Northwest Folklife’s 2022 Cultural Focus, Metamorphosis: In with the Old, In with the New, celebrates people’s natural propensity for change. This pandemic has proven to be one of those unique moments in our time; a turning point where we can point our compass true north, see the writing on the wall, and meet the challenges ahead.

A once-in-a-lifetime challenge offers us the opportunity for a once-in-a-lifetime solution. It is in moments like these when emerging ideas, movements, and practices can become new conventions; when new thoughts branch from older ones, connecting us to our past, and propelling us to our future; where changing perspectives can be fostered, not feared, or ignored. In with the old, and in with the new!

This year’s cultural focus looks to our present, the urgency of now, and how that paves paths for our future. How do we translate the legacies and traditions of our fore-bearers and reflect them in our current selves, with our current identities, and our current conditions? How do we prepare and propel our current selves for the future we want to see? How is this unbroken circle reflected in the common good that exists in all cultures?