This colorful camel cover from the late 19th or early 20th century comes from the Uzbek people. The Uzbek are a Turkic ethnic group who make up the majority of the population of Uzbekistan, but also live in surrounding Central Asian countries. They are traditionally […]
This beer pot was made by a Zulu potter from South Africa. For the Zulu, pottery is a woman’s art form passed down from mother to daughter. Archaeological evidence shows that the ancestors of the Zulu are started making pottery around 1000 years ago. Ceramic […]
In Albania, waist coats are worn by both men and women as a part of traditional attire. Known as a jelek (pronounced YEH-lehk), women wear them over a long shirt, along with flowing pants, an apron, and scarves. This type of outfit would have been […]
This carnival mask comes from Ponce, the second largest city in Puerto Rico. The Carnival of Ponce dates to the mid-1700s and includes a parade featuring floats, bands, Carnival queens, and a distinctive character known as the vejigante. The vejigante wears a brightly colored costume […]
This igloo model was made by a Labrador Inuit craftsman more than 100 years ago and is one of many pieces in the Lam Museum’s Moravian missionary collections. Moravian missionaries founded their first community in Labrador, Canada in 1770. These early missionaries distinguished themselves from […]
This Nigerian shrine figure represents Eshu, a trickster deity, or orisha, in traditional Yoruba religion. As a trickster, Eshu enjoys confusion and is mischievous and unpredictable. Despite this, he ultimately works to promote order and harmony. He is responsible for both good and bad changes […]