What are Oaxacan Wood Carvings?
Alebrijes are carved wooden figures created by Oaxacan artisans. They have become so popular that even the world’s most respected Spanish language authority, the La Real Academia de la Lengua Española, Spanish Royal Academy, has included the term “Alebrijes” in its official Spanish language dictionary.
What is Oaxacan wood?
Oaxacan wood carvings are perhaps the most intricate, vivid, and stunningly imaginative pieces that we feature. A relatively young tradition in Mexico’s vast art history, Oaxacan wood carving has become inextricably linked to Mexico’s folk art culture, and has provided an economic boon to Oaxaca’s many gifted artists.
What are Oaxaca wood carvings and why are they created?
Oaxaca has a wood carving tradition dating from pre-Hispanic times; Zapotecs used to carve religious totems and ceremonial masks. Masks used in traditional dances and animal and human miniature figurines made as toys for children were carved by few artisans as a side job.
What is an Oaxacan alebrijes?
Alebrijes (ah-leh-bree-hess) are creatures carved out of wood and painted with Zapotec patterns and fantastic designs from the artists own imagination. Alebrijes are traditionally made in Oaxaca in the towns of San Martin Tilcajete as well as San Antonio Arrazola.
How much do alebrijes cost?
The price of each piece depends on the quality, coloring, size, originality and sometimes the reputation of the carver. The most expensive pieces are most often sent abroad. Pieces sold retail in Oaxaca generally range from US$1 to $200.
What is Oaxacan art?
Oaxaca is a folk art paradise in which artists create the most extraordinary spectrum of crafts in all of Mexico. Their works are inseparable from their lives — a blend of daily experience, indigenous myths and legends, pre- and post-conquest patterns, and the region’s natural environment.
What is copal wood?
Copal is the wood most commonly used by the woodcarvers in Oaxaca, Mexico. Bursera glabrifolia is a small tree native to the tropical dry forests of Mexico. It was first described by Carl Sigismund Kunth in 1824 as Elaphrium glabrifolium and then transferred to the genus Bursera by Adolf Engler in 1896.
What do alebrijes represent?
Colorful and significant pieces of the Aztec folklore, they will capture your attention as well as your soul. The Alebrijes are spirit guides, as they were depicted in the 20-day cycle of the Zapotec calendar.
What are Mexican alebrijes?
Native to the Valley of Oaxaca in Mexico, alebrijes are animals that escaped the nightmares of an artist and appear as a variety of different species – both real and fantastic. Pedro Linares (1906-1992), a renowned indigenous Mexican artist, first created vividly colorful papier mâché sculptures called alebrijes.
What materials are alebrijes made out of?
The Alebrijes are imaginary creatures that have elements from different animals such as dragon bodies, bat wings, wolf teeth and dog eyes. Colorfully painted, they were originally made with papier mache but nowadays they are also wood carved.
How do you pronounce Alebrijes in English?
- ah. – leh. – bree. – heh.
- a. – le. – βɾi. – χe.
- a. – le. – bri. – je.
