CRAFTS IN COSTA RICA

COSTA RICAN CRAFTS
In the past few years, there has been a sort of renaissance in crafts in Costa Rica. Due to the great many tourists that visit the country due to its natural beauty as well as for its amazing climate, there has been a resurge of interest in the crafts trade.

 The revival is most astonishing when it comes to traditional methods and forms. At Guaitil, in Nicoya, not only has the Chorotega aborigine tradition of pottery been retained, it is actually flourishing; it has done so in such a way that neighboring villages have installed potters' wheels. Santa Ana, located in the western part of the Central Valley, is also famous for its ceramics: large green ware bowls, urns, vases, coffee mugs and kinds of pottery work. Here, you can also find the small typical adobe houses fired in brick kilns and clay pits on the patios of some 30 independent family workshops. These pottery works are perfect if you are planning to decorate your real estate property using local elements.

In Escazú, master craftsman Barry Biesanz expertly handles razor-sharp knives and chisels to create subtle, delicate images, bowls as curved as if turned with a lathe as well as decorative boxes with tight dovetailed corners from carefully chosen blocks of tropical woods: lignum vitae (ironwood), narareno (purple heart), rosewood, satinwood and tigerwood. Just like the pottery, these exquisite wood works are ideal for when it comes to decorating a kitchen or living room of a recently purchased dream home.

A large number of the best craft creations in Costa Rica come from the village of Sarchí. Passerby’s are welcome to enter the fábricas de carretas (‘oxcart factory’) and watch the families and master artists at work while they create exquisitely contoured bowls, serving dishes, and most importantly, the traditional Costa Rican carretas for which the village is now famous worldwide. However, full size carts are rarely made nowadays. Most of the carretas made in Sarchí are folding miniature trolleys (like an imitation hot-dog stand) which serve as indoor tables or mini-bars and  half-size carts used as garden ornaments or simply to decorate a corner of a home. The carts are painted in dazzling colors, such as burning orange, and are decorated with geometric mandala designs as well as with floral patterns. You will find that these traditional decorations have found their way onto wall plaques, kitchen trays and many other craft items. Sarchí and the Moravia suburb of San José are also noted for their traditional leather satchels and purses.

Nonetheless, you must keep in mind that this revival of arts and crafts has been powered by the large flow of tourism that comes into Costa Rica every year; therefore, much of the art that exists has been mass produced for such a market. This means that art and craft shops now overflow with whimsical Woolworth's art: cheap canvas scenes of rural landscapes, rough-hewn macaws gaudily painted and the inevitable cheap bracelets and earrings sold in market squares all over the world. Nevertheless, you will find genuine jewels scattered across shops, which is why Buyowner Costa Rica recommends you take a look if you have the chance… it might just be worth your time!