A wide variety of cultural arts exist in the world. Found in all nations, they range from visual arts, such as painting and sculpture, to sacred dances and rituals.
Visual arts
Paintings
Air Nomads
This flying bison mural shows three bison in flight.
- Flying bison mural — One of the many ornate paintings present throughout the Western[4] and Northern Air Temple.
- Painting of the former Air Nomad elders — Found in the Northern Air Temple.
Water Tribes
- Master artist's painting — A painting of the northern lights on vellum, which was worth more than the annual salary of the Head of Zoology at Ba Sing Se University in 296 BG. Jianzhu kept this painting in the Avatar mansion, but he had Hei-Ran gift it to Professor Shaw to bribe him into lending them shirshus.[5]
- Sokka's painting — An amateur picture that Sokka quickly drew for Master Piandao as part of his swordsmanship training. It depicts a waterfall, along with a rainbow and a mountain backdrop.[6]
- Sokka's sketch — A picture made by Sokka in the Jasmine Dragon that crudely represented the members of Team Avatar.[7]
Earth Kingdom
- Maolo's paintings — A waterbender from Ba Sing Se, known by the stage name The Paintbender, was a performer in the Flying Koi Carnival who used his bending art to clandestinely forge paintings from noble families.[8]
- Mural of Earth Kingdom Avatars — An honorific dedication to earth Avatars that is found in the Earth Kingdom Avatar Temple.[2]
- The Birth of Kyoshi Island painting — Found within the Kyoshi Shrine, this mural celebrates the day Avatar Kyoshi created Kyoshi Island. The scene depicts Kyoshi addressing the people of her island at sunset, shortly after the separation from the mainland.[9]
Fire Nation
- Avatar portraits — A sequence of paintings found in the Fire Nation Royal Palace, destroyed by Yun in 295 BG[10]
- Baby Ozai painting — Found by Katara in Ozai's beach house.[11]
- Dragon mural — A mural found in the Sun Warriors' ancient city that depicts the origins of firebending; specifically, how it was acquired from the dragons.[12]
- Pastoral landscapes — Zoryu Hall's tearoom holds numerous paintings of pastoral landscapes frame scholars carrying on debates from the lectures and challenging one another's ideas.[13]
Ozai's portrait in the Fire Nation Royal Palace.
- Fire Lord portraits — A sequence of paintings found in the Fire Nation Royal Palace.[14]
- Iroh painting — A portrait taken by Zuko when he left his home.[4]
- Lo and Li painting — Portrait of young Lo and Li wearing yellow swimsuits in their beach house.[15]
- Mai and Zuko painting — A portrait of Mai and Zuko kept at the Fire Nation Royal Palace.[16]
- Painting of Fire Lord Ozai — Many were found at the Fire Nation school, which served as a display of the Fire Lord's omnipresent glory.[3]
- Painting of Lu Ten — A portrait owned by Iroh that depicts his son, Lu Ten, in a black military uniform.[17]
- Painting of the Fire Nation Royal Family — A painting of Zuko, Azula, Ozai, and Ursa found on Ember Island that was angrily burned by Zuko in a fire.[15]
- Picture of Fire Lord Ozai made from noodles — Made in a Fire Nation school and owned by Aang.[3] It was later utilized during Aang's training for the invasion of the Fire Nation.
- Ursa painting — A painting of Zuko's mother.
- World map painting — A stylistic map of the world used by Commander Zhao in his Earth Kingdom harbor tent.[2]
Statues
Avatar statues in the Southern Air Temple sanctuary are arranged in tiers.
Air Nomads
- Air Nomad statues — Located in each of four air temples.[4]
- Avatar statues — Spread out through many tiers encircling the Southern Air Temple sanctuary.[2]
- Flying bison statue — Located at the Northern Air Temple.[18]
- Monk Gyatso statue — Located in the Southern Air Temple.[2]
- Monk statue — Located in the Northern Air Temple.[18]
- Statue of a monk — Stolen by the Fire Nation from an air temple for use in luring airbenders into a trap as they searched for the artifact.[19]
- Yangchen statue — Located in the Eastern[20] and Western Air Temples.[4]
Earth Kingdom
- Avatar Kyoshi statue — A figure that rests on a tall podium in Kyoshi Island.[21]
- Avatar Kyoshi statuette — A clay figure found in Liling's mansion in Cranefish Town.[22]
- Badgermole statue — A stone figure found in Taku.[23]
- Chin statue — Found in Chin Village.[9]
- Dragon Warrior sculptures — Found within the Cave of Two Lovers.[24]
- Huan's sculpture — A metal sculpture made by Huan, which represents the dawning of a new age after Harmonic Convergence.[25]
- Monkey statue — A bejeweled sculpture displayed in pirate ship boutique.[26]
- New Ozai statue — Located at the peak of New Ozai. The gigantic statue was destroyed by Bumi when he used earthbending to lift it off its foundation and slide it down the city to destroy the governor's palace as well as the bridge.
