South Florida Folklife Center. What Makes Miami, Miami Project - 2015-2017

7700.00 Items

The Florida Folklife Program sought to explore Miami’s inner world thirty years ago with the first Miami-Dade folklife survey conducted for the 1986 Florida Folk Festival. The survey highlighted Miami’s traditional culture and provided the impetus for the creation of the South Florida Folklife Center at the Historical Museum of Southern Florida, now HistoryMiami Museum. In 2016, the Florida Folklife Program partnered with the now three-decades-old HistoryMiami South Florida Folklife Center to reexamine Miami’s folk traditions and paint a new portrait of the city by exploring the question, “What makes Miami, Miami?” Fieldwork was conducted by HistoryMiami Museum’s Folklife Specialist, Vanessa Navarro, and Vice President of Curatorial Affairs and former staff Folklorist, Michael Knoll. The project was overseen by the Florida Folklife Program’s State Folklorist, Amanda Hardeman.

This field research project focused on customs and practices that are unique to Miami, particularly the sayings, occupations, musical styles, dance forms, beliefs, rituals, celebrations, and foodways that are quintessentially “Miami.” The findings of this study informed the 2016 Florida Folk Festival, and the artists and presenters chosen for the program reflect a sampling of the components that make Miami the unique and vibrant city it is.

This collection consists of born digital materials. Please contact staff ahead of your visit to access these materials.

This collection is arranged into four series by format.

The collection is open for research.

Digital materials available on Folklife Archive external drive. Users must contact staff ahead of visit for access.

Permission from HistoryMiami Museum staff required prior to reproduction of materials. Please contact the Research Center staff for more information.

• English
• Spanish

Artifacts are housed in HistoryMiami's Objects Collection.

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