CRAFTSMANSHIP

Aug 27, 2022

Hammered Copper

Honoring their land and their traditions, the Purépecha descendant artisans, inhabitants of the Magical Town of Santa Clara del Cobre, Michoacán, work a millenary technique with which from the pre-Hispanic period they already elaborated various pieces of copper. Art forgers, heirs and hereditaries, transmit their perfected knowledge to the youngest to preserve in time the power to transform a metal into beautiful creations. The copper...

Jul 20, 2022

Basketery

Basket weaving is one of the oldest and most deeply-rooted artisan activities of humanity, weaving together hard or soft fibers of vegetable origin, to masterfully create various objects that require great skill and a deep knowledge of the materials used for their elaboration. The chuspata is a reed that grows on the shores of the Pátzcuaro lake of pleasant and fresh perfume. After harvesting it...

Jul 20, 2022

Wood Carving

Fine woods are carved with great delicacy to create furniture and utilitarian items such as grinders and spoon. The products are decorated with excellent mastery with the help of gouges generating soft textures and interesting reliefs that give life to elaborate designs inspired by the flora and fauna of the region.Artisan: Mario CasimiroCuanajo, Michoacán, México Text by: Laura Landeros Zuno.Translation from spanish: Alejandra Vázquez.Sources: Grandes...

Jul 20, 2022

Pita Embroidery

The piteado is an ancestral technique, it is an artisan fabric that is embroidered only in leather articles. Pita is a fiber of natural origin that comes from a variety of maguey belonging to the family of agaves grown in the tropical forests of Oaxaca, Veracruz, Tabasco, Guerrero and Chiapas. It has been used in pre-columbian times to make commonly used items, ropes, fishing articles,...

Jul 20, 2022

Spinning Brass

The rejection technique is an ancient process involving the formation of asymmetric parts on a mandrel using different tools and spinning rollers while one or more wheels compress the metal in successive passes against the mandrel until obtaining the desired shape. A process similar to that of the potter around a lathe when forming clay. This process requires a lot of dexterity and makes it...

Jul 20, 2022

Jewelry Maker

There is evidence that the first objects made in metal by man were used for decoration. Pre-Columbian cultures mastered gold and silver and used precious stones to embellish the creation of jewels and ornaments of chiefs and priests. Goldsmithing is distinguished by aesthetics and by the uniqueness of its motifs. Various techniques shared among Taxco artisans, Mexico and Oaxaca, among others, enriched their know-how and...

Jul 20, 2022

Wood Work

The art of working wood has been a standard practice in Mexico for over five hundred years. The carpenter, skillful in his trade, built the primitive dwellings with materials of their surroundings, by cutting, sawing, matching, and fitting the boards or beams until they were assembled. Furniture, doors, toys, and utensils have been made by parents inheriting this trade to their children. Throughout time tradition...

Jul 20, 2022

Obsidian Carving

By pre-columbian cultural heritage The valley of Teotihuacán, Mexico, is rich in the artistic manifestation of the carving of the obsidian stone, volcanic glass that by its color, shine and hardness contrasts gradually colorations that are diluted between black and gray. Holder of aesthetic values and ritual symbolism since ancient Mexico, obsidian has been an excellent material for making knives, pen knives and projectile points....

Jul 20, 2022

Pedal Loom

Through the passing of time, the handmade looms and their precise mechanisms based on sticks, weave the threads of wool that gives the shape to the fabric. Composed of a cluster of threads, the pedal loom, usually operated by men, vertically organizes the "warp" and horizontally "the plot". The method of warping is given by passing the warp above and below the weft, crossing it...

Jul 20, 2022

Metalwork Cutlery

Handmade cutlery in the state of Jalisco is made mainly in Sayula. Functional and attractive is an example of cultural wealth. A millennial instrument, the knife is manufactured with special skill by meticulous craftsmen who mostly work in small workshops and have received the precious craft from generation to generation. With steel, copper, bronze and iron, with rod, iron plates, springs and steel arrows you...

Jul 20, 2022

Tenango Embroidery

Symbolic reflection of their colorful and generous land, are the embroidery of Tenango, Hidalgo. The flora and fauna of the place inspires the artisan community to create works of art on cotton canvases. As "Tenangos" are known these embroideries with threads of colors as intense and daily as this area of the country: beautiful, lush and sinuous in the state of Hidalgo, Mexico. Unique pieces,...

Jul 20, 2022

Lava Stone Carving

From the veins of Jalisco, from San Lucas Evangelista they extract the basaltic stone, raw material to create the best mortars and flat grindstone of Mexico, the first trade. Proud, the craftsmen say their ancestors have left traces to lead them to the mines. They free the stone by spout and shovel, or blowing it to their workshop. Keeping their tradition, they bring knowledge from...