This book is a mosaic or quilt of folk art around the world, from polychrome clay figures made in Izúcar de Matamoros, Puebla (Mexico) to the baskets Maori women create in New Zealand, from Japanese lacquer work and decorated paddles to black dolls in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The creative impulse found in three continents, four countries, and four geographical regions are juxtaposed to make up a harmonious whole. The book carries out a detailed dissection of a variety of ethnic, racialized, and gender representations in their contemporary forms.

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Feminism and Folk Art offers a refreshingly delightful read of women artists working in different parts of the world, specifically, in Mexico, New Zealand, Japan, and Brazil. The book not only provides the history of folk art in these countries, but, more importantly, brings women from their hidden silences or “obscurity” into the limelight. For, by the very act of documenting their herstories in relation to their artistic endeavors, they become a vivid and viable part of posterity. . . . Feminism and Folk Art: Case Studies in Mexico, New Zealand, Japan, and Brazil is a very interesting and detailed book about the place and role of women folk artists in four geographical locations, situated in four countries and on three continents. The plurality of settings and experiences further adds to the importance of this book as a contribution to the discussion of women’s art from a feminist perspective.