Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
I've purchased Huichol masks from street venders in Real de Catorce. They're made of
wood, slathered in beeswax then covered bead by tiny bead in multiple rainbow colors
to make symbolic designs. If you look, you can find corn, deer, eagles, scorpions and a
peyote flower right on the mask's center, on the nose. The one I kept is a real beauty. It's
special to me because I've never seen another female Huichol mask.
Sometime I find things in unexpected places, like a basket I bought in a restaurant or the
time I purchased a painting and a charcoal drawing right off the wall from a small coffee
shop in Dolores Hidalgo. Somehow I treasure the item more when it's not from a store.
But you have to be lucky. I even traded a baseball bat for a black pot in Mata Ortiz. I didn't
want the pot. Black is not my favorite color, but the kid wanted my bat, and we made a
deal. Now that little black pot is a treasure chest.
My treasures are personal. Yours will be too.
But if you're on your way to Mexico, and you like Mexican traditions, folk crafts that are
bright and beautiful, and don't have time to get lucky, here's what I advise. The three best
shopping places, the most consistent for superior quality and variety, that I've found are
at museum shops, Sanborns and the Casa de Artesanias, sometimes called Casa de Artes-
anos, sponsored by Fonart (Fondo Nacional para el Formento de las Artesanias). The gov-
ernment runs these shops with an eye on keeping the best craftsmen working.
