The 'folkstreams' YouTube Channel has the most interesting and least seen videos on YT, and it's no surprise. Take a look at the titles. Take a look at the lack of interest in this art. It's the death knoll continuing for folk and outsider art; collected by a few wealthy whites and rarely disseminated, except in ultra-conservative and exclusive showings in major cities, once a year.
Bill Ferris, who is responsible for making a few of these films, is the pater noster of this rich, white, and happily anonymous enclave; stemming from the genesis of the relatively recent collector's frenzy, when collection entailed exploration of a formerly unknown African American world [incidentally, any dealer will tell you that isolation and ignorance of folk art by its artists is the ultimate inclusive sign], which, once accepted, was exploited, co-opted, and finally, cut-into watered-down, mass-produced pieces [when the family started sniffin' around].
hey, it's a dirty business dealing with the living, but these guys got it down to a tee. mostly doctors, lawyers, bored wives of these same husbands, and a few lesbians to boot. collectors of other art seemed less edgy, while folk/outsider art was, and to some degree, still is the last bastion of rich, white, old fucks who, for less money than european art, can claim to have an even more obscure and edgy collection which also looks good in their ranch/southern-style house or New York Condo.
i don't know where 'folkstreams' fits in, but its combined 3- or 4-thousand views is something of a travesty.1975 16mm documentary based on fieldwork William Ferris conducted with African American storytellers and bluesmen in the communities of Leland and Rose Hill, Mississippi. The stories include include folk and religious tales, jokes, toast telling sessions, and characters from African American oral tradition.
I Ain't LyingBlack and White 16mm documentary film based on fieldwork Bill Ferris conducted with Leland, Mississippi, bluesman and folk artist James "Son" Thomas. Included is footage of Thomas performing at juke houses, his wife preparing dinner, and Thomas making skulls out of clay. The film was made before the advent of 16mm cameras that could take syncronized sound.
Son Ford Thomas1983 tribute to the American medicine shows of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Shows a re-creation of a typical medicine show by veteran performers, as well as archival stills and film footage.
Free Show TonightA 1984 portrait of a traditional hunting camp in northern Appalachia, the men who hunt there, and the traditions they keep alive. The men hunt the old way: they drive the deer.
Buck Season at Bear Meadow SunsetCalvin Black was a folk artist who lived in California's Mojave Desert and created more than 80 life-size female dolls, each with its own personality, function, and costume.
Possum Trot: The Life and Work of Calvin Black, 1903-1972
Possum Trot is part of the "Visions of Paradise" series on contemporary folk artists directed and produced by Irving Saraf and Allie Light. The other four films in the series are: Angel That Stands By Me: the Paintings of Minnie Evans, Hundred and Two Mature: The Art of Harry Lieberman, Grandma's Bottle Village: The Art of Tressa Prisbrey, and The Monument of Chief Rolling Mountain Thunder. You can find information about them at www.lightsaraffilms.com.Othar Turner, a fife-maker and musician, owns his farm in the Gravel Springs community in northwest Mississippi. The rhythmical music he and his friends play is called "fife and drum." A 1971 film by Bill Ferris, Judy Peiser, and David Evans from the Center for Southern Folklore.
Gravel Springs Fife and DrumA 1975 Bill Ferris film that features artists from a number of different craft traditions discussing and demonstrating their work, including quilting, sculpting, house building, and basketmaking. Artists in the film include James "Son" Thomas, Shelby "Poppa Jazz" Brown, Richard Foster, Othar Turner, Louise Williams, Esther Criss, Leon Clark, Amanda Gordon, Mary Gordon, Lester Willis
Made In Mississippi
Telling StoriesOur personal folklore is often invisible to us, like water is to a fish. "Doesn't everyone do that?," we might ask. Well, no! Folklore is universal but it is also unique to individuals and communities. Looking back on "The Film of Your Life" is useful not only as biography, revealing perhaps a consistent order and significant drama, but as a way of sharing elders' wisdom with their children, grandchildren, friends, and community members.The Veterans History Project, National Public Radio programs, StoryCorps, YouTube, scrapbooks, digital photo albums, and personal blogs--Americans today are vitally involved in telling their stories. Like photographs or mementoes, documentary films stimulate storytelling about people's own lives.
From the Folkstreams "Generations Portal" by Paddy Bowman.
Remembering Emmanuel Church
An oral history of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Fauquier County, Virginia. The storytellers are masters-all of them members of the congregation from the old farming community tradition of Fauquier County. The stories, funny, sad, and scandalous, are memories of friends and family who are dead and buried in the churchyard.Narrative & Verbal Arts, Religion, Rural Life / Middle Atlantic / 2000
