ABSTRACT
FOLK ART The term “folk art” has had, and continues to have, various meanings for the different groups who apply it to a particular type of art. In most definitions, however, the word “traditional” is
central to the meaning of the phrase. Tradition may refer to long-standing aesthetic expectations among members of ethnic groups, but it also includes the communal aesthetics of regional, religious, occupational, or familial communities who create objects or decorations considered artistic. Throughout the twentieth century, the term was used to describe popular, fine, and ethnic art, but folklorists have been most interested in art that reflects the accepted aesthetics of members of a particular folk group.
