NEW ORLEANS | There it was. We had spent hours the day before, dipping old newspaper strips into goo, making the 7-foot-tall, papier mâché tree. And now, less than 24 hours later, it was falling apart.
As a youth member of the Soka Gakkai International, a Nichiren Buddhist organization that promotes peace through culture and education, I’ve been working all summer on our annual culture festival here in New Orleans.
The tree is only part of the backdrop for the Soka Gakkai Culture Festival, planned for Saturday, June 25 at the Soka Gakkai Community Center, located at 1331 Prytania St. The event will get underway at 1 p.m.
It’s not, however, a festival in the traditional sense. It’s more of a show, with performances inspired by countries like India and Japan.
But, let’s get back to the papier mâché tree. This really wasn’t the time for things to be going wrong. Yet with less than a week of preparations left, the accumulation of problems was inevitable.
When we started planning, July 25 seemed like it would be eons away. But now it’s days away, and it feels like there’s still so much to do, beginning with this tree. We were counting on it as a constant prop on stage.
William Jefferson and Beyoncé peeked out of the branches, relics of old newspaper stories that had become the bodice of the gargantuan tree. I, along with several others, was covered in dried papier mâché, which was starting to unattractively peel off like an exoskeleton no human should have. I really didn’t want any more to do with the tree.
Did we have to do another layer of newspaper? Did we even have time for that?
While this minor dilemma was unfolding, some performers were setting up the Taiko drums, traditional Japanese instruments. With little warning, they began practice with a thunderous roar of the drums.
All of our movement over the tree stopped momentarily as we listened.
Daisaku Ikeda, the president of the Soka Gakkai International, said that, “Music, dance, and works of art occupy a dimension that transcends borders.” They transcend distinctions of race, nation, and ideology.
This seems to be especially true in New Orleans, where music and art are such unifying forces.
When I turned to get back to work, the tree was already fixed. Someone had put it back together with just a bit of tape.
Despite all of the problems arising, it was all worth it somehow. This festival was going to work out just fine, with the help of some tape and a lot of music and dance.
