Museum folklore
Scholarship and practice at the intersection of folklore and museums.
Museum folklore is a specialized area of study and professional work within folklore studies, or folkloristics. Practitioners in this field may be employed full-time in museums focused on ethnography, ethnology, cultural history, or folk art, often serving as educators, curators, or directors. Others work in public folklore programs, academic departments, community organizations, or as consultants, collaborating with museums on scholarly and public initiatives or researching the history and effects of such work.
Central themes in museum folklore involve policies and practices around tangible and intangible cultural heritage, the role of museums as sites of conscience, cultural tourism, and the use of digital tools for preserving, presenting, and providing access to heritage collections. The practice often emphasizes bringing the human stories behind museum objects to life through events like artist residencies, folk festivals, and craft sales, which connect audiences with the people who created the collections.
Museum folklore overlaps significantly with museum anthropology and material culture studies. It is frequently considered a sub-area of public folklore. In North America, the historical ties between anthropology and folklore are especially relevant, as many early leaders of the American Folklore Society were also anthropologists working in museums. In Europe, this field is often referred to as European ethnology, and it is also seen as part of folklife studies.
In the United States and Canada, the organizational home for this sub-field is the Folklore and Museums section of the American Folklore Society, which is analogous to the Council for Museum Anthropology among museum anthropologists.
Notable historical figures in museum folklore include William Bascom, Franz Boas, William N. Fenton, Stewart Culin, and Artur Hazelius. Leading contemporary scholar-practitioners include Marsha Bol, C. Kurt Dewhurst, Rayna Green, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, and Marsha MacDowell.
- field
- Folklore studies (folkloristics)
- sub_field
- Public folklore, folklife studies
- related_fields
- Museum anthropology, material culture studies, European ethnology
- organizational_home
- Folklore and Museums section of the American Folklore Society
- key_themes
- Tangible and intangible cultural heritage, sites of conscience, cultural tourism, digital preservation and access
Lore & Background
Museum folklore involves folklorists working full-time in museums of ethnography, ethnology, cultural history, or folk art, often as educators, curators, and directors. Others work in public folklore programs, academic departments, community-based organizations, and consultancies, partnering with museums or studying the history and impact of such work. Key themes include policies and practices relating to tangible and intangible cultural heritage, museums as sites of conscience, cultural tourism, and digital preservation, presentation, and access to cultural heritage collections.
Reader's Guide
Museum folklore practice has often focused on animating the object-centered nature of museums through events and activities that bring the people behind heritage collections into engagement with audiences, such as artist-in-residency programs, folk festivals, and art and craft sales markets. There is significant interaction and overlap with museum anthropology and material culture studies. In North America, historical connections linking anthropology and folklore studies are relevant because many early leaders of the American Folklore Society were also anthropologists active in museums. In Europe, museum folklore often falls within European ethnology. The sub-field is also understood as part of folklife studies. Its organizational home in the United States and Canada is the Folklore and Museums section of the American Folklore Society, cognate to the Council for Museum Anthropology among museum anthropologists.
Did You Know?
- Museum folklore is often understood as a sub-area of the wider realm of public folklore.
- In Europe, what is referred to as museum folklore would often fall within the field of European ethnology.
- Prominent figures in the history of museum folklore include William Bascom, Franz Boas, William N. Fenton, Stewart Culin, and Artur Hazelius.
- Leading senior scholar-practitioners in the field today include Marsha Bol, C. Kurt Dewhurst, Rayna Green, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, and Marsha MacDowell.
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