This is easily the most fascinating museum I've ever been to. There's just so much neat stuff to see!
And before you say "Ugh, but art museums are soooo boring..." A) I disagree, and B) this isn't your traditional stuffy, highbrow art museum! There's a world of difference between fine art and folk art.
Folk art is produced by common, everyday people, and is typically made for a utilitarian or decorative purpose. Folk artists make objects primarily for use in their own homes or communities. This can be toys, miniatures, keepsakes, religious items, decorative items for the home, or even ceremonial items for use in local holidays or traditions.
Folk art can also teach you a lot about other cultures. Every part of the world makes different sorts of objects and has their own unique artistic styles. So it's easy to see and appreciate all the differences (and similarities!) between various cultures simply by looking at their folk art.
The wonderful thing about folk art to me is that it is accessible to everyone. Anyone can look at folk art and understand what it is, why it was made, and what it was used for. Everyone can relate to it. And since this is, after all, the world's biggest museum of folk art, so there's plenty here to satisfy everyone's interests!
And before you say "Ugh, but art museums are soooo boring..." A) I disagree, and B) this isn't your traditional stuffy, highbrow art museum! There's a world of difference between fine art and folk art.
Folk art is produced by common, everyday people, and is typically made for a utilitarian or decorative purpose. Folk artists make objects primarily for use in their own homes or communities. This can be toys, miniatures, keepsakes, religious items, decorative items for the home, or even ceremonial items for use in local holidays or traditions.
Folk art can also teach you a lot about other cultures. Every part of the world makes different sorts of objects and has their own unique artistic styles. So it's easy to see and appreciate all the differences (and similarities!) between various cultures simply by looking at their folk art.
The wonderful thing about folk art to me is that it is accessible to everyone. Anyone can look at folk art and understand what it is, why it was made, and what it was used for. Everyone can relate to it. And since this is, after all, the world's biggest museum of folk art, so there's plenty here to satisfy everyone's interests!
The Museum of International Folk Art is part of Santa Fe's Museum Hill, just a short distance southeast of downtown Santa Fe. Museum Hill actually contains four museums: the Museum of Folk Art, the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art, the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, and the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. I was able to visit three out of the four museums (I didn't make it to the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, though it does look interesting, and in retrospect I wish I had chosen to go there instead of the smaller Wheelwright Museum). I'd say that the other three museums are worth a visit if you have some extra time on your hands. But the standout star of Museum Hill is most definitely the Museum of International Folk Art!
And here it is:
And here it is:
The museum is divided into two parts. First is the IMMENSE Girard Wing, which houses permanent displays of world folk art, and second are four smaller galleries that host rotating temporary exhibitions.
Your visit begins in the GARGANTUAN Girard Wing. Have I mentioned how big it is? It is HUGE! I mean, imagine the biggest warehouse you can think of --
Your visit begins in the GARGANTUAN Girard Wing. Have I mentioned how big it is? It is HUGE! I mean, imagine the biggest warehouse you can think of --
-- uh, yeah, it's kinda like that. Except if someone had taken all the items OUT of every one of those crates and then put them on display. That's about the amount of stuff we're talking about in here. It's a big place, is what I'm saying. Check it out:
You can hardly even tell where the back wall is in that picture. Make sure you grab one of the laminated guidebooks before you enter. Unlike your typical museum, there are no placards next to any of the items to tell you about what you're looking at. Instead, everything just has a number, which you can use to look up a description in the guidebook. It's nice because you can look up the information on whichever items catch your attention, or just wander through and look at all the pretty things without being bogged down with reading a bunch of text.
Alexander and Susan Girard A Bit of History:
The Museum was founded in 1953 by Florence Dibell Bartlett. As someone who had lived through both World Wars, it was her hope that a museum showcasing folk art from around the world would help to promote cultural understanding.
The collection in the Girard Wing was donated to the museum by Alexander and Susan Girard. Alexander had been fascinated by toys and miniatures since childhood, and the couple began collecting items of folk art on their travels starting with their 1939 honeymoon to Mexico. Almost 50 years later, in 1978, the Girards donated their collection of over 100,000 objects from more than 100 countries to the museum. This single massive donation quintupled the size of the museum's collections! The donation also necessitated the addition of a new wing to the museum to house the new items. (And even with the new wing, there's still only room for about 10% of the collection to be displayed!)
Since Alexander Girard was an interior designer and architect, he actually designed the new wing himself. And his displays are pretty creative! Items are displayed at many different elevations (including above your head), and the paths wind around so you can see the bigger displays from many different angles.
The Museum was founded in 1953 by Florence Dibell Bartlett. As someone who had lived through both World Wars, it was her hope that a museum showcasing folk art from around the world would help to promote cultural understanding.
