Folk art around the world

On this page, a collection of folk art from various countries is shown. Pictures of the rich and varied Taiwanese folk art are presented on a separate page, see Culture: Folk art of Taiwan.

In arid desert regions around the world, you often encounter rock walls or boulders, whose surface is covered by a thin, black or reddish-brown layer, maybe as thin as one hundredth of a millimeter, which, over thousands of years, has been formed by microscopic bacteria, living on the rock surface. These bacteria absorb tiny amounts of manganese and iron from the atmosphere, depositing it as a black layer of manganese oxide or a reddish layer of iron oxide on the rock. This layer also includes clay particles, which help to shield the bacteria against drought, extreme heat, and intense solar radiation. (Source: desertusa.com/desert-minerals/desert-varnish)

The popular name of this thin layer is desert varnish. Into this ‘varnish’, various prehistoric peoples around the world have created artwork by scraping off a part of the varnish, leaving white images on a black or reddish background. Below, examples of such artwork is presented.

Near Saspol, Ladakh, northern India, many boulders are lying helter-skelter, some of which have been decorated with images, carved into the desert varnish, depicting various subjects, including hunters, Siberian ibex (Capra sibirica), birds, and stupas – testimony to bygone hunters and to Buddhists. (Photos copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Newspaper Rock State Historic Monument is a rock panel, located in San Juan County, Utah, is carved with one of the largest known collections of Native American petroglyphs, depicting e.g. mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), bison (Bos bison), hunters, shamans, and footprints (of bears?). (Photos copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Another collection of carvings, also called Newspaper Rock, comprising more than 650 images, is situated in Puerco River Valley, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona. These images are a bit more stylistic than the ones in Utah. In the lower picture, a huge bird is possibly piercing a person with its scimitar-like bill. (Photos copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Saint George was a Roman soldier, who was executed around 303 for his Christian belief. He since became the patron saint for farmers, knights, and horsemen. The name George is from the Greek georgos (‘farmer’). A famous legend relates that St. George killed a dragon, which held a princess captive.

Mural in the village of Prtovč, Triglavski National Park, Slovenia, depicting the legend of Saint George, killing the dragon – in this case a manageable task, considering the size of the dragon. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Wall painting in Tortuguero National Park, Limón, Costa Rica, depicting a golden-mantled howler monkey (Alouatta palliata ssp. palliata) and a brown-throated three-toed sloth (Bradypus variegatus), with the following slogan, ‘Tortuguero es pura vida’ (‘Tortuguero is pure life’). (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

The Chihuahua is the smallest dog breed in the world, standing only up to 30 cm high and weighing between 1.5 and 3 kilograms. This breed first evolved in Mexico, apparently descended from a breed called Techichi, which was a popular dog among the Toltec people.

The Batak are a Malayan people, living in a large area, centered around Lake Toba, central Sumatra, Indonesia. More pictures of this tribe are found elsewhere on this website, see Gallery – People: Tribals of the Sunda Islands.

Kitschy art in the Lesser Saint Bernard Pass, on the border between Italy and France: A Saint Bernard dog, made from gypsum or cement. In the background another sculpture, depicting a French police officer, complete with the red cap, the kepi. – Read about the Saint Bernard dog on the page Animals: Animals as servants of Man. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

These wall paintings were encountered in the city of Valparaiso, Chile.

Lady with frangipani flowers (Plumeria rubra) in her hair. This tree is native to Mexico, Central America, and northernmost South America, but has been introduced to almost all tropical and subtropical countries as an ornamental. Another name of the plant is temple tree, as it is often planted near Buddhist and Hindu temples. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Driving through California, I came across two storage places for hundreds of kitschy wood carvings, at Garberville and Leggett. The pictures below show six examples.

In the city of Haverhill, northern Massachusetts, United States, I noticed two wall paintings and a kitschy sculpture.

“Look and decide!” – Along many trails in the Himalaya, you find interesting information boards, painted by local artists, showing hiking trails, mountains, rivers, villages, and a selection of the local wildlife. These three boards were all encountered in the Modi Khola Valley, Annapurna, Nepal.

This board depicts a Himalayan tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus), a leopard (Panthera pardus), and a creature, which is probably supposed to be a snow leopard (Uncia uncia), but rather more resembles a hybrid between a leopard and a tiger (Panthera tigris). (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

This board depicts a pale-armed langur (Semnopithecus schistaceus), playing a tabla. – Read about langurs and many other monkeys on the page Animals: Monkeys and apes. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

This abandoned house in Chile was full of wall paintings, two of which are shown below.

