Sericulture

I spent last Saturday evening underneath the Key Bridge listening to music and talking with friends while gazing over the calm waters of the Potomac River.  This event, otherwise known as Sericulture,  was curated by DC-based artist duo Bluebrain and sponsored by Annalemma Magazine.  Sericulture took place at Jack’s Boathouse, on the docks of Key Bridge and was an event open to the public.  Over the weekend, I decided to look up the word ‘sericulture’ on wikipedia.  The name Sericulture sounded so familiar to me, but I couldn’t quite place a meaning to the word.&nbs

I spent last Saturday evening underneath the Key Bridge listening to music and talking with friends while gazing over the calm waters of the Potomac River.  This event, otherwise known as Sericulture,  was curated by DC-based artist duo Bluebrain and sponsored by Annalemma Magazine.  Sericulture took place at Jack’s Boathouse, on the docks of Key Bridge and was an event open to the public.  Over the weekend, I decided to look up the word ‘sericulture’ on wikipedia.  The name Sericulture sounded so familiar to me, but I couldn’t quite place a meaning to the word.  According to Wikipedia ‘sericulture’ is another term for silk farming, ‘the rearing of silk worms for production of raw silk’.  That is a great way to describe the music that was played on Friday, I thought, smooth as silk.

Three friends and I arrived around 8:30 and quickly found four empty Adirondack chairs, which we arranged on the docks as close to the water as possible (without risking an accidental stumble into the river).  It was still light outside and there were about thirty people already there; eating, drinking and enjoying the near perfect weather.  I had never been to Jack’s Boathouse before and I quickly decided I want to go back.  The calmness of the Potomac River and the view of Washington Monument and Kennedy Center in the distance was quite beautiful, especially once it became dark and the reflections from the lit Key Bridge danced across the water.  It was also interesting to be surrounded by canoes and paddles.  There were several paddles stacked up behind the  D.J. which from a distance looked almost like an Alexander Calder sculpture. 

The music played during this time was very mellow and flowed like, well, silk.  After the sun went down more and more people began to trickle onto the docks.  I looked for someone to potentially approach in order to find out a little more information about the event, but once it became dark it was hard to see past the groups of people talking and generally having a good time.  I did notice there was not live band yet, but instead a live D.J. spinning music.  The D.J. was standing in front of a drum set, so I assumed a band would come out at some point during the course of the evening.  According to Sericulture’s Facebook page there were to be a variety of bands (which had yet to be announced), all selected by Bluebrain. I also noticed the music was at the perfect volume; loud enough to hear, but quiet enough to engage in conversation without having to yell at your friends.  Around 10:30 the temperature outside had dropped significantly and my friends and I started getting a little too cold for comfort.  Of course, as we were leaving I noticed a band had just begun to play.  I don’t think the music from the D.J. ever even stopped while the band was setting up.  The music was continuous and such a subtle transition occurred that one might never have known there was a switch in artists.

I noticed this morning on the Facebook invitation page, the end time for Sericulture is slated for today at 11:30 p.m.  When I first read about the event, I just assumed it ended at 11:30 LAST night.  Three and a half hours of live music is pretty substantial, I had thought, but twenty seven and a half hours of live music is unbelievable!   I was left wondering why aren’t there more events like this?  And if there are, why aren’t they advertised more adamantly? 

Bluebrain recaps Sericulture HERE (more beautiful images too).