Smithsonian Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage

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Finding Balance Is a Global Experience at the 2024 Mother Tongue Film Festival

In a world that often feels on the edge of instability, the 2024 Mother Tongue Film Festival theme is profoundly resonant.

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The Millville Rose: Artifacts of Whimsy and Art in Industry

The “Millville Rose” represents the refined skills of factory glassblowers who toiled in an industry in which they had little say in what they made.

A dining table set with more than a dozen dishes of food, including white rice, meat on skewers, stewed vegetables, and sliced cucumbers.

Top 5 Folklife Stories from 2023

This year, Folklife Magazine published a sprawling diversity of stories—from Armenian protest movements to young Asian American farmers.

A person in a costume of black tank top, short yellow wig with furry white ears, and yellow leather bracelets, poses through a black wrought-iron railing.

When Escaping Reality Helps Define Identity: Expression and Empowerment in the Cosplay Community

It is probable that Western fans learned the term “cosplay” from their fellow fans in Japan, and the word has now evolved into a more general term for dressing up as characters.

A man in white dress sits with a thoughtful expression on his face outdoors, green and red foliage out of focus behind him. Old color film photo.

A Man of Peace: Grand Master Kim’s Vision for Chicago and the World

Grand Master Kim believed that peace begins when individual people express the harmonious energy of peace in their daily lives.

Four men sit around a round wooden table playing cards, while a crowd of others surround them.

A Rural Pastime Grows Community at the World Pig Championship

No one knows who created Pig, a local traditional card game, or who gave it its unusual name.

A woman stands on stage, holding a hand drum and a beater stick. Five actors behind her hold up torches. They all wearing matching white outfits with mock bandoliers. The stage is foggy and lit blue.

In the U.K. and Europe, Romani Theater Tells a Story Beyond 'Smoke and Wagons'

Riah Knight’s work as an activist addresses the misrepresentation and dangerous stereotyping faced by the community

A line of drummers wearing red vests and white shirts stand in the dessert on a clear, blue-skied day.

Journey to the International Oasis Festival in Tozeur, Tunisia by Quad, Carriage or Car

The forty-third edition of the festival, held December 24 to 27, 2022, showcased the city’s agriculture, artisans, and music.

Gray headstones and green grass and trees in a cemetery.

Cemeteries That Save the American Landscape

Covering two million acres of U.S. soil, cemeteries are lush with potential for the living and the land.

Four men stand together on a tented stage playing percussive instruments. They are dressed in brightly patterned clothes and are filmed by people holding cellphones.

Mouled, Music and Cultural Memory in a Tunisian Festival

Mouled is the celebration of the birth of Mohammed, Islam’s prophet. Worldwide, Muslims gather to hear poems and stories about the prophet’s life, recite the Qur’an, and enjoy festive music and foods.

Digital illustration of a man in gray uniform standing in from an ornamental Chinese gate with red columns, tile roof, and Chinese characters.

Introducing Graphic Artist Jean Young’s Powerful New Visuals on the History of LA’s Chinatown

The original Los Angeles Chinatown, now known as “Old Chinatown,” developed in the 1860s.

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The History Behind Argentina’s Unofficial Anthem for the 2022 World Cup

A viral chant energized the world champions during the tournament in Qatar

Black woman with an Afro. Black-and-white photo dated May 72 in the top border.

Why Black Hairstyles Represent a Crowning Achievement

Many in the Black community see Black hair as an art medium. But what is art without an artist?

Two women decorate a large array of cookies laid out on a table.

Celebrate National Cookie Day With This Scottish Treat

In our family, Christmas would not be complete without our cookie-baking and decorating tradition

Interior of a church, with people seated in chairs and pews, and a person in reddish robe with black trim walking toward the pulpit.

For Centuries This London Church Has Ministered to the Spiritual Needs of the Journalists and the Media

To Reverend Canon Dr. Alison Joyce, rector of St Bride’s London, there is a natural connection between the work of the clergy and journalists

Two protesters hold signs saying "You're on Abenaki land" and "This is Abenaki land."

This Land is Whose Land? Interrogating the Shortcomings of Settler Protest

In order to dismantle this nation’s blind spot for Native struggles, we must examine how ignorance about Indian Country and anti-Nativism are disseminated.

One of many cat statues at the American Museum of the House Cat in Cullowhee, North Carolina.

Adopting Cat Culture in North Carolina’s Dog Country

The American Museum of the House Cat has given county residents and travelers a new reason to visit the small Appalachian town of Cullowhee, North Carolina

Gray stone etched with the words, I am innocent.

Why This Monument Offers Some Humanity to the Tragedy of the Salem Witch Trials

Now, 330 years after the executions, visitors to this seaside city will find a simple, peaceful memorial next to an aged colonial graveyard

Grid of four old film stills, each showing the same young man: holding up a camera to his eye, smirking, smoking a cigarette, and posing with an older woman.

How a Filmmaker Discovered a Powerful Message in a Box of Old Home Movies

A $12 purchase in a Liberty, Maine, antique store sparked a gumshoe investigation and a life rediscovered

This illustration shows Lady Liberty over the states that had adopted suffrage, in white.

A Glimpse Into New Mexico’s Suffrage Movement

More than one hundred years ago, women across New Mexico mobilized to fight for the right to vote. Today, we highlight this noteworthy activism in celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month.

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