Smithsonian Voices

From the Smithsonian Museums

A dining table set with more than a dozen dishes of food, including white rice, meat on skewers, stewed vegetables, and sliced cucumbers.

Top 5 Folklife Stories from 2023

This year, Folklife Magazine published a sprawling diversity of stories—from Armenian protest movements to young Asian American farmers.

A person in a costume of black tank top, short yellow wig with furry white ears, and yellow leather bracelets, poses through a black wrought-iron railing.

When Escaping Reality Helps Define Identity: Expression and Empowerment in the Cosplay Community

A man in white dress sits with a thoughtful expression on his face outdoors, green and red foliage out of focus behind him. Old color film photo.

A Man of Peace: Grand Master Kim’s Vision for Chicago and the World

Four men sit around a round wooden table playing cards, while a crowd of others surround them.

A Rural Pastime Grows Community at the World Pig Championship

A woman stands on stage, holding a hand drum and a beater stick. Five actors behind her hold up torches. They all wearing matching white outfits with mock bandoliers. The stage is foggy and lit blue.

In the U.K. and Europe, Romani Theater Tells a Story Beyond 'Smoke and Wagons'

A line of drummers wearing red vests and white shirts stand in the dessert on a clear, blue-skied day.

Journey to the International Oasis Festival in Tozeur, Tunisia by Quad, Carriage or Car

Gray headstones and green grass and trees in a cemetery.

Cemeteries That Save the American Landscape

Four men stand together on a tented stage playing percussive instruments. They are dressed in brightly patterned clothes and are filmed by people holding cellphones.

Mouled, Music and Cultural Memory in a Tunisian Festival

Digital illustration of a man in gray uniform standing in from an ornamental Chinese gate with red columns, tile roof, and Chinese characters.

Introducing Graphic Artist Jean Young’s Powerful New Visuals on the History of LA’s Chinatown

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The History Behind Argentina’s Unofficial Anthem for the 2022 World Cup

Black woman with an Afro. Black-and-white photo dated May 72 in the top border.

Why Black Hairstyles Represent a Crowning Achievement

Two women decorate a large array of cookies laid out on a table.

Celebrate National Cookie Day With This Scottish Treat

Interior of a church, with people seated in chairs and pews, and a person in reddish robe with black trim walking toward the pulpit.

For Centuries This London Church Has Ministered to the Spiritual Needs of the Journalists and the Media

Two protesters hold signs saying "You're on Abenaki land" and "This is Abenaki land."

This Land is Whose Land? Interrogating the Shortcomings of Settler Protest

One of many cat statues at the American Museum of the House Cat in Cullowhee, North Carolina.

Adopting Cat Culture in North Carolina’s Dog Country

Gray stone etched with the words, I am innocent.

Why This Monument Offers Some Humanity to the Tragedy of the Salem Witch Trials

Grid of four old film stills, each showing the same young man: holding up a camera to his eye, smirking, smoking a cigarette, and posing with an older woman.

How a Filmmaker Discovered a Powerful Message in a Box of Old Home Movies

This illustration shows Lady Liberty over the states that had adopted suffrage, in white.

A Glimpse Into New Mexico’s Suffrage Movement

A beautiful rust colored hill against a blue, cloudy sky.

The Power of “Bears Ears” and Indigenous Place Names

On the left, a woman with long wavy dark hair and patterned blue blouse sings into a microphone, seated, eyes closed. On the right, another person sits behind a long barrel-shaped drum, holding a hand drum, looking down.

Warming to Tradition: The Culture of Vocal Exercise

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Top 5 Folklife Stories from 2023

When Escaping Reality Helps Define Identity: Expression and Empowerment in the Cosplay Community

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