# folkroom — The Archive of Living Traditions

> A free, sourced public archive of the world's living traditions — folk music, dance-drama, crafts, textiles, paintings, foodways, and oral epics across 160+ places. Every claim cites its primary source; where we don't know, we say so. Released under CC BY-SA 4.0.

## Core Index & Discovery Doors
- [Home & Daily Curated Archive](https://folkroom.org/)
- [Tradition of the Day & 14-Day Dispatch Archive](https://folkroom.org/today)
- [All Living Traditions Index (8,000+ rooms)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms)
- [Interactive World Atlas of Living Traditions](https://folkroom.org/places)
- [Master Artists & Living Bearers](https://folkroom.org/artists)
- [Traditional Musical Instruments](https://folkroom.org/instruments)
- [Traditional Craft & Heritage Materials](https://folkroom.org/materials)
- [Custodian Communities](https://folkroom.org/communities)
- [Troupes, Schools & Lineages](https://folkroom.org/groups)
- [The Seven Tradition Families](https://folkroom.org/families)
- [Festival & Ritual Calendar](https://folkroom.org/shows)
- [Primary Sources & Bibliography](https://folkroom.org/sources)
- [Open Data & CC BY-SA 4.0 Releases](https://folkroom.org/data)
- [Tradition of the Day JSON API](https://folkroom.org/api/v1/today)
- [RSS 2.0 Syndication Feed](https://folkroom.org/feed.xml)
- [XML Sitemap Index](https://folkroom.org/sitemap.xml)

## International Country Editions (42 Countries)
- [India Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/india)
- [Indonesia Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/id)
- [Vietnam Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/vn)
- [Thailand Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/th)
- [Nepal Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/np)
- [Sri Lanka Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/lk)
- [Bangladesh Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/bd)
- [Philippines Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/ph)
- [Japan Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/jp)
- [China Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/cn)
- [South Korea Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/kr)
- [Mongolia Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/mn)
- [Uzbekistan Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/uz)
- [Kyrgyzstan Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/kg)
- [Morocco Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/ma)
- [Saudi Arabia Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/sa)
- [Türkiye Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/tr)
- [Iran Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/ir)
- [Egypt Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/eg)
- [United Arab Emirates Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/ae)
- [Senegal Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/sn)
- [Mali Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/ml)
- [Nigeria Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/ng)
- [Ethiopia Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/et)
- [Ghana Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/gh)
- [Kenya Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/ke)
- [Spain Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/es)
- [France Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/fr)
- [United Kingdom Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/gb)
- [Italy Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/it)
- [Portugal Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/pt)
- [Georgia Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/ge)
- [Greece Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/gr)
- [Ireland Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/ie)
- [Mexico Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/mx)
- [Brazil Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/br)
- [Peru Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/pe)
- [Argentina Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/ar)
- [Colombia Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/co)
- [Cuba Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/cu)
- [United States Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/us)
- [Bolivia Edition](https://folkroom.org/edition/bo)

## Flagship Living Traditions (Sample of 60 Curated Rooms)
- [Kathakali (കഥകളി)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/kathakali): Dance · Thrissur, Kerala, India — Classical dance-drama of Kerala told entirely through mudra hand-gestures, facial expression, and percussion, without a single word spoken by the actor.
- [Danza de los Voladores (Kos'niin)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/danza-de-los-voladores): Dance · Papantla, Veracruz, Mexico — Totonac ritual ceremony in which four flyers descend headfirst by ropes from a thirty-metre rotating pole while the caporal plays flute and drum atop the mast.
- [Wayang Kulit (ꦮꦪꦁꦏꦸꦭꦶꦠ꧀)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/wayang-kulit): Storytelling · Yogyakarta & Surakarta, Java, Indonesia — All-night Javanese shadow puppet theatre directed by a single dalang master behind a lit linen kelir screen with bronze gamelan orchestra.
- [Al Sadu Weaving (السدو)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/al-sadu-weaving): Textile · Al-Ahsa & Badia, Saudi Arabia — Bedouin warp-faced plain weave woven on ground looms from hand-spun camel and sheep wool in desert-inspired geometric bands.
- [Danza de tijeras (Supaypa wasin tusuq)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/danza-de-tijeras): Dance · Ayacucho & Huancavelica, Peru — Quechua ritual competition dance of the southern Peruvian Andes performed with polished iron blades clashed in the dancer's right hand to violin and harp.
- [Chhau dance (छौ नृत्य)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/chhau-dance): Dance · Seraikela & Purulia, India — Martial and folk dance of eastern India performed during the spring Chaitra Parva festival in three regional schools: Seraikela, Mayurbhanj, and Purulia.
