2 0 1 3 I N T E R N AT I O N A L F O L K A R T M A R K E T A R T I S T S Bobo carved wood masks, stools and game boards
Boubakar Konate Supported by Jofa African Imports Booths 16, 17 With almost half a million people, Bobo-Dioulasso is the second largest city in Burkina Faso. The Konate family has been involved with Bobo art for several generations. Gaoussou Konate, the patriarch, was a wellknown mask maker who was often called upon by elders of neighboring villages to replace ceremonial masks ready for retirement. As his sons grew, Gaoussou brought them into the family business by teaching them the history and culture of Bobo, along with the techniques for carving and decorating masks. Boubakar and his siblings have continued in their father’s footsteps, carving animal-shaped stools and board games as well as the coveted masks. The shapes of the carvings frequently represent the spirits of the bush, which manifest themselves in animal form. These spirits are thought to be able to influence the physical world through bountiful harvests, physical well-being, marriages, etc. The same spirits/animals, in mask form, might also represent a clan’s totemic symbol in the shape of a particular bird, mammal or reptile.
Strip loom woven, indigo-dyed fabric, including women’s wraps
Madjelia Traore Supported by Jofa African Imports Booths 16, 17 Madjelia Traore is an indigo dye artist from Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. Her hand-stitched and dyed fabrics are traditionally worn by West African women as cloth wraps around the waist and are also used to carry babies, tie up clothes or wrap one’s head. The cotton is purchased from outlying villages and hand-spun into coarse thread. Using strip looms, the thread is woven into long pieces of narrow cloth and sewn into wearable panels by local city tailors. Madjelia learned her elaborate design technique through a women’s artisan cooperative in Bobo. Her art begins with the wearable panels purchased from the tailors. First, she stitches designs into the panels and dips the whole cloth into a vat of indigo. Once the cloth dries, the stitches are removed and the designs revealed. Traditionally, the handstitched designs helped identify particular tribes. Today, they are frequently bought by city women who tailor the panels into beautiful dresses for special occasions.
Bogolan mudcloth and indigo dye textiles, hats, scarves, bags, bed covers, tablecloths, runners and curtains Habibou Coulibaly Booth 127 Habibou creates textiles using a mud cloth, or bogolan, technique and vegetable-based dyes. In his native Burkina Faso, this craft is typically learned through apprenticeship or passed down from father to son. Ethnic groups in neighboring Mali,
Guinea and the Ivory Coast share similar techniques for creating textiles. The textiles were traditionally used for camouflage for hunting and during important ceremonies such as marriages and circumcisions.
CAMBODIA Silk clothing, accessories and wall hangings woven in traditional Khmer style
Chantha Nguon Stung Treng Women’s Development Centre — Mekong Blue UNESCO Award of Excellence Winner Booth 52 Chantha started the Stung Treng Women’s Development Centre in 2002 with a $3,000 grant from Partner in Progress in a small house with two traditional wooden weaving looms and a big dream. The project focuses on teaching and mentoring local women in the art of ikat silk weaving while developing life skills that assist in breaking the cycle of poverty and illiteracy. The Mekong Blue silk products are now regarded as one of the finest silk products in Cambodia.
CHILE Horsehair weavings
Alba Rosa Sepúlveda Tapia El Arte del Crin UNESCO Award of Excellence Winner Booth 80 Alba Sepúlveda began hand weaving delicate miniature sculptures and designs out of horse hair at the age of seven, and has been developing her craft for over 50 years. Born into a family of artisans from the renowned horsehair weaving town of Rari, Chile, Alba is one of the foremost weavers in Chile, with a long list of awards on an international scale. She has developed a cooperative called Arte en Crin, made up of 55 artisans from her hometown of Rari. The cooperative was developed with the intention of creating a space for artisans to be able to support themselves through their traditional art, to engage youth in the centuries old tradition, and to preserve this cultural heritage. Their weaving technique is particular to the region and town of Rari where miniature weavers utilize a agave fiber called ixtle along with the horsehair. They create whimsical and vibrant designs drawn both from nature and from folklore, including butterflies, birds, bees, dolls, burros, witches, angels, flowers and rosaries.
Horsehair weavings
Wilfredo Alejandro Arriagada Sepúlveda El Arte del Crin Booth 80 Wilfredo Alejandro Arriagada Sepúlveda works with his mother Alba as award-winning weavers from El Arte del Crin, a unique handwork cooperative originating in the small town of Rari, Chile where Alba was born. The collective focuses on a specialized art form that utilizes hand-dyed and hand-loomed
40 2013 International Folk Art Market | Santa Fe
horsehair to make intricatelywoven miniature baskets, flowers and figurines in the shape of mythological characters. According to popular legend, this craft began over two hundred years ago when two young girls of Rari began to weave different shapes from poplar roots found along a stream and sell them to raise money for their families. Over time, the poplar root was depleted and the community began using horsehair imported from Mexico.
CHINA Weavings and textiles that are resist dyed, appliquéd or embroidered
Lu Rong Xiang Supported by Dr. Andrew Wang Booth 39 These beautiful skirts, jackets and bags of the Luo ethnic group of southwest China are all hand dyed, appliquéd and embroidered by one of the region’s master artists, Lu Rong Xiang. Mrs. Lu still lives in the remote village where she was born, and where she learned to make textiles from her mother at an early age. Both the men and the women of this region still wear the traditional robes and jackets for festival occasions. The man’s beautiful dyed jacket is traditionally made by his bride as a wedding present.