The collection in the Girard Wing was donated to the museum by Alexander and Susan Girard. Alexander had been fascinated by toys and miniatures since childhood, and the couple began collecting items of folk art on their travels starting with their 1939 honeymoon to Mexico. Almost 50 years later, in 1978, the Girards donated their collection of over 100,000 objects from more than 100 countries to the museum. This single massive donation quintupled the size of the museum's collections! The donation also necessitated the addition of a new wing to the museum to house the new items. (And even with the new wing, there's still only room for about 10% of the collection to be displayed!)
Since Alexander Girard was an interior designer and architect, he actually designed the new wing himself. And his displays are pretty creative! Items are displayed at many different elevations (including above your head), and the paths wind around so you can see the bigger displays from many different angles.
Ok, enough history; on to the collections! With more than 10,000 items on display just in this one room, I can't possibly show you everything. So I'll just pick out a few of my favorite things:
The museum contains a number of elaborate miniature village scenes, like this one from Peru.
Educational toys from India depicting elements of the British bureaucracy at work. Fun for all ages!
Many of these miniatures have an amazing level of detail!
| 
A dance cape from the Peruvian Andes to be worn in the Negreria Dance, which combines elements of Catholicism and African slave heritage to celebrate the region's culture and history.
Intricately-painted wagon wheels like this one are a common sight in Costa Rica.
|
Ewe robe cloth from Ghana. Each kind of stripe on the robe has its own particular meaning. If you look closely, the stripes don't seem to be arranged in a regular geometric pattern - presumably because the meaning takes precedence.
| 
Mexican figurines used in Day of the Dead celebrations.
|
This model of a Chinese village was so long, I couldn't even fit the whole thing into one photo!
Japanese toys. Kokeshi dolls (above) were originally made to be presented at shrines to ensure the prosperity of one's descendants. The self-righting armless and legless toys (below) depict the story of the monk Daruma, whose arms and legs withered away after 10 years of continuous meditation.
| 
Detail of the Chinese village (above).
Ceremonial staff used in holiday processions in the Philippines.
|
This "Sailor's Valentine" is typical of those made in the West Indies during the Victorian era as a souvenir for sailors to give to their loves back home.
| 
This painting from 1960's Senegal is entitled "Once Upon a Time There Were Two Twin Sisters." Yes. Yes there were.
|
This ornate ceramic work by Mexican artist Heron Martinez de Mendoza called teh "Tree of Life" actually contains three nativity scenes in the top, center, and bottom (though they're hard to see from this angle).
After leaving that gallery, there are still four more to see! But don't worry, they're much smaller. The remaining galleries each house temporary exhibitions. These exhibits change periodically, so the ones I saw may not still be there when you visit the museum.
First up is the Hispanic Heritage Wing, which always displays an exhibit that relates to Hispanic culture. For my visit, it was the history of chocolate. They had recreations of Spanish colonial kitchens, as well as vessels used to prepare and serve chocolate. Sadly, they did NOT have free samples.
First up is the Hispanic Heritage Wing, which always displays an exhibit that relates to Hispanic culture. For my visit, it was the history of chocolate. They had recreations of Spanish colonial kitchens, as well as vessels used to prepare and serve chocolate. Sadly, they did NOT have free samples.
| 
|
Next up was an exhibit on Amish quilting. And I do love a good quilt. The Amish have a reputation for simplicity and plainness, and I was expecting to see that reflected in their quilts. And while many of the quilts were rather simple and straightforward, many others were much more vibrant and colorful than what I expected!
| 
|
| 
|
The next gallery, entitled "Let's Talk About This," is dedicated to folk artists' responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Only by openly talking about HIV and AIDS can we end the shame and stigma that has long been associated with it. The gallery contains works by folk artists who are coping with the disease and their art expresses the effect that HIV/AIDS has had on their lives and on their communities. There is even a fragment of the original AIDS quilt on display.
Above: This wall allows visitors to leave a personal message on cards. Below: Many Rwandan women have developed HIV or AIDS after being raped in the 1994 genocides. Now both Hutu and Tutsi women are coming together to earn a living in weaving cooperatives making baskets and earrings.
| 
The 600 beaded dolls on this "Orphan Tower" represent the number of children orphaned by AIDS in just one South African village.
|
Let's end this post on a high note... with some high-flying kites! This final gallery is all about Japanese kites, which have become quite an art form. Kites actually originated in China 2500 years ago, and were brought to Japan by Buddhist monks about 1500 years ago. They were once used for more utilitarian purposes like weather prediction, fishing, and even construction! Today, of course, kites are primarily a recreational activity, which has given rise to some really colorful and fun designs!
| 
|
This isn't the world's largest folk art museum for nothing! There's so much to see in this museum that you could easily spend all day here. It was certainly a highlight of my trip to New Mexico!
RSS Feed
