Folklife Links
Introduction
Welcome to WESTAF's Folklife Links -- a collection of resources of interest to artists, educators, folklorists, and anyone curious about the traditions of diverse cultures. These sites bring you inside great collections of folk art, introduce the fundamentals of folklife field research, and some offer samples of traditional performances.
Folklife traditions are expressions of a shared culture, acquired and passed on over time in face-to-face interaction and in small groups (through oral tradition, performance, etc.). Groups share folklife on the basis of their ethnicity, religion, occupation, gender, region, family membership or any other kind of common identity. While folklife is maintained over generations, it changes as tradition bearers adapt to changing cultural circumstances and exercise creativity within the conventions of a form of folklife. Forms of folklife include customs, beliefs, traditional narrative, folk songs, vernacular architecture, traditional crafts, festivals, folk theatre, rituals, traditional folk dances, etc. All can be found in cultures worldwide, and over the Web.
These links were compiled by Robert Baron. Baron is currently on leave from the New York State Council on the Arts, where he served as folk arts program director beginning in 1985, and museum program director from 1986-2000. He is the author of many publications about public presentation of folk arts in diverse contexts, folklife in museums, and the history of folklore studies, including "Public Folklore," co-edited with Nicholas R. Spitzer (Smithsonian Press 1992). Baron holds a Ph.D. in folklore and folklife from the University of Pennsylvania. He has served as president of the Middle Atlantic Folklife Association and as a consultant and board member for a number of cultural organizations. These links were prepared prior to his current, year-long position at the National Endowment for the Humanities, where he is serving as folklore administrator.
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