Santer a, also called Lucumi or Orisha Worship by its practitioners, originated in Nigeria among the Yoruba people. It took shape in Cuba during and after the slave trade and reached North America through Afro-Caribbean immigration. As the fastest growing African-based religion in the United States, Santer a has stimulated many publications, but none prior to this book noted the special significance of its art and artists.

In "Santer a Garments and Altars," for the first time, two distinguished folklorists and practitioners of the faith focus upon the artistry of garments and altars that are intrinsic to the worship. Detailed here is information about their design and creation, the artists who make them, and the importance of aesthetics as text in the religious celebration.

Every winter a handful of Cajun Louisiana folk artists assembles unlikely mixtures of material to shape masks for their Cajun Mardi Gras celebrations. They use window screens, chicken feathers, yarn, hair, Magic Markers, and hot glue as they create fanciful, even bizarre masks that will be worn just one day in the year. Such creations transform their wearers into wild revelers who move through the countryside singing, dancing, and begging for money and food. As they generate merriment, they climb trees, chase chickens, and create a general and playful havoc. Cajun Mardi Gras celebrants are unlike their counterparts in New Orleans, where masked revelers ride through the streets on floats or parade serenely through ballrooms. The masked country Cajuns engage in rousing, physically energetic performances as they cavort through the countryside. Out of necessity their captivating masks combine the ingredients of durability, shock value, and allure with age-old folk patterns and innovations from contemporary culture. Here is a study of the Cajun Mardi Gras tradition and its manifestation in the work of six of the most creative and popular folk artists in two rural communities. Potic Rider and the Moreau and LeBlue families represent the male maskmaking traditions of Basile, Louisiana. Suson Launey, Renee Fruge, and Jackie Miller portray the female role in festivities held in the rural region of Tee Mamou. As the communities celebrate, their masks become an intrinsic component of the annual rites. This book introduces the artists, the performances, and processes of creating the fantastical masks. Carl Lindahl, co-editor of Swapping Stories: Folktales from Louisiana (University Press of Mississippi), is a professor of English at the University of Houston. Carolyn Ware is Coordinator of the Pine Hills Culture Program at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg

For almost a decade Peter Quezada, a prolific self-taught artist, painted murals and lettering on buildings and retaining walls in neighborhoods northeast of downtown Los Angeles. He refers to his work as a "graffiti deterrent" or a "substitute for graffiti," and he targets sites that are favorites of taggers and gang graffiti writers. Often he enlists their assistance and designs his murals to appeal to these youths as well as to discourage them from participating in antisocial behavior.

Highlighting the interplay of contemporary life, mass-media images that confront the public, and the use of physical space in the city landscape, "Chicano Graffiti and Murals" shows how such art as Quezada's has become the signature of modern urban culture.

This omnibus volume offers a unique look at a fascinating and evocative strain of art that originated chiefly in the rural American South and in the black cultural centers as blacks migrated across the continent.

Pictorial quilts, sculpture and carvings, basketry, pottery, forged metal, musical instruments, and dwellings---these are among the forms that express this appealingly quaint yet powerful presence in American art and African folk heritage from which this wonderful art springs.

Celebrating its African folk roots and the individual artists whose lives are so closely intertwined with their art, this illuminating introduction collects writings by sixteen notable scholars of this rich and varied treasury of folk culture.

Contributors include Marie Jeanne Adams, Elizabeth Adler, Simon Bronner, John Burrison, Gerald L. Davis, Dena Epstein, David Evans, William R. Ferris, Roland L. Freeman, Christopher Lornell, Brenda McCallum, Clarence Mohr, John Scully, Ellen Slack, Robert F. Thompson, Mary Twining, John Vlach, and Maude Wahlman.

