Revisiting Folk Art: Agency, Change and Emancipation
| Authors | |
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| Year of publication | 2024 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Many modernists announced the end of folk art and confined it to the coffin of the museum of the pre-industrial age. Yet, some artists and craftspeople adopted modernity in order to update folk art in the name of class, gender and art emancipation. Challenging the perspective of folk art’s lack of agency, we invite proposals for papers that engage with the following topics and ques- tions both historically and in relation to contemporary issues: – Folk art is often perceived as an element of national culture. How do regional and international aspects of folk culture come into play? – Folk art has often been studied in relation to ethnography and heritage. How relevant is folk art to the project of modernity and the post-modern world? – The producers of folk art have traditionally been women and marginalised people in society. How does the emancipation of folk art affect their position as artists or craftswomen? – Folk art consistently adopted new technologies and materials upon its entrance into modernity. What role did they play in maintaining folk art’s position in contemporary society? – Many folk practices have been recently revived to respond to the environmental crisis. What potential does folk art hold as an avant-garde today, to rethink modes of production? |
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