A royal beaded bench from 19^th-century Cameroon shaped like a mythical creature? How about a beaded violin case created in 1891 by a member of the Brulé Lakota nation? Beginning April 22 (running through Feb. 3, 2019), you can marvel at these and other astonishingly detailed works of art at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, N.M. Part of the new “Beadwork Adorns the World,” the exhibition takes a colorful look at how beadwork has been deployed globally through the ages by artists and artisans.

Sometimes described as “the art of the everyday,” folk art is a physical reflection of cultures and traditions, capturing time and place. The items in the new exhibition illustrate how different people from disparate corners of the world worked with beads to produce work recording life events such as birth, marriage and death, or reflected status within a community. The exhibition includes footwear by Kiowa nation artist Teri Greeves, a man’s belt from Romania, multiple pieces of clothing and a selection of hand-decorated furnishings.

The museum, founded in 1953, is located on Museum Hill. In addition to special exhibits, the collection includes more than 150,000 objects gathered from 150 nations spread over six continents. Stay a while — there’s plenty to see, from textiles and ceramics to carvings. Explore the Mark Naylor and Dale Gunn Gallery of Conscience, devoted to exhibitions meant to further the exchange of ideas regarding human rights and social justice.