Crafting Tradition: The Making and Marketing of Oaxacan Wood Carvings

CHAPTER THREE: Contemporary Wood Carving

c r a f t i n g t r a d i t i o n 36 CONTEMPORARY WOOD CARVING CHAPTER THREE In 1994 a new business called Arte y Tradición opened in an attractive blue and white building in the historic center of Oaxaca. Arte y Tradición included a restaurant, a travel agency, a bookstore, and four or five rooms devoted to various local crafts. One room, called “Fantasía de Madera” (fantasy from wood), was run by Saúl Aragón, a 23-year-old university student who commuted to his shop each day from his home in Arrazola. There were few customers , and Saúl spent most of his time painting carvings and studying for his courses in business and accounting. When Saúl was in classes or otherwise occupied, his girlfriend , Alma Arreola from Oaxaca, would tend the store. Saúl’s older brother Antonio, who paid the rent on the shop and was married to Alma’s sister Beatriz, would occasionally stop by to discuss the business. I spent a lot of time in Fantasía de Madera at the beginning of my fieldwork. Saúl is an intelligent and thoughtful man who likes to talk about the wood-carving trade. My visits in the summer of 1995 broke up the monotony of his days, and we soon became friends. I have occasion36 37 c o n t e m p o r a r y w o o d c a r v i n g ally hired Saúl over the years to help me with my work and have come to know his large family well. Although Saúl did not close the shop in Arte y Tradición until 2000, his principal source of income at the end of the 1990s was as the local representative and buyer for Clive Kincaid, a large-scale crafts wholesaler based in Arizona. Saúl, who married Alma in 1996, finally finished his university work in 2000. The work history of Saúl’s family between 1984 and 1990 illustrates how the wood-carving boom transformed the economies of many households in Arrazola and San Martín. In 1984 nobody in the Aragón family earned money from craft production. By 1990 wood carving was the major source of income for some family members and a potential work opportunity for others. In 1984 the family consisted of Antonio Aragón Hernández; his wife, Adelina Ramírez; and their children Ramiro, Fidencio, Ariel, Antonio, Leticia, Saúl, and Sergio. Antonio the elder was selling replicas of antiquities at Monte Albán and cultivating a few hectares of corn, beans, chiles, and tomatoes. Adelina spent most of her time running the household. The children were all unmarried and living in the family compound. Ramiro, the oldest, was twenty-three; Sergio, the youngest, was nine. Ramiro, who had just returned from several years in the army, worked both as a musiSa úl Aragón. Holly Carver. c r a f t i n g t r a d i t i o n 38 cian and as a policeman in the city of Oaxaca. Fidencio and Antonio repaired electrical equipment in the city. Ariel was a mechanic’s helper at a Ford dealership there; Leticia, Saúl, and Sergio were in school. Ramiro had tired of police work and was seeking other ways to earn a living. He tried to sell carvings of armadillos, deer, and other animals to tourists in Arrazola looking for Manuel Jiménez. At first Ramiro’s carvings were crude, and he had many fiascoes in his efforts to experiment with different types of paint. Sales were slow. After Ramiro’s technique improved, he began to sell pieces to shops in Oaxaca. Craft production became a family enterprise. Ramiro carved and painted decorations. Antonio helped with carving; Saúl sanded and applied a first solid coat of paint. In 1988 Ramiro, now married, moved out of the family compound. Antonio , also married, began carving on his own in Ramiro’s former workshop . Saúl worked with Ramiro for another year but in 1989 began helping Antonio, who had developed a successful specialty making finely carved small goats, deer, and foxes. When Saúl stopped working for Ramiro, Sergio took his place. Because Ramiro was getting orders from wholesalers and store owners from the United States, he sometimes had...