Current Exhibitions

Sewing Stories of Displacement

February 16, 2020 - March 28, 2021

Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, moments of violence, political upheaval, and natural disaster have led to the displacement of entire communities. Since the 1960s, displaced people throughout the world—women, men, and children—have embroidered the stories of their forced migrations, new transitions, and memories of more stable lives. Through these textiles, they have been able to document their experiences, share their perspectives, and often, supplement their income during desperate times.

The Train Station, 1979. This gabba, chain-stitched embroidery on felted wool, illustrates the forced migration of Kahuta residents after the area became a site for the national atomic bomb project in 1976. Unknown artist, Pakistan. MOIFA, IFAF Collection, FA.1985.464.13.

From Combat to Carpet: The Art of Afghan War Rugs

January 12, 2020 - September 5, 2021

The Museum of International Folk Art (MOIFA) presents From Combat to Carpet: The Art of Afghan War Rugs, opening January 12, 2020 and running until August 30, 2020. From Combat to Carpet is a traveling exhibition curated by Enrico Mascelloni and Annemarie Sawkins and features more than 40 handwoven rugs with war-related iconography collected over the past forty years.

Yokai: Ghosts & Demons of Japan

December 8, 2019 - January 16, 2022

Vivid in Japanese art and imagination are creatures that are at once ghastly and comical. Yôkai is a catchall word that generally refers to demons, ghosts, shapeshifters, and “strange” and supernatural beings. Yôkai  are prevalent in Japanese popular and expressive culture; you find them in manga (comics), anime (animation), and character-based games such as Pokémon (“pocket monster”).

Música Buena: Hispano Folk Music of New Mexico

In the Hispanic Heritage Wing
October 6, 2019 - March 6, 2022

The exhibition Música Buena: The exhibition will focus on the rich history of traditional Hispano music from the arrival of the Spanish through the present.  Once in New Mexico, historic European traditions took on a new life and feel, blending with Native customs and reflecting the land, time, and place where these folkloric songs and traditions developed.

VIRTUAL Community through Making From Peru to New Mexico

PROGRAMA VIRTUAL Comunidad a través de la Creación De Perú a Nuevo México
January 6, 2019 - December 31, 2021

Community through Making brought together local and Peruvian artists to explore how art shapes healthy and vibrant communities. The installation was a conversation across borders, highlighting three collaborative projects that paired local artists and artists from Peru for 10-day residencies in conjunction with the exhibition Crafting Memory: The Art of Community in Peru. This exhibition in the Gallery of Conscience experimented with community curation, filling the gallery with video, stories, and artworks as created and told by museum program participants over the course of 18 months.

Multiple Visions: A Common Bond

On long-term display

Multiple Visions: A Common Bond has been the destination for well over a million first-time and repeat visitors to the Museum of International Folk Art. First, second, third, or countless times around, we find our gaze drawn by different objects, different scenes. With more than 10,000 objects to see, this exhibition continues to enchant museum visitors, staff and patrons. Explore highlights from the GIRARD WING.