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New Arrivals $10 and Under |
Up in the Sierra Madre mountains of Tepic and Nayarit, live a group of shy indigenous people known as the Huicholes. Despite encroachment by their Mexican neighbors, they still speak in their native language and practice many of their ancestral customs and beliefs. Yet they seem to have come to the realization, that in order to keep their culture alive, they must connect with others to promote themselves and consequently survive.
And the Huicholes have achieved this well. Those who are cultured in art will easily recognize the yarn paintings and chaquira figurines in bold and daring color combinations they are so famous for. But what few people know is how much the Huicholes have impregnated their art with their beliefs in ancient mythology. Each pattern and symbol in their art is directly related to their religion and culture. It is said that before creating a piece they inebriate their bodies with cacti peyote so that their gods can show them the things they must incorporate into their work. The Huicholes use inexorable creativity in each and every piece they create, never two pieces being alike. They pay enormous attention to detail, a feat difficult to achieve when working with thousands of miniature glass beads. Their fingers work fast, their minds even faster, their eyesight exhausted by the end of the day. A few times each year, the Huicholes venture into civilization and practice their shamanism beliefs in parts of Mexico sacred to them -the inviting beaches of San Blas, Nayarit being one of them. But for the most part, people who covet their art must dare to go find them up in the mountains in the middle of nowhere. |
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