Northwest Folklife proudly presents our Public Archive, a living collection celebrating the rich tapestry of folk and traditional arts in the Pacific Northwest. Phase one of this project introduces a filterable archive, featuring hundreds of folk and traditional artists from the PNW. Filter by category, genre, date, or medium to explore recordings dating back to 1972, alongside new and ongoing documentation of performances and workshops. As we continue to build our Public Archive, we strive to create a dynamic and interactive space where members of the folk community shape how traditions are preserved and celebrated at Northwest Folklife.
Click below and explore our phase one of our Public Archive!
A Note About Categories
In this database, we’ve created icons to represent broad geographical regions, making it easier to filter our collections. These regions are also filterable through the category section on the left side of the webpage for each collection (video, audio, or image). Additionally, users can refine their search with filters based loosely on genre, year, and instrumentation. These options are designed to help you navigate our collections with ease.
However, organizing our archival collections for accessibility presents unique challenges. While filtering by genre and region is helpful, it is also problematic because these categories can oversimplify the complexities of cultural flow and hybridization of musical styles. Folk life, folk music, and the wide array of songs, dances, instruments, and histories shared across the Pacific Northwest communities often defy traditional genre labels.
Take Mohammed Shaibu’s 1997 performance at NWFL as an example. Mohammed Shaibu, a Ghanaian-born musician based in Shoreline, Washington, led the Seattle-based band Soyaya, known for its fusion of Highlife, Palmwine, and indigenous Rhythm and Blues, according to his website. In his 1997 performance at Northwest Folklife, Shaibu's music exemplified the blending of traditional West African genres with American blues, challenging conventional genre classifications.
And yet, we must label recordings in some way to make them searchable and accessible. This issue speaks to a larger challenge in preserving and sharing cultural history: how do create space for these complexities while maintaining easy ways for others to find and engage with music such as this? For Mohammed Shaibu’s recording, we have placed his music in the “Music of Africa” category while also tagging with the terms Highlife, Rhythm and Blues, and Palmwine.
As we continue to build our Public Archive, we strive to create a dynamic and interactive space where we can all shape how traditions are preserved, celebrated, and represented at Northwest Folklife. Our next steps include:
Creating a searchable database so that you can define the search terms.
Adding a comment section where you can help describe recordings and contribute your perspective.
Providing an option for you to submit artifacts to the NWFL Public Archive.
We hope these features will make the archive a truly collective space—one that reflects the evolving spirit of folklife and invites all of us to participate in its preservation.