Michoacán handcrafts and folk art is a Mexican regional tradition centered in the state of Michoacán, in central/western Mexico. Its origins traced back to the Purépecha Empire, and later to the efforts to organize and promote trades and crafts by Vasco de Quiroga in what is now the north and northeast of the state. The state has a wide variety of over thirty crafts, with the most important being the working of wood, ceramics, and textiles. A number are more particular to the state, such as the creation of religious images from corn stalk paste, and a type of mosaic made from dyed wheat straw on a waxed board. Though there is support for artisans in the way of contests, fairs, and collective trademarks for certain wares (to protect against imitations), Michoacán handcrafts lack access to markets, especially those catering to tourists.
History
Evidence of pre Hispanic craftsmanship, especially in ceramics, can be found in all parts of the state, but the most developed crafts traditions date from the Purépecha Empire, which centered on Lake Pátzcuaro and extended east to what is now the Michoacán border with the State of Mexico. Pre Hispanic centers of production included Cojumatlán, Zinapécuaro, Apatzingán, Tepalcatepec, Huetamo, Morelia and Cuitzeo as well as the coast and along the Balsas River .
The artisans with the highest social status were those who worked with metals and feathers, as well as those who worked with semi precious stones. The reason for this was that these artisan produced goods used by the ruling classes as well as offerings to the gods. Michoacán was one of Mesoamerica's major metal working centers, mastering hammering, metal coating and metal casting by the time the Spanish arrived. Most metal work was in gold, but the Purépecha had developed some copper work. Most of the products were ornaments for the ruling classes but some utilitarian items such as needles, fishhooks and hole punches were made. Luxury goods made with fine feathers was a particularly appreciated by Purépecha society. Goods such as caps, blankets, clothing, headdresses and ornamental staffs adorned with feathers were used only by priests and rulers as symbols of power and dignity. Artisans who made these objects had their own designation, “izquarecucha.” Purépecha stone work includes the working of turquoise and other semi precious stones along with obsidian. Most were used in adornments and offerings but obsidian was also used for agricultural tools of high economic value, weapons and sacrificial knives. Stoneworkers’ graves can be identified by their goods, which included their tools and raw materials.
Two other very important pre Hispanic handcrafts are textiles and ceramics, whose artisans could also be full-time and enjoy fairly high status. Purépecha weavers worked with white and brown cotton, as well as a rougher fiber from the maguey plant called ixtle. According to the Relación de Michoacán, an early colonial period document that describes Purépecha life before the Conquest, textile work was the purview of women, with skills passed down from generation to generation. The richest fabric had feathers or rabbit fur woven into the cotton, and pure white cloth was an easily traded commodity, used as a form of currency. Dyes were from natural sources such as insects and plants, and common colors included blue, black and red. Finished textile goods included shirts, caps, dresses, threads for tying headdresses and doublets worn by warriors.
Ceramics of the area are distinguished by technique, size, shape and decoration. Purépecha pottery is characterized by being polychromatic, in negative decoration using principally black, red and white. The best examples of this work come from the Lake Patzcuaro area. The quality and variety of the ware suggests that there was a class of full-time potters. Artifacts include bowls, pots and more including miniature versions of these as well as whistles, flutes and figures. Other important pre Hispanic ceramic areas include Zamora, Cojumatlán, Zanapécuaro, Apatzingán, Tepalcatepec, along the Balsas River, Huetamo, Morelia and Cuitzeo.
After the Spanish conquest, new techniques and some new products were introduced to indigenous artisans. However, it was the efforts of Vasco de Quiroga, the first bishop of Michoacán that are responsible for most of the state's modern artisan practices.
When Quiroga arrived to the area, the political and economic situation was chaotic. His priorities were to revive the economy and evangelization. He based much of this effort in the former empire's long artistic tradition, after studying the needs and traditions of the people and the area's natural resources. He worked to improve the techniques of those that already existed such as pottery and weaving, and introduced a few new ones. Quiroga assigned certain crafts to certain towns such as the making of cotton goods to Ahuirán, wool and wood crafts to Aranza, pottery to Capula, the making of wood chests to Cocupao (today Quiroga), the making to petates to Coro, palm frond hats to Erongarícuaro, fishing nets to Janitzio, leather crafts to Ocumicho, musical instruments to Paracho, lacquered items to Pátzcuaro and cotton garments to Zitácuaro. This aims of this were to take advantage of each localities resources as well as to encourage trade. Quiroga concentrated his efforts in what was the Purépecha Empire, centered on Lake Patzcuaro and extending east to what is now the border of the state with the State of Mexico, where most of Michoacan's handcrafts are still made. His work was not always approved of by his clerical superiors, often being in contrast to their interests. However, he became well regarded by the indigenous of the region and is still referred to today as Tata (Grandfather) Vasco.