- [Saman (Tari Saman)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/saman): Music · Gayo Lues, Aceh, Indonesia — Gayo highland polyrhythmic kneeling chant and body-percussion dance performed without musical instruments along a single tightly packed row.
- [Capoeira (Roda de Capoeira)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/capoeira): Dance · Salvador da Bahia, Brazil — Afro-Brazilian circle of fight, dance, acrobatics, and call-and-response song governed by the single-string berimbau bow.
- [Tango (Tango rioplatense)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/tango): Dance · Buenos Aires & Montevideo, Argentina — Urban music, poetry, and improvised close-embrace social dance born in the working-class port tenements of the Río de la Plata basin.
- [Zaouli (Zaouli de Manfla)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/zaouli): Dance · Manfla, Marahoué, Côte d'Ivoire — Gouro masked homage to feminine beauty in central Côte d'Ivoire, famed for lightning-fast footwork while the upper torso remains completely still.
- [Bunraku Puppet Theatre (人形浄瑠璃文楽)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/bunraku): Craft · Osaka, Japan — Three-puppeteer classical narrative drama from Osaka accompanied by a single tayu chanter and futozao shamisen lute.
- [Ca trù (歌籌)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/ca-tru): Music · Hanoi & Red River Delta, Vietnam — Vietnamese chamber music and sung poetry performed by a female đào nương vocalist striking wooden clappers alongside a three-stringed đàn đáy lute.
- [Reog Ponorogo (ꦫꦺꦪꦺꦴꦒ꧀)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/reog): Dance · Ponorogo, East Java, Indonesia — East Javanese open-air ritual dance drama anchored by the towering Singa Barong lion-peacock mask carried solely by the strength of the dancer's teeth.
- [Danza de los Viejitos (T'arhépitiicha)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/danza-de-los-viejitos): Dance · Jarácuaro, Michoacán, Mexico — Purépecha masked dance of Lake Pátzcuaro in which dancers bent over wooden canes erupt into thunderous wooden-soled zapateado footwork.
- [Kalbelia (कालबेलिया)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/kalbelia): Dance · Thar Desert, Rajasthan, India — Whirling desert dance and improvised folk songs of the nomadic Kalbelia community of Rajasthan, accompanied by the pungi gourd reed pipe and khanjari.
- [Maskarada of Soule (Xiberoko Maskarada)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/maskarada-of-soule): Storytelling · Zuberoa, Basque Country, France — Winter carnival procession and open-air pastoral theatre of the Basque province of Soule, opposing the graceful Gorriak ('Reds') and unruly Beltzeria ('Blacks').
- [Flamenco (Cante, Baile y Toque)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/flamenco): Dance · Seville, Jerez & Cádiz, Spain — Andalusian triad of cante song, baile dance, and toque guitar rooted in Gitano, Moorish, Sephardic, and Castilian traditions.
- [Gnawa (كناوة)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/gnawa): Music · Essaouira & Marrakech, Morocco — Moroccan brotherhood music and all-night Lila therapeutic ceremony led by a Maâlem on the three-stringed guembri lute and iron qraqeb.
- [Georgian Polyphonic Singing (ქართული მრავალხმიანობა)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/georgian-polyphonic-singing): Music · Tbilisi, Svaneti & Guria, Georgia — Three-part secular and liturgical vocal polyphony of the Caucasus featuring untempered fifths, sharp dissonances, and Gurian krimanchuli yodeling.
- [Gotipua (ଗୋଟିପୁଅ)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/gotipua): Dance · Raghurajpur, Odisha, India — Acrobatic temple dance of Odisha performed by young boys dressed as Radha and Krishna, and the direct historical precursor of classical Odissi.
- [Abbots Bromley Horn Dance (Horn Dance)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/abbots-bromley-horn-dance): Dance · Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire, United Kingdom — English village custom danced each Wakes Monday in Staffordshire with six sets of reindeer antlers radiocarbon-dated to circa 1065 CE.
- [Frevo (Frevo pernambucano)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/frevo): Dance · Recife & Olinda, Pernambuco, Brazil — Explosive street carnival brass music and acrobatic passo dance of Recife and Olinda performed with colourful miniature parasols.
- [Javanese Gamelan (ꦒꦩꦼꦭꦤ꧀)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/gamelan): Music · Surakarta & Yogyakarta, Indonesia — Hand-forged bronze percussion orchestra of gongs, metallophones, drums, flute, and bowed lute tuned to sléndro and pélog scales.
