Mexico's Thriving Craft Traditions

Tlaquepaque

This Guadalajara neighborhood has innumerable shops overflowing with colorful furniture and home décor items. My favorites were the Galeria El Dorado, which displays a remarkable collection of art objects and sculptural furnishings, and Sergio Bustamante, for its whimsical and affordable jewelry. In the flower-filled main square, we happened on a troupe performing the ancient and vertigo-inducing Danza de los Voladores (“Dance of the Flyers”). This ancient Mesoamerican ceremony is believed to have originated with the Nahua, Huastec and Otomi peoples in central Mexico. The ritual involves the ascent of a 90-foot pole from which four of the five participants then launch themselves on ropes to the ground. The fifth remains on top of the pole, playing a flute and drum. The ceremony is thought to have been a supplication to the gods to end drought.

Gorky Pottery

In 1963, after having studied pottery in Japan, Gorky Gonzalez opened his workshop and revived the craft of majolica in Guanajuato. He went on to receive national awards for his work, and his family carries on the business today, crafting beautiful ceramics by hand. We stopped by the factory and showroom to observe some of the artisans at work. I came away with a colorful Day of the Dead-inspired platter.

Casa de las Artesanías

I was skeptical about this handicrafts shopping center set in the former monastery of the Templo de San Francisco in Morelia. But along with the tourist trinkets, it assembles high-quality objects made in the region’s Purépecha villages. I couldn’t resist a cobalt-blue ceramic pineapple from San José de Gracia, and I was also tempted by copper from Santa Clara de Cobre and masks from Tócuaro. (Serious craft shoppers can also visit Santa Clara and Tócuaro as a day trip.)