Traditions:
South Florida Folklife
Part 2
Folk Arts
Art denotes both skill in the production of objects that stimulate aesthetic experience and the products of that skill. Thus, folk art includes the entire range of material folk culture. Like other realms of folk culture, folk art results from the shared traditions of a group rather than an individual artist’s idiosyncratic vision. Although folk artists are free to elaborate artifacts within certain accepted parameters, the most important characteristics of folk art are the continuation of traditional forms and the expression of a group aesthetic.
Arts and Crafts
Haitian culture has generated myriad art forms that express a synthesis of African and European elements in the Caribbean context. The fanal, or Christmas lantern, is currently experiencing a revival among Haitians in Miami thanks to an annual contest sponsored by the Haitian American Community Association of Dade County. The Haitian people cut cardboard in intricate patterns to create churches, houses, stars, or birds. They glue tissue paper in brilliant jewel colors inside the structure, then insert a candle through a hole in the bottom of the fanal. At night the lanterns are placed in the windows, so that passersby may glimpse the beautiful, stained-glass effect produced by the fanal.
Handrolled
Cuban cigars are world renowned for their excellence. With the U.S. embargo
on Cuban products, many small cigar-rolling businesses opened in Miami.
Most of those who own or work in these operations learned the trade in
Cuba, and some come from families that have made cigars for generations.
Techniques and methods remain largely the same, with a few exceptions.
Miami cigars are not made exclusively of Cuban tobacco, and some cigar
sizes have been altered to satisfy the tastes of an American clientele.
Entering the cool and fragrant atmosphere of a cigar making establishment is a sensory pleasure. Each worker sits at a table equipped with an array of tools necessary to the craft: blade, press, cutter, fixative, and rolling board. From bags containing different varieties of dampened tobacco leaves, the cigarmaker selects a blend of heavy and light tobaccos from the U.S., Central America, the Caribbean and Africa — each blend suited to a particular type of cigar. The cigarmaker pulls the hard spine from the leaves, cuts the leaves to the appropriate size, and rolls them firmly into shape. Next, the cigar is put into a wooden mold and pressed for forty minutes to give it a consistent size and shape. When the cigars are removed from the mold, the cigarmaker carefully rolls a wrapper, or outer leaf, of superior tobacco around the cigar. A small curved metal blade is used to trim the ends. Finally, the finished cigars are aged in a cool, humidified storage room, which improves flavor and ensures freshness.
Folk Arts | Arts & Crafts | Architecture
| Foodways
Oral Tradition | Religion
| Music | Maritime
| Conclusion
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