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Paper short abstract:

Folklore’s Not Dead is a movement to question the current state of folklore focusing on cultural & environmental sustainability. The movement started in Czechia by rescuing the everyday folk dress from the garbage & finding ways to reconnect it to daily life — since then the movement has grown.

Paper long abstract:

Folklore’s Not Dead (FND) is a movement to question the current state of folklore focusing on cultural & environmental sustainability. The movement started over five years ago in South Moravia with participatory-based artist & art sociologist Sonya Darrow along with Nadace Veronica (oldest environmental foundation in Brno, CZ) & Jihomoravská komunitní nadace (rural folklore community foundation). FND started by rescuing what is known as the everyday folk dress from the garbage before it was forgotten, while at the same time finding ways to reconnect it back to daily life. FND has spread outside of Czechia, inspiring other communities to start a dialogue on folklore through different perspectives & engagements.

The movement is an opportunity for all generations to question & start a dialogue on the current state of folklore practices and the way it moves with the rhythm of life — more importantly with today’s life. The folk practices need to breath with our daily life, not to be disconnected or used only in moments, but to go back to the embrace of a slower process to make objects & to find different meanings behind the traditions/rituals. In order to preserve culture for future generations it is important to develop traditions/practices along with a vision that focuses on environmental issues such as materials used for folklore. We connect folklore with the protection of nature and landscape. Therefore, seeking ways on how environmental concerns within specific regions intersects with cultural sustainability— for example: connecting environmentalists with folk artists (folk practitioners).