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.
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 had Hei-Ran gift the painting 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]
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.[13]
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.
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.
Tui and La sculpture — An effigy found behind the artificial waterfall in Tarrlok's City Hall office.
Zuko 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.[30]
Toph 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.[22][31]
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.[32]
"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).[33]
Circus performers — A photo of the traveling circus that Suyin Beifong once belonged to.[22]
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.[39]
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]
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.[15]
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!"
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".[40]
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.[41]
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.[42]
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.[43]
Music
Fire Nation students performing in a musical group.
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 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]
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]