Rusted entrance gate to an abandoned farm, the ‘Quail Rock Ranch’, depicting a family of California quail (Callipepla californica), Mohave National Preserve, California. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

The area around the Wenara Wana Temple (popularly called ‘Monkey Forest’), in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia, is home to several troops of long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis). In Ubud, a local artist has made a number of sculptures, depicting these monkeys. Three are shown below.

Read about long-tailed macaques and many other monkeys on the page Animals: Monkeys and apes.

Sculpture on a roof top in Mendocino, California, depicting the Death Angel, tugging the hair of a woman. Note the hourglass. – A western gull (Larus occidentalis) has landed on the head of the woman, perhaps waiting to see what will happen? (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Despite being rather non-descript, the edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum) is one of the most beloved flowers of the Alps and the Balkans. It is a national symbol of several countries: Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Romania, and Bulgaria.

In German, edelweiss means ‘noble white one’, and in the 19th Century it became a symbol of purity. Some even claimed that collecting this plant demanded great courage, which, of course, is pure nonsense, as it grows in alpine meadows and on slopes, and is thus very easy to collect. In his novel Edelweiss, from 1861, German novelist Berthold Auerbach (1812-1882) ridiculously exaggerates this difficulty by claiming that “the possession of one is a proof of unusual daring.”

This genus of the composite family (Asteraceae) counts about 58 species, most of which grow in Asia, a few species extending to Europe. The generic name is from the Greek leon (‘lion’) and podion (‘foot’). When he named the genus, Scottish botanist Robert Brown (1773-1858) was presumably referring to the fuzzy bracts, which somewhat resemble a lion’s paw.

This house wall in the village of Saint Rhémy, Aosta Valley, northern Italy, has been adorned with a carving, depicting an edelweiss and a Saint Bernard dog. Read about this dog breed on the page Animals: Animals as servants of Man. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Painting on a church wall in Puerto Jiménez, Peninsula de Osa, Costa Rica, depicting St. Francis of Assisi with a white horse and a scarlet macaw (Ara macao). The latter was hardly known in Italy in the 1200s! (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

A tragic story is hidden behind this kitschy painting in a road altar in the village of Saletto, Chiusaforte, northern Italy. This altar was constructed to commemorate a 16-year-old girl, Maria Cesare, who perished in the mountains on September 6, 1824. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

This sign outside a tour agency in Tortuguero National Park, Limón, Costa Rica, advertising jungle trips, uses a white-headed capuchin (Cebus capucinus) and a great curassow (Crax rubra) as eye-catchers. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Catholic handicrafts from c. 1890, possibly originating in Germany, depicting the Three Wise Men, honouring the newborn Christ in the stables. According to legend, one of the Wise Men was black. – Read more about Jesus and Christianity elsewhere on this website, see Religion: Christianity. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Gnomes are much utilized as decoration in the Alps. In this picture from Boltigen im Simmental, Switzerland, they have been placed among scented geraniums – the most popular house plant in the Alps. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Kitschy sculpture, depicting a Hindu mythological hero and his consort, Kintamani, Bali, Indonesia. Note the broken arms. – Hindu mythology is dealt with in detail on the page Religion: Hinduism. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

This wall in Lambert’s Bay, South Africa, has been decorated by school children.

This sculpture near Alliance, Nebraska, United States, which is made from scrapped cars, is called ‘Carhenge’. It is clearly inspired by the famous Stonehenge in England, a picture of which may be seen on the page Culture: Megaliths. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

During the Catholic Festival of the Dead, in America called Halloween, this Halloween ‘family’, partly made from pumpkins, is displayed outside a house in Cummington, Massachusetts. Read about this festival on the page Nature: Autumn. (Photos copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Hearts, made from small stones with a hole in the centre, Boltigen im Simmental, Switzerland. In the background scented geraniums – the most popular house plant in the Alps. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

These carvings in a window opening in the city of Puri, Odisha (Orissa), eastern India, depict the black Hindu god Jagannath (a form of Krishna, who is an avatar of Vishnu), with his brother and sister. – Krishna and other Hindu gods are dealt with in detail on the page Religion: Hinduism. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

These kitschy sculptures are displayed outside Pura Ulun Danu Bratan, a Hindu temple near Lake Bratan, Bali, Indonesia.

Wall painting, depicting a dragon, Chinatown, San Francisco, California. The role of the dragon in Chinese mythology is described on the page Religion: Daoism in Taiwan. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Kitschy art on a restaurant wall, depicting brown bears (Ursus arctos), a capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), and a medieval hunter, Bluntau Valley, near Golling, Salzburg, Austria. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

(Uploaded September 2016)

(Latest update March 2019)

Kaj Halberg - writer & photographer

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Folk art around the world