The 2003 Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Mali on the National Mall: the replica adobe arch of Djenné framing the Capitol, and masons building mud-brick arches by hand — Matt’s photographs from June 28, 2003.

Festival: June 25 – July 6, 2003
Where: National Mall, Washington, DC
Program: “Mali: From Timbuktu to Washington”
Photos: June 28, 2003
On this page: 1 records · 0 in full · 11 pictures

The 37th Smithsonian Folklife Festival brought Mali, Appalachia and Scotland to the National Mall in the summer of 2003. Matt Sesow, a few miles from his Adams Morgan studio, spent June 28 photographing the Mali program’s architecture: a replica of the adobe arch of Djenné, with the U.S. Capitol framed in its doorway, and masons in white robes laying mud brick and finishing arches by hand.

Everything that happened

1 records

Jun 28, 2003Smithsonian Folklife Festival 2003, National MallMilestones

Pictures

11 · click to enlarge

The replica of the adobe arch of Djenné, with the U.S. Capitol framed in the arch. Smithsonian Folklife Festival, National Mall, June 28, 20 · 2003

The Djenné arch and the Capitol. Smithsonian Folklife Festival, National Mall, June 28, 2003. · 2003

The arch from the side, on its platform on the Mall. Smithsonian Folklife Festival, National Mall, June 28, 2003. · 2003

Masons at work on a mud-brick wall with an arched doorway. Smithsonian Folklife Festival, National Mall, June 28, 2003. · 2003

Masons finishing the arched wall, with buckets of mud mortar. Smithsonian Folklife Festival, National Mall, June 28, 2003. · 2003

A builder at the top of the brick arch. Smithsonian Folklife Festival, National Mall, June 28, 2003. · 2003

The arch rising against the sky. Smithsonian Folklife Festival, National Mall, June 28, 2003. · 2003

A mason in white robes working on top of the wall. Smithsonian Folklife Festival, National Mall, June 28, 2003. · 2003

Working on the wall top, above a pointed brick niche. Smithsonian Folklife Festival, National Mall, June 28, 2003. · 2003

The mason on the wall. Smithsonian Folklife Festival, National Mall, June 28, 2003. · 2003

The mason at work, late in the day. Smithsonian Folklife Festival, National Mall, June 28, 2003. · 2003

In their words

yes, create a major page for it!
Matt Sesow, Matt Sesow, email to Claude, October 29, 2026

Cite this pageSesow, Matt. “The 2003 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.” Matt Sesow Career History. history.sesow.com/show/folklife-2003.html. Accessed [date].