A Study of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University Kingdom of Beauty shows that the discovery of mingei (folk art) by Japanese intellectuals in the 1920s and 1930s was central to the complex process by which Japan became both a modern nation and an imperial world power. Kim Brandt's account of the mingei movement locates its origins in colonial Korea, where middle-class Japanese artists and collectors discovered that imperialism offered them special opportunities to amass art objects and gain social, cultural, and even political influence. Later, mingei enthusiasts worked with (and against) other groups-such as state officials, fascist ideologues, rival folk art organizations, local artisans, newspaper and magazine editors, and department store managers-to promote their own vision of beautiful prosperity for Japan, Asia, and indeed the world. In tracing the history of mingei activism, Brandt considers not only Yanagi Muneyoshi, Hamada Shoji, Kawai Kanjiro, and other well-known leaders of the folk art movement but also the often overlooked networks of provincial intellectuals, craftspeople, marketers, and shoppers who were just as important to its success. The result of their collective efforts, she makes clear, was the transformation of a once-obscure category of pre-industrial rural artifacts into an icon of modern national style.

The fast-paced demands of a global economy make it increasingly difficult for folk and traditional artists to stay true to their heritages. All too often, artists either isolate themselves in an impossible struggle against the modern world or give up traditional methods and practices to follow current trends. "Forms of Tradition in Contemporary Spain" is a groundbreaking study of contemporary Spanish folk art and traditional artists. It charts the varied routes artists have found to evade these pitfalls while pursuing their art.

Through case studies of four considerably different kinds of artists-a traditional potter, a couple who create huge papier-mache figures for festival processions and dancing, a group of masked, costumed "devils" who enliven traditional street theatre with modern pyrotechnics, and an idiosyncratic builder of one of the most spectacular art environments known worldwide-this book broadens the existing understanding of traditional arts by creating a more realistic and expansive interpretation of tradition and the influences upon each creative act.

Featuring 142 color photographs and 9 black-and-white illustrations, this work is a major contribution to the field of art history as well as a celebration of the artists it profiles. The artists were chosen because each is emblematic of a particular tradition and each represents a distinct relationship with a given community. In addition to analyzing and describing the art and artists featured in the book, Jo Farb Hernandez uses these case studies to achieve a broader range of understanding. Breaking down old divisions in art history, she presents information which has not received much attention in the U.S. and provides access to work that was previously available only in Spanish or Catalan.

Author of books, catalogs, and articles, Jo Farb Hernandez, Watsonville, California, is the director/curator of the Natalie and James Thompson Art Gallery, School of Art and Design, San Jose State University, and is the Principal of Curatorial and Museum Management Services.

"It is hard for me to praise this book sufficiently. . . . It is a major contribution to the field of Oaxacan/Mexican studies, as well as economic anthropology and the study of tourism and crafts." -- Arthur Murphy, Georgia State University, coauthor of Social Inequality in Oaxaca: A History of Resistance and Change

Since the mid-1980s, whimsical, brightly colored wood carvings from the Mexican state of Oaxaca have found their way into gift shops and private homes across the United States and Europe, as Western consumers seek to connect with the authenticity and tradition represented by indigenous folk arts. Ironically, however, the Oaxacan wood carvings are not a traditional folk art. Invented in the mid-twentieth century by non-Indian Mexican artisans for the tourist market, their appeal flows as much from intercultural miscommunication as from their intrinsic artistic merit.

In this beautifully illustrated book, Michael Chibnik offers the first in-depth look at the international trade in Oaxacan wood carvings, including their history, production, marketing, and cultural representations. Drawing on interviews he conducted in the carving communities and among wholesalers, retailers, and consumers, he follows the entire production and consumption cycle, from the harvesting of copal wood to the final purchase of the finished piece. Along the way, he describes how and why this "invented tradition" has been promoted as a "Zapotec Indian" craft and explores its similarities with other local crafts with longer histories. He also fully discusses the effects on local communities of participating in the global market, concluding that the trade in Oaxacan wood carvings is an almostparadigmatic case study of globalization.

Maud Lewis a peint l'interieur de sa minuscule maison d'une seule piece - : pas seulement les murs, mais aussi l'interieure et l'exterieure des portes, les cadres de fenetres, les boites a pain, le petit escalier menant au grenier, le poele a bois, bref tout ce qu'elle avait sous la main. Sa demeure etait un plaisir a regarder. Quatorze ans apres sa mort, l'Art Gallery of Nova Scotia a fait l'acquisition de la maison peinte de Maud Lewis, alors bien connue main en tres mauvais etat. La stabilisation et la restauration de ce precieux artefact ont pose un defi de taille aux conservateurs. En 1998, la maison a ete installee intacte, avec son mobilier, son materiel de peinture et tous ce que l'artiste y avait accumule, dans la salle Scotiabank Maud Lewis.