- [Kanjeevaram Silk Weaving (காஞ்சிபுரம் பட்டு)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/kanjeevaram-silk-weaving): Textile · Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, India — Handloom silk-weaving tradition of Kanchipuram combining mulberry silk from Karnataka with silver-gilt zari thread from Surat using the three-shuttle korvai technique.
- [Koodiyattam (കൂടിയാട്ടം)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/koodiyattam): Craft · Thrissur, Kerala, India — Two-thousand-year-old Sanskrit temple drama of Kerala performed inside Koothambalam theatre halls by Chakyar actors and Nangiar actresses.
- [Madhubani Painting (मधुबनी चित्रकला)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/madhubani-painting): Painting · Jitwarpur, Madhubani, Bihar, India — Mithila ritual wall and paper painting tradition practised across northern Bihar and the Nepal Terai using bamboo twigs and mineral pigments.
- [Bhuta Kola (ಭೂತ ಕೋಲ)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/bhuta-kola): Food · Tulu Nadu, Coastal Karnataka, India — All-night Tulu spirit-worship ritual and communal harvest offering of coastal Karnataka in which the medium wears a palm-leaf ani halo and recites paddana epics.
- [Mandinka Kora Tradition (Jali Kora)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/mandinka-kora): Storytelling · Casamance & Mandé, Senegal — Hereditary West African jali (griot) oral history and twenty-one-string calabash harp-lute music of Senegal, Mali, The Gambia, and Guinea.
- [Garba (ગરબા)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/garba): Dance · Ahmedabad & Vadodara, Gujarat, India — Nine-night Navaratri circle dance of Gujarat performed counterclockwise around a perforated clay garbi lamp and image of the Mother Goddess.
- [Bihu dance (বিহু নাচ)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/bihu-dance): Dance · Brahmaputra Valley, Assam, India — Vernal Rongali Bihu harvest dance of Assam performed to the buffalo-horn pepa pipe, bamboo gagana jaw harp, and two-headed dhol.
- [Theyyam (തെയ്യം)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/theyyam): Dance · Kannur & Kasaragod, North Malabar, India — Sacred ritual dance and living deity embodiment of North Malabar in which the performer wears towering bamboo-and-cloth mudi headgear inside kavu shrine groves.
- [Bhavai dance (भवाई नृत्य)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/bhavai-dance): Dance · Udaipur & Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India — Rajasthani equilibrium dance in which women balance seven to eleven brass or earthen pitchers on their heads while pirouetting on the rim of a brass plate.
- [Chholiya (छोलिया)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/chholiya): Dance · Almora & Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand, India — Kumaoni sword-and-shield martial procession dance of the central Himalayas performed at Rajput wedding barat processions with brass turi horns.
- [Al-Mizmar (المزمار)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/mizmar): Music · Jeddah & Medina, Hejaz, Saudi Arabia — Hejazi group performance danced with fire-hardened shoum staffs around a central fire to the piercing double-reed mizmar oboe and drums.
- [Mongolian Biyelgee (Монгол биелгээ)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/biyelgee): Dance · Khovd & Uvs, Western Mongolia, Mongolia — Nomadic upper-body dance performed half-seated inside the narrow space of the Mongolian ger tent to the two-stringed ikel lute.
- [Zapotec Pedal-Loom Weaving (Biaa Xigie')](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/zapotec-pedal-loom-weaving): Textile · Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico — Hand-carded wool rug and serape weaving of Oaxaca dyed with fermented añil indigo, wild marigold, and crushed cochineal scale insects.
- [Raghurajpur Pattachitra (ପଟ୍ଟଚିତ୍ର)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/pattachitra-scroll-painting): Painting · Raghurajpur & Puri, Odisha, India — Cloth-scroll and etched palm-leaf (tala pattachitra) narrative painting prepared with tamarind-seed paste, chalk gesso, and conch-shell white.
- [Channapatna Wood & Lac Turning (ಚನ್ನಪಟ್ಟಣ ಗೊಂಬೆಗಳು)](https://folkroom.org/art-forms/channapatna-lacquer-turning): Craft · Channapatna, Ramanagara, Karnataka, India — Lathe-turned ivory-wood (Wrightia tinctoria) craft coated on the spinning mandrel with sticks of shellac compounded with turmeric, indigo, and kumkum.

