04Experiences

Markets and crafts

Mexican crafts

Mexico's markets are the place to buy crafts from the people who make them. The best known are alebrijes: brightly painted figures of fantastic creatures covered in fine patterns, each one combining parts of different animals. They began in Mexico City in 1936, when the papier-mâché artist Pedro Linares made his first creatures; Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo bought his work. Artisans in Oaxaca later took up the idea and began carving them from local copal wood. In the states of Puebla and Tlaxcala potters make Talavera, with a white glaze and decoration that is often blue but can include yellow, green and orange. It is produced in Puebla, Atlixco, Cholula, Tecali and San Pablo del Monte, thanks to the quality of the local clay. The tradition dates back to the sixteenth century and, together with its Spanish counterpart, joined UNESCO's intangible heritage list in 2019. In Oaxaca start at the Benito Juárez Market just south of the square. Ask where a piece was made: buying from the maker gets you the real thing and its story.

1936

First alebrijes

2019

Talavera on the UNESCO list