- Oma and Shu statue — Found within the Cave of Two Lovers.[24]
- Wooden totem of Hei Bai — A figure in the scorched forest that is supposed to represent Hei Bai, but is actually modeled after a brown bear.[27]
Fire Nation
- Avatar Roku statue — A golden sculpture found within the Fire Temple sanctuary on Crescent Island.[27]
The Great Gates of Azulon were supported by a statue of the eponymous Fire Lord.
- Azulon statue — Supports both sides of the netting on the Great Gates of Azulon.[16]
- Dancing Dragon statues — Found within a structure of the Sun Warriors' ancient city.[12]
- Ozai statue — Located in the Fire Nation school.[3]
- Painted Lady statue — Erected at the center of Jang Hui to celebrate the return of the Painted Lady after a long absence.[28]
- Painted Lady statuettes — Small statues depicting the guardian spirit of Jang Hui.[28]
- Sozin's statue — Found in the High Temple.[14]
- Statue of Ozai breathing flames — A bronze fire fountain that the corresponding city was named after. The fire is kept burning by a team of firebenders that operate from within the statue.[29]
- Twisting Dragons — In Zoryu's Hall, a ten-foot-tall metal sculpture made by the master artist Fusei, depicting a pair of dragons rising from the ground, spiraling around each other.[13]
United Republic of Nations
A colossal statue of Avatar Aang crowns the memorial islands that bears his name.
- Aang's statue — Located in Republic City, on a small island in Yue Bay; it was commissioned by the Fire Nation after the Hundred Year War.
- Avatar Korra statue — Located in Avatar Korra Park, a statue of Avatar Korra was erected sometime after the defeat of Zaheer and his three Red Lotus companions in order to commemorate her actions.[30]
- Cabbage merchant statue — Found in front of the Cabbage Corp headquarters in Republic City.[31]
- Sokka's statue — Located in front of the Southern Water Tribe Cultural Center, the statue depicts Chief Sokka holding his iconic boomerang up in the air.[32]
- Tui and La sculpture — An effigy found behind the artificial waterfall in Tarrlok's City Hall office.
- Zuko's statue — Located at the entrance to Central City Station in Republic City; the bronze figure depicts Fire Lord Zuko holding a flame.
Others
- Lion turtle statue — Statue of a lion turtle, not to scale.[33]
- Toph's statues — There are three known statues in the world dedicated to Toph; one adorns the facade of Republic City's police headquarters, honoring her as the founder of the Metalbending Police Force, and two more are located in the metal city of Zaofu.[25][34]
Photography
Aang and Katara had a photograph taken with their young children.
- Aang, Katara, and their children — A family photo of Aang, Katara, and their children: Bumi, Kya, and Tenzin.[35]
- "Aang rolls" — Photo of Avatar Aang taken by a fishmonger, where Aang is visually promoting the monger's seaweed wraps (known as "Aang rolls" afterward).[36]
- Circus performers — A photo of the traveling circus that Suyin Beifong once belonged to.[25]
- Earth Queen portrait — A formal portrait of Earth Queen Hou-Ting, owned by Yin.[37]
- Korra and Mako photo — A photo of Korra and Mako taken during the Glacier Spirits Festival at the Southern Water Tribe.[38]
- Mako and Bolin's family picture — A family photo of Mako, Bolin, their father, San, and their mother, Naoki.[39]
- Sato family picture — A family photo of the Sato family, composed of Hiroshi Sato, his wife, Yasuko, and their daughter, Asami.[40]
- Suyin's family photo — A family photo of Baatar, Suyin, and their children: Baatar Jr., Huan, Opal, Wei, and Wing.[25]
Motion picture
- Ostrich horse at a gallop — A sequence of photographs depicting a galloping ostrich horse.[41]
- The Adventures of Nuktuk: Hero of the South — An anti-North propaganda mover.[32]
Writing and literature
A writing set owned by Zuko included brushes, an inkstone, and levelers to flatten and weigh down the paper.
- Main article: Writing in the World of Avatar
Writing and literature are an integral part of society across the world. All four nations use a common system of characters borrowed from the Chinese system for daily purposes. The four nations primarily use writing for communication and literary purposes, but there are some who practice calligraphy, such as Piandao. There are many books and scrolls in the Avatar world, many of these are located (or at least have a reproduction) in Wan Shi Tong's Library.[42]
Calligraphy
Calligraphy is a form of art of giving writing a particularly artistic way to emphasize its beauty and shape. Paper, ink, a brush, and an inkstone are all essential implements in calligraphy. A paperweight is used to keep the paper straight and flat on the table, negating the need for one's hand to touch the clean paper. Piandao taught Sokka the basics as part of his swordsmanship training.[6]
Literature schools across the Earth Kingdom educated students in ceremonial calligraphy techniques. One noteworthy calligraphy setup was the Pianhai method, which took a great deal of formal training and was usually never learned by commoners.[43]
Classical Chinese is primarily a writing form. Being a condensed form, it is particularly difficult to master. People often use the fewest possible characters to express very comprehensive meanings and the specific meaning is almost entirely dependent on the context.[1]
Haiku
Haiku is a form of traditional Japanese poetry that consists of three lines of five, seven, and five syllables respectively. In Ba Sing Se, there is a group called Five-Seven-Five Society that focuses specially on haiku and is led by Madame Macmu-Ling.[17]
Known haikus
- "Through all the long night, winter moon glows with bright love, sleet her silver tears."
