The Museum of International Folk Art has been in existence ever since 1953, but it was only in late 1982, with the opening of the wing containing the 106,000-piece Girard Collection that it gained world-class stature.
Alexander Girard, winner of awards for exhibition design, worked 4,500 hours over a period of more than 30 months to install the collection he and his wife donated to the museum. Without drawn plans or models to work from, he simply moved things around, painted, repainted and made changes until it looked exactly right. A believer in the concept that objects lose half their vitality when removed from their original settings, Girard worked to create environments that restore that sense of context.
Miniature Mexican Village
For example, the centerpiece of the collection – a colorful Mexican village – is set upon various levels and crowned by a flamboyantly embellished cathedral. The two-story buildings around the town plaza are decorated with brightly painted arches. On other levels, shops, houses, people and vehicles in bright blues, pinks and yellows add authenticity to the panorama. There’s an outdoor restaurant and a cemetery, too.
A religious procession with babies peering from their mothers’ rebozos, a guitar player and a bowl maker with a box of doughnuts on his head and bundle of wood on his back is part of another folk art village made in Peru.
Although Girard –foremost of American folk art collectors in the latter half of the 20th century -- gathered thousands of items in his travels through South and Central America, the collection is by no means confined to those parts of the world. Carved African figures, East Indian textiles, Russian matryoshka (nested dolls) and Polish wycinanki (paper cuts) are among the thousands of items on display.
After anyone spends a few minutes in the museum, the world’s common preoccupations become obvious. Folk art angels and devils from a dozen diverse cultures symbolize heaven and hell. Wooden, ceramic and tin musicians blow horns and beat drums, whatever the shapes. Folk toys – be they shadow puppets from India, stuffed dolls from Pennsylvania or puzzle pieces from Japan – have in common the twofold purpose of play and education.
Some of the most charming of the exhibits have been chosen from the 5,000 children’s theaters in Girard’s collection. These theaters, popular as 19th Century playthings, are extravaganzas of detail printed or painted on heavy paper.
The Japanese playthings are among the most intriguing displays. They include a self-righting toy without arms and legs that represents the monk Daruma, whose limbs withered away after ten years of constant meditation. Most popular among the papier mache toys, the head-shaking tiger guards against devils and insures victory in competition.
The Girard Collection occupies only half of the museum’s space. Among the outstanding items in the Bartlett Wing is the Sicilian cart with the likeness of St. George, patron saint of cart drivers, depicted on the center axle. A Brazilian dance procession, tin and wire bicycles from China, Mexico and South Africa exhibit a delightful sense of whimsy. Decorative shoes from various cultures and toys made from product cartons by kids around the world make up other popular displays.
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