Can a Colonial Crafts Town Survive Modern Mexico? Laura Fraser - Craftsmanship
go to original March 18, 2016

The brothers Napolean (left) and Jose Perez are two of the town’s upcoming masters; their late father, Jesus Perez Ornelas, made the candlesticks for the local church, and was renowned for his work with intricate bird and human faces on his copper pots. (Janet Jarman)

On Friday mornings in the colonial town of Pátzcuaro, Mexico, there is a flea market where indigenous people barter their wares the way they’ve done since before the Spaniards set foot in this region. Squat, weathered women in long braids and woven rebozos carry baskets of dried fish, avocados, or wood scraps, which they trade for the used clothing, pots, or medicinal herbs that other natives have spread out on blankets.

The local crafts traded or sold around Pátzcuaro date back much earlier; copper-smithing, for one, has been traced to 600 AD.

...During the past 15 years, however, the craft economy has been struggling to survive. Drug-related violence in Michoacán has made tourists afraid to visit, even though most of the skirmishes have been hours away from Pátzcuaro.

In some pueblos, finely skilled craftspeople have had to turn to construction work instead, or head north to the U.S. to find jobs. In other villages, the crafts have been so undervalued that younger people leave to find easier, more lucrative ways of making money, and may only create crafts for fairs or competitions.

Tourists have become used to paying rock-bottom prices for crafts - which, when bought directly from the artisans, cost about a third of the price you’d pay in a commercial gallery. That price difference, and the willingness of many artisans to bargain, can skew a buyer’s sense of the work that goes into these crafts - and disguise the hidden reality: Usually, the artisans are simply desperate for cash.

If you do buy in galleries, ask if they are commited to giving a precio justo. The term means nothing more than a “just price,” but galleries who subscribe to it seem to honor it.

Despite these economic pressures, an astonishing array of artesanias still exists for visitors to explore in the region - relatively safely. “It’s a big state,” as the town’s new mayor, Victor Baez, told me, “and it’s peaceful here.” As people are realizing that Pátzcuaro is a safe town, they are also discovering the many dimensions of its culture.

Read the rest and see photos at Craftsmanship

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