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Smithsonian Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage

Several pieces of textiles, pottery, and other artwork arranged in an altar.

At the Smithsonian’s Almaty Artisan Retreat, Kazakhstani and Native American Artists Connect through Stories, Copper, and Clay

A man with short white hair, moustache, and glasses plays a wooden flute. Behind him, slightly out of focus, is a young woman with long dark hair in a bun and a black tank top.

With Birchbark and Breath, Sierra and Hawk Henries Bring Intergenerational Artistry to the ‘Dawnland’

A group of people crouch and stand in front of a wall mural depicting desert plants.

A Catalyst for Culture in the Tucson Mall

A man wearing glasses, white headwrap, and apron holds a metal object to a flame in a forge, sparks flying toward the stone walls.

The Reappearing Art of Metalworking in Mukhrani, Georgia

Two people ride on horseback along a dirt road lined by yellowing tall grass. In front of them are a dog and dozens of cattle.

The Community of Families in Western Craft Traditions of Idaho

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Smithsonian Folklife Festival Presents Youth and the Future of Culture, July 2–7

In the foreground, a lineup of mannequins each with colorful embroidered garments. At the end of the line, out of focus, a woman dresses a mannequin.

A Global Tapestry of Craft: Championing Women Artisans of Central Asia in a New Lookbook

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

Reviving Tradition With the My Handmade Armenia Festival

Carolyn Smith collecting beargrass in Klamath National Forest, 2015. For beargrass to be supple enough for weavers to use in their baskets, it needs to be burned annually. Ideally, it is burned in an intentionally set cultural fire, where only the tops are burned, leaving the roots intact. Prescribed fires in the Klamath National Forest are few and far between, so weavers “follow the smoke” and gather, when they can, after wildfires sweep through the landscape. (Photo courtesy of Carolyn Smith)

How Indigenous Ecological Knowledge Offers Solutions to California’s Wildfires

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

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

Traveling with the Little Ones: Entertainment in Armenia

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

The Potter's Wheel: An Inexhaustible Source of Energy

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

Facing History: Lessons from the Potter’s Wheel

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