Smithsonian Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage

Bowls of citrus fruits including lemons, limes, and oranges, are arranged on a striped, bright green table cloth. Behind the bowls are jars filled with various superfoods including Goji berries.

La Cultura Cura: How Latinos Are Reclaiming Their Ancestral Diets

Whole Foods certainly didn't invent chia seeds.

American Sign Language alphabet

Hearing the Voices of Deaf Culture at the 1981 Folklife Festival

The landmark event introduced many hearing visitors to the stories, poems, sign play, jokes and traditions of the deaf community

Visitors pick out crochet toys to purchase at the My Handmade Armenia Festival.

Reviving Tradition With the My Handmade Armenia Festival

The My Handmade Armenia festival aims to not only help artisans but to create new opportunities for tourists too—from purchasing extraordinary items to taking home a tangible and traditional piece of Armenian cultural heritage.

(Photo courtesy of Sandra Chandler)

A Folkways Challenge Reveals a Love for Sacred Harp Singing in Georgia

Douglasville, Georgia, the home of Alexander High School, represents the divide where urban meets rural.

Preparing klulik from Sasoun at Noosh. (Photo by Areg Vardanyan, My Armenia Program)

Eat Like an Armenian with These Tips from a Local Guide

Did you know that Armenian culture is heavily gastro-centric? Any occasion, be it happy or sad, has associations with food.

Artyom Ghazaryan in his studio in Yeghegnadzor. (Photo by Narek Harutyunyan, My Armenia Program)

The Spirit Across Regions: Armenia from the Local Perspective

Yerevan Magazine spoke with several beneficiaries of the My Armenia Program who offer exciting tourism experiences in different regions of Armenia.

Stunning views inside the Arpa Protected Landscape. (Photo by My Armenia Program)

Adventuring the Armenian Way

Armenia is a museum under an open sky with hundreds of opportunities to actively explore outside.

Syunik-Artsakh rug from the collection of the Local Lore Museum of Goris, 20th century. (Photo by Areg Balayan, My Armenia Program)

From Wool to Elegant Carpets: The Smoothest Route Through Armenia

Explore Armenia through its rich tapestry of textile production.

The Indianola dock stretches out into the Puget Sound. Since time immemorial, the Suquamish Tribe has sourced their sustenance, folklore, and community from the salt waters and pebbly beaches of the sound. Photo by Julian White-Davis

The Struggle for Native Lands in Indianola, Washington

Indianola’s beaches were once the home of the Suquamish Tribe, or in their language, Southern Lushootseed, suq̀wabš—People of Clear Salt Water.

From Insects, their way and means of living. Artwork by R. E. Snodgrass

Cicada Folklore, or Why We Don’t Mind Billions of Burrowing Bugs at Once

The earliest documented examples of cicada folklore come from China.

Elexia Alleyne. Photo courtesy of the artist

Coming of Age in Poetry: An Interview with Elexia Alleyne

Growing up in D.C.’s barrio, Elexia remembers a vibrant, tight-knit Dominican community.

Children learning to weave carpets at Telik Crafts. (Photo by Narek Harutyunyan, My Armenia Program)

Traveling with the Little Ones: Entertainment in Armenia

No matter our age, we all like to travel. But let’s admit it, traveling with kids can be challenging.

(Photo courtesy of Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles)

The Quarter-Century Reign of Mariachi Reyna

Far from a “girl band” or pop novelty, the group’s success is a hard-earned triumph of gender justice.

Vahagn working on a clay jug. (Photo by Narek Harutyunyan, My Armenia Program)

The Potter's Wheel: An Inexhaustible Source of Energy

Master potter Vahagn Hambardzumyan is among those who carry on Syunik, Armenia's rich pottery traditions with a modern touch.

Anto Kilislian prepares lahmajoun at the 2018 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. (Photo by Sonya Pencheva, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives)

Food and Longing in the Armenian Diaspora

Armenians both borrowed from and contributed to the culinary lexicons of the regions they inhabit

Master basket weaver Arthur Petrosyan sits and works on a project. (Photo by Narek Harutyunyan, My Armenia Program)

Travel the Sweetest Route through Vayots Dzor and Syunik, Armenia

Numerous popular traditions regarding beekeeping are associated with the medicinal properties of the use of beeswax. Grandpa Grisha, a beekeeper with 50 years of experience, remembers it all very well.

Making crates to leave the camp, September 1945, Heart Mountain, Wyoming. (Illustration by Estelle Ishigo, courtesy Estelle Ishigo Collection, Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation. Gift of Bacon Sakatani in Memory of Arthur and Estelle Ishigo)

What They Carried When the Japanese American Incarceration Camps Closed

The closing of the World War II camps marks its seventy-sixth anniversary in 2021.

Black Banjo Reclamation Project founders Hannah Mayree and Carlton “Seemore Love” Dorsey, with banjos made by Brooks Masten of Brooks Banjos in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Avé-Ameenah Long)

A Quest to Return the Banjo to Its African Roots

The Black Banjo Reclamation Project aims to put banjos into the hands of everyday people.

Sasun, a local guide, takes in the view of Mount Ughtasar. (My Armenia Program)

See Armenia Through the Eyes of a Local Guide

The landscape of Armenia is diverse. Often, there are several sub-regions within a single region, each with their own distinct set of tourist destinations

Jim McDowell holds his jug, “Emmett Till.” (Photo By Rimas Zailskas, courtesy of Asheville Made Magazine)

Facing History: Lessons from the Potter’s Wheel

Jim McDowell, known to many simply as “the Black Potter,” is a ceramicist who specializes in stoneware face jugs.

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