and the world.

Bumpus and his partner Motoko embody those energetic connections.

“We’re a unique collaboration,” Motoko said.

“We’re a combination of differences – different energies, different cultural backgrounds. What unites us is our love for each other, our love for music, for sharing stories, for bringing cultures and people together – all these things,” Bumpus added.

Always supportive of the spoken word, the Farmington Library is increasing its involvement in oral storytelling. This year it has become the host of the monthly meetings of the local storytelling guild, WOODS (Western Order of Dedicated Storytellers). In presenting Eshu and Motoko, the Library is partnering with Western Maine Storytelling, the organization that has sponsored summer storytelling festivals and other events in recent years. Founded in 2011, WMS has as its mission “to engage the western Maine area in storytelling and folk arts and the celebration of regional narrative arts.”

Details about the June 13 performances will be publicized later and will be available on the website: westernmainestorytelling.org.

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