"It begins with sincere dedication and a cordial meeting of minds. Artists in place, at home in the shop, concentrate on their tasks, shaping clay or carving wood, weaving wool or painting canvas. Folklorists in motion, away on the road, concentrate on their tasks, watching, listening, learning. In time, differences diminish, friendships develop, and people unite in collaborative records of thought and action. Now listen to the artists of the Brazilian Northeast. Their work, they say, comes of continuity and creativity. Continuity runs along lines of learning toward social coherence. Creativity brings challenges and deep personal satisfaction.

What they say and do in Brazil aligns with ethnographic evidence from throughout the world. This book is about that, about folk art as a sign of human unity. Folk Art by Henry Glassie and Pravina Shukla joins their earlier book, Sacred Art: Catholic Saints and Candomble Gods in Modern Brazil (2018), to describe the contemporary art of northeastern Brazil and exemplify a method for the study of traditional creation"--.