## Master Practitioners & Living Human Treasures
- [Sita Devi (1914–2005)](https://folkroom.org/artists/sita-devi): Pioneering Bharni-style painter of Jitwarpur, Bihar, who carried domestic Mithila ritual wall murals onto handmade paper and civic murals.
- [Vallathol Narayana Menon (1878–1958)](https://folkroom.org/artists/vallathol-narayana-menon): Malayalam poet and institutional architect who co-founded Kerala Kalamandalam in 1930 to safeguard Kathakali, Mohiniyattam, and Koodiyattam.
- [Ammannur Madhava Chakyar (1917–2008)](https://folkroom.org/artists/ammannur-madhava-chakyar): Twentieth-century patriarch of Koodiyattam Sanskrit temple drama famed for micro-muscular netra abhinaya eye acting and solo Pakarnnattam.
- [Toumani Diabaté (1965–2024)](https://folkroom.org/artists/toumani-diabate): Seventy-first-generation Bamako Mandinka jali who established unaccompanied concert kora harp-lute polyphony on global stages.
- [Mestre Pastinha (1889–1981)](https://folkroom.org/artists/mestre-pastinha): Pelourinho philosopher-teacher in Salvador da Bahia who codified Capoeira Angola's ancestral roda ethics, slow berimbau cadence, and malícia.
- [Takemoto Gidayū (1651–1714)](https://folkroom.org/artists/takemoto-gidayu): Edo-period Osaka chanter who founded the Takemoto-za puppet playhouse in 1684 and originated Bunraku's dramatic Gidayū-bushi vocal school.
- [Maguni Charan Das (1921–2008)](https://folkroom.org/artists/maguni-charan-das): Raghurajpur gurukula founder who reconstructed Odia Gotipua devotional boy-dancer pedagogy and acrobatic bandha nritya formations.
- [Gulabo Sapera (b. 1960)](https://folkroom.org/artists/gulabo-sapera): Trailblazing Ajmer-Pushkar dancer who established public stage performance for women of Rajasthan's nomadic Kalbelia community.
- [Gambhir Singh Mura (1930–2002)](https://folkroom.org/artists/gambhir-singh-mura): Bamni village Purulia Chhau virtuoso celebrated for high-altitude masked martial leaps as Mahishasuramardini and Abhimanyu.
- [Teejan Bai (b. 1956)](https://folkroom.org/artists/teejan-bai): Ganiyari-born Chhattisgarhi Mahabharata vocalist who broke gender barriers as the first woman exponent of standing Kapalik-style Pandavani.
- [Jivya Soma Mashe (1934–2018)](https://folkroom.org/artists/jivya-soma-mashe): Dahanu-Palghar Warli Adivasi visionary who transformed seasonal women's rice-paste marriage murals into continuous forest-and-tarpa narratives.
- [Jangarh Singh Shyam (1962–2001)](https://folkroom.org/artists/jangarh-singh-shyam): Patangarh Pardhan Gond bana-bard and painter whose dot-and-scale visual grammar founded the contemporary Jangarh Kalam movement.
- [Abdul Gafur Khatri (b. 1961)](https://folkroom.org/artists/abdul-gafur-khatri): Eighth-generation Nirona stylus-paste artisan in Kutch who rescued boiled castor-oil Rogan cloth craft and trained rural women practitioners.
- [Biren Kumar Basak (b. 1951)](https://folkroom.org/artists/biren-kumar-basak): Phulia pit-loom weaver of Nadia district, West Bengal, celebrated for narrative extra-weft Tangail and sheer Jamdani muslin saris.
- [Porfirio Gutiérrez (b. 1978)](https://folkroom.org/artists/porfirio-gutierrez): Zapotec ethnobotanical dyer and pedal-loom weaver in Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca, reviving wild Sierra Norte plant, indigo, and cochineal palettes.
- [Purna Das Baul (b. 1933)](https://folkroom.org/artists/purna-das-baul): Birbhum mystic singer-philosopher who carried Bengal's wandering ektara, duggi, and sahajiya Baul song lineage onto five continents.
- [Maâlem Mahmoud Guinia (1951–2015)](https://folkroom.org/artists/maalem-mahmoud-guinia): Essaouira Gnawa ritual master whose three-string guembri bass-lute voice anchored Morocco's all-night Lila healing brotherhoods.
- [Imtiaz Qureshi (1931–2024)](https://folkroom.org/artists/imtiaz-qureshi): Lucknow rakabdar banquet patriarch who revived dough-sealed copper-deg Awadhi Dum Pukht slow-steaming and became the first chef awarded the Padma Shri.