On the first weekend in October, Nova Scotia artists and artisans throw open their studio doors, and locals and tourists alike, Studio Rally maps in hand, hit the highways and byways to pay a few calls. In 1992, Adriane Abbott, a Halifax textile artist, and Beverly McClare, a Grand Pre basketmaker, developed Studio Rally to help art and craft makers to sell their works. Since then it has been an exciting year-round part of Nova Scotia cultural life. In Studio Rally: Art and Craft of Nova Scotia, Robin Metcalfe takes his own journey through the art and craft landscape of Nova Scotia, introducing 52 of the province's artists and craftspeople and their highly professional yet dramatically different works. He recounts his visits to artists as varied as folk carvers Bradford and Ransford Naugler, painter Alan Bateman, and ceramicist Zoppo's silk-weaving cabin-studio in Cape Breton. Colour portraits of the people and their works by Julian Beveridge, David Duncan Livingston, and other expert art photographers make Studio Rally a sumptuous overview of a cultural scene that's as full of beauty and surprise as the natural world.

Baskets made of baleen, the fibrous substance found in the mouths of plankton-eating whales-a malleable and durable material that once had commercial uses equivalent to those of plastics today-were first created by Alaska Natives in the early years of the twentieth century. Because they were made for the tourist trade, they were initially disdained by scholars and collectors, but today they have joined other art forms as a highly prized symbol of native identity. Baskets of exquisite workmanship, often topped with fanciful ivory carvings, have been created for almost a century, contributing significantly to the livelihood of their makers in the Arctic villages of Barrow, Point Hope, Wainwright, and Point Lay, Alaska. Baleen Basketry of the North Alaskan Eskimo, originally published in 1983, was the first book on this unusual basket form. In this completely redesigned edition, it remains the most informative work on baleen baskets, covering their history, characteristics, and construction, as well as profiling their makers. Illustrations of the basketmakers at work and line drawings showing the methods of construction are a charming addition to this book, which belongs in the library of all those with an interest in the art of basketry and in Alaskan Native arts in general.

Telling the stories of many generations and reflecting cultures everywhere, folk art gives children a glimpse into the traditions and experiences of the people who created it. This book brings the fascinating world of folk art into the classroom and offers extension activities that integrate art, social studies, science, language arts, and music. The engaging, authentic, and open-ended projects, book suggestions, songs, stories, recipes, and oral history interviews introduce students to real artists working in this genre. The book also includes interesting background information. Organized into three sections, the book covers traditional art activities, projects based on natural materials, and projects involving fabric.

Buried in deep valleys, there are citadels of ochre earth. Near the sea there are white chalked casbahs and vast tranquil palm-gardens and deserts of coloured sands run into soot black mountains. Pungent and bustling souks offer spices and potions to ward off malevolent spirits. Slender arched doorways open out into darkened alleys. Scented mint tea is served in pattern-draped tents. The sky is as clear as ever over the Sahara. This is the Moroccan South - a legendary land, sumptuous and austere. This series presents a fascinating chronology of the spread of Islamic art in the form of 12 Exhibition Trails in 11 countries. The programme is based on the unique idea of visitors viewing exhibitions without the works of art being transported - discovering artefacts in their natural environments and within their cultural and historical context. Each trail is presented and written by experts who live in the specified areas and are accompanied by beautiful illustrations.

A celebration of female inventiveness and aesthetic sensibility, Shedding the Shackles explores women's craft enterprises, their artisanal excellence, and the positive impact their individual projects have on breaking the poverty cycle. In the first part of the twentieth century, suffering from a legacy inherited from the Victorian era, craft skills, such as weaving, sewing, embroidery, and quilting were regarded largely as women's domestic pastimes, and remained undervalued and marginalised. It has taken several decades for attitudes to change, for the boundaries between 'fine art' and craft to blur, and for textile crafts to be given the same respect and recognition as other media. Featuring artisans and projects from across the globe Shedding the Shackles celebrates their vision and motivation giving a fascinating glimpse into how these craft initiatives have created a sustainable lifestyle, and impacted upon their communities at a deeper level.