- "I am so sorry. Something struck me in the rear. I just ... wound up ... here."
- "Five, seven, then five, syllables mark a haiku. Remarkable oaf."
- "They call me Sokka, that is in the Water Tribe. I am not an oaf."
- "Tittering monkey, in the spring he climbs treetops, and thinks himself tall."
- "You think you're so smart, with your fancy little words, this is not so hard."
- "Whole seasons are spent, mastering the form, the style, none calls it easy."
- "I calls it easy. Like I paddle my canoe, I'll paddle yours too!"
- "There's nuts and there's fruits. In fall the clinging plum drops, always to be squashed."
- "Squish, squash, sling that slang. I'm always right back at ya, like my ... boomerang!"
Theater
Known plays
Ember Island Players
- Main article: Ember Island Players
The Ember Island Players perform The Boy in the Iceberg.
The Ember Island Players were a local acting troupe who performed at Ember Island's only theater. They did not have a reputation for quality acting, but they took themselves very seriously and almost always packed the house, though this is probably because the theater is one of the only sources of night time entertainment on the island. They aired the play, The Boy in the Iceberg, which was an acclaimed work in the nation. Their only other production mentioned is Love amongst the Dragons which, according to Zuko, who always went to watch it with his family, was "butchered every year".[45]
Hira'a Acting Troupe
- Main article: Hira'a Acting Troupe
The Hira'a Acting Troupe is a theater group that resides in the village of Hira'a and is best known for its performance of Love amongst the Dragons. Ursa and her former lover, Ikem, were once members of this group until she was married off to Prince Ozai, and he left for Forgetful Valley as a result.[46]
Royal Theater School
The Royal Theater School is an institution in Ba Sing Se that provides training for citizens in a variety of theatrical classes, including classical opera. Avatar Kyoshi's father, Hark, was from a family who had trained at the school for generations. Royal Theater performers are known to be some of the most physically capable people in the Earth Kingdom, being able to dexterously mimic different martial styles on the stage.[47]
Puppet shows
Team Avatar saw a puppet show while visiting a Fire Days Festival in a Fire Nation colony where Fire Lord Ozai was presented as a great hero, facing off against an "evil" Earth Kingdom soldier.[48]
Music
Fire Nation students performing in a musical group.
- Main article: Music in the World of Avatar
In the world, music is an important cultural aspect to the people, especially for Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation citizens, and a prime source of entertainment. A variety of instruments are used to produce music such as the tsungi horn and the pipa.[1]
Songs
- Main article: Songs in the World of Avatar
Songs are the most commonly seen musical compositions, much more widespread than full orchestral pieces. A popular song variation is the simple, pleasing folk song often performed by several people with the use of instruments.[1]
Architecture
- Main article: Architecture in the World of Avatar
The Northern Water Tribe style of architecture is showcased in the capital city.
Artistic and creative architecture is seen worldwide in the Avatar World. Examples include the Avatar Temples, the air temples, Wan Shi Tong's Library, and the Sun Warriors' ancient city. Locations, such as the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se, are known to boast many ornate houses and architectural buildings. Other regions, such as the Northern Water Tribe, are magnificent civilizations constructed from certain elements common to that particular geographic location. In contrast, Republic City is a true modern urban center due to technological progress over time. The city has developed the architectural sophistication to construct taller buildings, resulting in significant high-rise development.
Dance
Aang described dancing as a form of self-expression that no one can take away.[3]
List of known dances
Aang performing the Camelephant Strut.
- Ba Sing Se Waltz — Performed in the ballrooms of Ba Sing Se; Aang demonstrated this to some students from a Fire Nation school.[3]
- Tap — Mentioned by Sokka when Zuko and Aang came back after meeting the Sun Warriors.[12]
- The Camelephant Strut — An old Fire Nation dance demonstrated by Aang.[3]
- The Phoenix Flight — An old Fire Nation dance, also demonstrated by Aang to the students.[3]
Trivia
- Many of the hanging paintings seen in the series came from the extensive collection of animator Seung-Hyun Oh.[49]
- Kyoshi guessed that the portraits of Fire Lords and Avatars in the Royal Gallery could take artists' entire careers to finish.[10]
- Before the Hundred Year War, Southern Water Tribe art and textiles were popular in the Earth Kingdom, and often inspired the newest fashions.[50]