Since then, techniques and products have not changed very much although here has been some introduction of more modern methods such as the use of high-fire kilns and more modern techniques in the making of violins.
Vasco de Quiroga wasn't the only outsider to influence the artisan communities of Michoacan. James Metcalf brought new vigor to Santa Clara de Cobre, Steven and Maureen Rosenthal created a new industry of lacquered furniture in Erongaricuaro, and Mario Lopez developed lines of furniture and other decor items made of chuspata in Ihuatzio.
Status
Michoacán is one of Mexico's major handcraft producers, with over thirty types including pottery, metal work, textiles, lacquer and wood working. The state has abundant natural resources as well as cultural and artistic traditions, a tendency to conserve traditions. Today, most pre Hispanic crafts still survive although many have been modified by the introduction of more modern methods and tools, from the colonial period and since.
There are six major crafts producing areas: Morelia, Pátzcuaro, Uruapan, Zamora and Lázaro Cárdenas . A number of communities are noted for their work. Patamban is one of the state's best known handcraft communities, recommended by the magazine México Desconocido as one of six to visit in Mexico for their handcrafts. It specializes in ceramics of various types such as natural (some decorated with fine painted lines), glazed and bruñido (burnished). The town's most famous artisan is Neftalí Ayungua Suárez also known as Tata Talli.
Most of the towns around Lake Patzcuaro have handcraft specialties. The city of Patzcuaro proper is known for a number such as ceramics and fine furniture, but it is also a regional economic center with many markets selling area handcrafts. It is also the home of the Museo de Artes e Industrias Populares (Museum of Popular Arts and Industries), located just south of the Basilica The building was originally constructed as the College of San Nicolás in the 16th century by Vasco de Quiroga to prepare young men for the priesthood and to teach Indian youth to read and write. It contains one of the largest collections of lacquered items, models, and other crafts.
One best known Lake Patzcuaro artisan community is Santa Clara del Cobre, where 82% of the population is employed in the making of hand hammered copper items. There are 250 registered workshops in and around the town, which process about 450 tons of copper each year, generating an income of about fifty million pesos. Many of the copper items made are of a utilitarian nature – cooking utensils, various types of containers, pots, pans, plates, shot glasses, clocks, jewelry, vases, beds, tables, chairs, light switches, counters, sinks, even bathtubs, and much, much more, all in copper. However, since the 1970s copper jewelry, and many other non-essential items has also been made here. The workshops here are family-owned with children learning the trade from their parents. There is also a cooperative school-workshop to teach copper smithing, named Vasco de Quiroga.
The town of Capula is quiet colonial town located between Lake Patzcuaro and the city of Morelia. The most traditional is kitchenware such as pots and plates, which are decorated in small painted dots in a style known here as puntillaje, often to form flowers. This technique dates back to the clay pots from the pre Hispanic era. Since the 1980s, it has also been known for the making of ceramic images of La Catrina, a figure initially created by graphic artist Jose Guadalupe Posada. This began in the workshop of Juan Torres, who took the skeletal figure and made his own variations on the theme. Since then, most artisans in the town have turned to the making of these figures, some in more modern dress and even male versions called Catrinos. Capula attracts some tourists who come to see the demonstrations of how the wares are made. This small town is the only one in the state that boasts government certifications of origin for three of its products, punteada pottery, the Catrinas and a simpler pottery called loza tradicional.
In the eastern part of the state, near the border with the State of Mexico, is the town of Tlalpujahua. This community is known for Christmas ornaments that are blown from glass then hand-painted. This craft began after Joaquin Muñoz Orta returned from the United States, where he became familiar with the tradition of using glass balls to decorate trees. They began creating them in Mexico City but returned to his hometown to continue in 1964, where his business grew to make millions of the balls each year, exporting most. Today, the making of ornaments remains the main generator of employment for this area.
However, this varied handcraft tradition faces challenges. Like other areas of Mexico, handcrafted goods must compete against cheaper, commercially made products and cheaper imitations. One problem that many artisans have, especially those who sell more expensive items such as furniture, is the inability to extend lines of credit. Michoacan artisans lack access to markets to sell and avenues to promote their products. One main market to which these artisans lack access is the tourism industry, valuable to other states in Mexico such as Oaxaca. One important reason for the lack of tourism is security concerns. As of 2012 11,640 artisans worked in the state, but most have income below the poverty line.