The period foregrounded art as embedded social practice, where material crafts, ritual knowledge, and social power interweave to shape communities and identity. Researchers adopt cross-disciplinary methods—from craft studies and ritual analysis to ethnomusicology and media critique—emphasizing process, social function, and knowledge transmission over static aesthetics. Secrecy and display emerge as central concerns, reframing how artifacts are interpreted and presented, while criticism of ethnographic film highlights the politics of representation and visual knowledge.