Miao textiles that are resist dyed or embroidered including festival banners, festival clothing and pleated skirts
Yang Cai Mei Supported by Dr. Andrew Wang Booth 39 Taking it to the highest level and inspired by Miao traditional legendary stories and culture, Yang Cai Mei’s batik and embroidered textiles have been exhibited in many major metropolitan areas across China, including Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Kunming. Growing up in a Miao village near Anshun, well-known for its traditional batik folk arts and textiles using wax resist dye techniques, Cai Mei started practicing wax painting at the age of 5. She received further training in traditional techniques from Ms. Yang Jing Xio, a well-known master artist. The richly woven and traditionally dyed and embroidered textiles are considered the major living art form of Miao culture as they are indicators of family wealth, belonging to a specific group, and considered as their most important possessions with the symbol and color meanings of fertility, health, prosperity or protection.
Silver work designs of mythological people, animals and nature
Huang Guangwen Minority People Silversmith Folk Artists Cooperative of Southwest China Booth 97 Silver jewelry represents social status in southwest China and, traditionally, all ethnic minority families might
work for years to make a whole set of sterling silver accessories for their daughters to wear on special occasions, such as weddings or festivals. The Minority People Silversmith Folk Artists Cooperative of Southwest China represents master craftsmen of the region who carry on their history, customs and religion through the elaborate and symbolic designs of their silver necklaces, bracelets, hair pieces, earrings, garment attachments, and foot ornament accessories. Huang Guangwen first learned the art of Miao silversmithing from his father in Leishan, his home village in Guizhou province, and has traveled throughout southwest China to master the techniques and designs of the entire region. Over the years, Huang Guangwen has earned enough from his jewelry making to educate his four children.
Miao, Yi, Dong and Bai Minority People weavings, embroideries and batik textiles
Pan Yuzhen Minority People Textile Folk Artists Cooperative of Southwest China Booth 98 A number of different minority groups, Miao, Yi, Dong and Bai, live in Guizhou Province and each group is identified by its different traditional techniques of intricate and colorful embroidery. The Miao women produce a variety of embroidered pieces executed in silk floss embroidery thread which is split to make a very fine strand, often on a ground of home-woven indigodyed cloth. These are then sewn onto garments or other items such as baby carriers. Batik is sometimes used with the embroidery. Pan Yuzhen’s special wish is for more Miao women to have a ready market for their textiles so they can stay in their home communities where they have farms.
Dragon insignia embroidered Chinese textiles
Lin Duomei Dyetree Booth 146 Artist Lin Duomei lives in Suzhou, near Shanghai. Suzhou has had a tradition of high quality silk embroidery for over 2000 years. In imperial times, the city had a weaving and clothing department for the garments of royal households. Lin learned the refined pan jin method of embroidery at age 13 from her mother and grandmother. She is one of only a very few artists skilled in this technique. Pan jin dates back to the 17th century. This type of embroidery is more difficult than other techniques since the artist cannot make adjustments during the embroidery process. The vibrant dragon insignias were traditionally used only on the king and queen’s robes in China and Korea and were created with real gold thread. The five claws on the dragon represented the emperor.
CHINA (TIBET) Tibetan thangka paintings
Kalsang Tashi Supported by Dr. Andrew Wang Booth 38 Kalsang creates thangka paintings, a Tibetan Buddhist art form that encourages personal journeys for spiritual development and is one of the three legendary art works of Tibet. He has travelled to many monasteries to study Tibetan thangka styles and through his experience has created his own style of bold and precise, yet delicate, artwork. These vibrant paintings are used to represent the sacred objects of Buddhism. His process requires very rigorous rules of measurement, proportion, and a calm and fully concentrated state of mind.
Tibetan thangka paintings
Kalsang Kezhi Supported by Dr. Andrew Wang Booth 38 New to the Folk Art Market, Kalsang Kezhi produces his own style of Tibetan thangka painting, or scroll painting, with bold and delicate strokes. He grew up on the massive Oula Prairie and learned this art by traveling to different monasteries. Incredibly detailed and precisely measured, his powerful paintings are a kind of meditation for Kalsang Kezhi. Tibetan thangkas are a sacred part of Tibetan Buddhist culture and serve the purposes of healing the sick, balancing the environment and enlightening those who encounter them. It is said that the art of thangka painting reflects the temperament of the Tibetan plateau and can penetrate the souls of the pious. Enriched with images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, they are designed to encourage traditional as well as personal journeys of spiritual development.
Painted wood shrine boxes, boxes, folding tables, racks, bowls, butter containers, candlesticks and trays
Dorje Lhasa Villages Booth 129 Dorje is part of a group called Lhasa Villages that makes yak leather bags, traditional Tibetan striped aprons and products made with apron cloth, appliquéd and tailored products, and painted wood objects. Both Lhasa Villages and its partner company, the Shangri-la Tangtong Handicraft Development Center, employ Tibetan staff who continue to identify and train artisans. Tibetan artisans are threatened by the influx of Chinese manufactured items into Tibet, so Lhasa Villages also helps artisans source quality raw materials and revive lost skills, like natural dyeing. Lhasa Villages is dedicated to preserving Tibetan traditions and making sure that artisans can continue their traditional livelihoods in a changing society. They also ensure that artisans earn a fair wage.