Smithsonian Voices

From the Smithsonian Museums

Two children and an adult sit on three swings in a dry landscape with trees in the background.

Filmmaker Billy Luther Explains How Frybread Face and Me Was a Labor of Love

Luther’s narrative feature debut opened the 2024 Mother Tongue Film Festival at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

Five adults dressed in white dresses, robes, and veils pose along a forest path. One carries a lit lantern, and another carries a white flag.

This Elven Choir in Sweden Sings Tolkien’s Middle-earth to Life

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

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How I Visit with Houma Relatives in the Smithsonian’s Archival Collections

From behind, a person walks through a street filled with gray rubble, toward run-down buildings with graffiti in Turkish on the walls.

How Living Heritage Heals the Invisible Fractures of the Soul in Eastern Türkiye

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

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The Millville Rose: Artifacts of Whimsy and Art in Industry

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

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

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

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

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'

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

Gray headstones and green grass and trees in a cemetery.

Cemeteries That Save the American Landscape

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

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

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

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

Why Black Hairstyles Represent a Crowning Achievement

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

Celebrate National Cookie Day With This Scottish Treat

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

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Filmmaker Billy Luther Explains How Frybread Face and Me Was a Labor of Love

This Elven Choir in Sweden Sings Tolkien’s Middle-earth to Life

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