- Folklife in NJ
- NJ Folklife Slideshow

About Folklife

What is folklife? It is the very fabric of our lives, weaving them into the lives of those who came before us and those who will follow us.

It’s "the way we do things" in our communities:

the way of life that we share at home -- the meals we think of as "home cooking," the lullabies that mothers sing over generations, the way that we choose the names of children, the stories we hear and tell about other generations and family members, and the way we plant our gardens;

ways of interacting with the environment -- the baskets and boats that we make from local trees, the annual cycles of work and play, special methods of harvesting local waters and soils, the way we mentally map and informally name our city neighborhoods, the way we decorate our houses and yards, the unique spoken expressions and accents in our region;

traditions commemorating our ethnic identity -- the language we speak with community members, the holidays and holydays we observe and the way we celebrate them, the way we dress for particular occasions, and the special foods that we eat and the music that we play on those occasions; and

occupational practices -- the rituals of initiation and retirement, the special vocabulary of the workplace, the skills that are considered the best way of doing a job, the tools we make or decorate, the cycles of our work year, the stories of great successes or failures.

Folk art is that part of folklife that expresses common standards of appropriateness and beauty. Daily life as well as festival times are embellished with these forms and made more beautiful, interesting, and meaningful. Over time, these forms become charged with memory, emotion, and value, strengthening the sense of individual identity as well as community bonds.

Thus a backyard garden, handmade basket, wedding decorations, and a wooden boat are far more than flourishes. They can prompt joy and sadness, passion, and repose. They are community works of art and touchstones of identity. They are all expressions of the human ability to create beauty and meaning in all aspects of life.

Folklife and folk art are important resources for all societies. Within communities, they provide stability and continuity, helping the young to feel secure in their identity as they adapt to change, and the old to pass on their collective knowledge. When shared with other communities, folk arts and folklife facilitate intercultural understanding. By seeing the meaning of other’s traditions, we can better share our common human needs and values.

For more information about traditional arts in New Jersey, see Folklife in New Jersey and the New Jersey Folklife Slide Show.

A project of the NJ Folklife Partners. Produced in 2003 with support from
The National Endowment for the Arts & The NJ State Council on the Arts, Department of State

Questions or comments? Use our online form to send us a message.