For centuries, wherever Thai Buddhists have made their homes, statues of the Buddha have provided striking testament to the role of Buddhism in the lives of the people. The Buddha in Lanna offers the first in-depth historical study of the Thai tradition of donation of Buddha statues. Drawing on palm-leaf manuscripts and inscriptions, many never previously translated into English, the book reveals the key roles that Thai Buddha images have played in the social and economic worlds of their makers and devotees from the fifteenth to twentieth centuries. Author Angela Chiu introduces stories from chronicles, histories, and legends written by monks in Lanna, a region centered in today’s northern Thailand. By examining the stories’ themes, structures, and motifs, she illuminates the complex conceptual and material aspects of Buddha images that influenced their functions in Lanna society. Buddha images were depicted as social agents and mediators, the focal points of pan-regional political-religious lineages and rivalries, indeed, as the very generators of history itself. In the chronicles, Buddha images also unified the Buddha with the northern Thai landscape, thereby integrating Buddhist and local conceptions of place. By comparing Thai Buddha statues with other representations of the Buddha, the author underscores the contribution of the Thai evidence to a broader understanding of how different types of Buddha representations were understood to mediate the “presence” of the Buddha. The Buddha in Lanna focuses on the Thai Buddha image as a part of the wider society and history of its creators and worshippers beyond monastery walls, shedding much needed light on the Buddha image in history. With its impressive range of primary sources, this book will appeal to students and scholars of Buddhism and Buddhist art history, Thai studies, and Southeast Asian religious studies.

This stunning book examines the collection of works by self-taught artists assembled by Stephanie and John Smither over the last thirty-odd years. A team of prominent curators, writers, critics, and art historians focuses on key works by twelve artists, including the boisterous assemblages of Thornton Dial; brightly colored visual interpretations of the Bible by Sister Gertrude Morgan; Oscar Hadwiger's detailed wood models of fantastical architecture; and Carlo Zinelli's narrative tableaus of stylized figures and animals. Also featured are works by the ceramicist Georgia Blizzard; drawings by Hiroyuki Doi, Solange Knopf, Martin Ramirez, and Dominico Zindato; paintings by Jon Serl and Johnnie Swearingen; and carved wood sculptures by Charlie Willeto. Distributed for The Menil Collection Exhibition Schedule: The Menil Collection (06/10/16 -10/16/16)

Once little known outside of Haiti, Vodou flags ("drapo Vodou"), dazzling in color and imagery, have become popular commodities in the international art market. Works by such notable Haitian artists as Silva Joseph, Antoine Oleyant, and Yves Telemak now grace the walls of museums, art galleries, and private homes throughout the world.

The fascinating, colorful collection of "drapo Vodou" included in this book reveals the importance of Vodou flags in the Haitian culture. Shimmering with sequins and reflected light, they capture the attention of Vodou practitioners and art lovers alike.

In showcasing the Vodou flags and the artists who create them, this book also offers a striking revelation of the gods ("Iwa") that inhabit the Vodou spirit world.

An Ohio folk artist's affectionate recollection of his boyhood in the Appalachian foothills Paul W. Patton was reared in Rix Mills, Ohio, a small village in Muskingum County surrounded by family farms and criss-crossed by gravel roads. In the first half of the 20th century, families here used coal-oil and gas lamps, carried drinking water from wells, and warmed their houses with pot-bellied stoves. Children walked to one-room schoolhouses and worked in the fields from May to September. On a trip back in 1985, Patton discovered that strip mining had reached Rix Mills, the village in which he grew up with his five brothers and sisters and their widowed mother. Stunned by this decimated landscape, he began to paint and recreate the Rix Mills he remembered. Rix Mills Remembered presents 100 of the more than 500 paintings by this highly regarded folk artist. With nostalgic affection, Patton describes the scenes he painted, recalling on canvas the sorghum mill, the blacksmith shop, the school, the general store, the church, and the life he shared with his family in the 1920s and 1930s. The paintings and narratives in this collection will be a welcome celebration of the State of Ohio.

Linocut prints in stark blacks and whites of work from Zulu, Masai, and dozens of other tribes. Masks, abstract motifs, etc.