Swiss Folk Art [antikvár]

IntroductionRóbert Wildhaber, BaselIn a folklorist's judgment, folk art has nothing to do with "art" in the accepted sense of the word. To state the case in somewhat exaggerated fashion: A work of art is a unique creation by an individual. Its only purpose is to express ideas and emotions in visual form, and thereby (hopefully) arouse equivalent ideas and emotions in the viewer. Folk art does not have to meet esthetic standards; being a part of folklore it has to be judged by criteria that pertain tothis branch of knowledge. Folklore deals with the traditional behavior of a group. By "group" we mean either an ethnic unit, the inhabitants of a geographically self-contained region, members of the same crafts or professions, associations of people linked by age or other characteristics they hold in common. Whenever itbecomes customary within such a group to decorate objects of any kind in a traditional manner, we speak of folk art in the true sense of the term. "Beau-tiful," as folklore interprets the word, only means that an object and its decoration follow the traditional formuláé of a group. The decorations are not, therefore, "freely" invented forms of an individual artist, but are expressions of allegiance to the community. The decorations themselves may be traced to very different sources; they may merely reflect the desire to beautify an object; they may have an apotropaic intention, or have been derived from symbols of salvation, e.g. if they are Christian they may invoke the Divine blessing or the intercession and protection of the Saints. An exhibition of folk art understood in this sense should not include precious objects of high esthetic worth, but the selection should reflect the traditional and typical objects typical of a group. There are admit-tedly gradations which are caused by the varying talent of the individual and his degree of esthetic sense. One object may be better made and more richly decorated than the next one. As a result, the inhabitants of a viliágé or of a valley community will frequently go to the man who can do better and more attractive work than they themselves could. They will go to the village cabinetmaker, the mask carver or the painter of votive pictures; to the teacher who can produce a "correct" godfather's letter, or write an appropriate wedding motto, and to the peasant or herdsman who can carve a love tokén more pleasingly. In all these cases we can speak of "folk artists," whether or not their names are known to us. We must not forget, however, that the quality of their work is not assessed by