Traditional arts

A denim jacket with a patch sewn on with red thread, with a needle with thread resting on the jacket
TRADITIONAL ARTS

Could the art of ‘sashiko’ help to mend our frayed world?

The Japanese art of ‘sashiko’ celebrates the rough edges of life. Could this be the patchwork solution for our frayed selves?

by Melanie McGrath

A sailboat on a calm lake at dusk with snow-capped mountains in the background under a cloudy sky.
MEANING AND THE GOOD LIFE

A boatbuilder above the Arctic Circle works hard at his epicurean life

Directed by Vern Cummins & Jamie Gallant

A knitted grey toy mouse holds a needle and repairs its own dress. Three balls of yarn lie nearby, alongside a small blue open book.
PLEASURES AND PASTIMES
5

A whimsical ode to the reparative power of knitting, rendered in wool

Directed by Samantha Moore

Colourful pointillistic painting of four figures in patterned clothing on a landscape with trees, likely representing rural life.
TRADITIONAL ARTS

A joyously animated myth retells why painting is prayer to India’s Bhil people

A film by Nina Sabnani and Sher Singh Bhil

Photo of a person with a guitar leaning on a car in a forest with bright red foliage wearing a white shirt and hat.
MUSIC

Bob Dylan turned American folk traditions into modern prophecy

Bob Dylan’s ‘A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall’ is the first truly modernist folk song: it reworks tradition into a prophetic warning

by Timothy Hampton

A dancer in a black dress and red sash dances in front of a guitarist seated on a chair, in a studio with mirrors and plants.
MUSIC

La vida flamenca – why art and daily life are inseparable for a flamenco guitarist

Directed by Pedro Kos and Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee

An old, weathered boat hull is grounded in a field with two bare trees under a cloudy sky.
TRADITIONAL ARTS
5

Scottish Gaelic songs send a message in a bottle across the oceans of time

Directed by Jamie Chambers

A dancer in traditional Indian dress performs on stage against a black background
DANCE

Bharathanatyam dance is a living exploration of being human

With its origins in 16th-century India, Bharathanatyam remains hugely popular. Here’s a primer to kickstart your enjoyment

by Lakshmi Thiagarajan

Photo of two children in a workshop setting using tools, one holds a hammer the other uses a hand drill.
LEARNING AND EDUCATION

Handcraft lessons belong in a radical school curriculum

Handcraft lessons in school can stitch empathy, sustainability and resilience to the shared knowledge of communal heritage

by Hinda Mandell

Photo of carved wooden figures on a white background each with simple facial features and varying shapes and expressions.
PHILOSOPHY OF ART

Archaeology excavates the layers of meaning we leave behind

Archaeologists make sense of the past by thinking about the intentional and the natural meanings of what they uncover

by Marilynn Johnson

Medieval painting of three musicians playing instruments, seated under arches with colourful robes and curly hair.
MUSIC

Courtly love songs are a window into medieval sex lives

Song lyrics acted as a sexual script for aristocrats, revealing some edgy practices that ignited their imaginations

by Elizabeth Eva Leach

Two people wearing white jackets stand on a snowy landscape under an overcast sky, surrounded by snow-covered mounds.
MUSIC
2

Witness the cool musical game played by Inuit women for centuries

Directed by Eva Kaukai and Manon Chamberland

A person in traditional clothing embroiders a yellow fabric on a table outdoors, with assorted yarn and tools beside them.
TRADITIONAL ARTS
1

Here’s to handiwork! A celebration of craft as a universal language

Directed by Donald Winkler

A film still showing the Inuit artist Kenojuak Ashevak and her husband Johnniebo in fur-trimmed clothing, smiling and looking off camera.
TRADITIONAL ARTS

An Inuit artist reflects on the mysteries of artistic inspiration in this 1963 short

Directed by John Feeney

Man in an orange jacket carrying planks stands in a dense forest next to large colourful buoys and scattered debris.
PAINTING AND SCULPTURE

Items swallowed in Japan’s tsunami form a unique memorial an ocean away

Directed by John Bolton

Black and white photo of a woman holding a cat in a kitchen while a child eats at the table.
FOOD AND DRINK
5

La cucina povera delivers the fare we need to sustain us now

La cucina povera made do with whatever was available in nonna’s kitchen garden, and remains the perfect fare for our times

by Louise Fabiani