arts

What happens when you hold the 26th annual National Handicrafts Fair during Panama's centennial year, and at a time when the campaigning for the next election is off to an early start? For starters, neither the official Centennial Commission, INAC nor the fair's organizers put any great effort into making this event any more special than usual, but despite that a greater than usual number of foreign tourists --- mostly Americans but also some Germans and Italians --- showed up to look and buy. On the fair's second day the several veteran vendors whom I asked all told me that sales were a litle better than they had expected.

Although there weren't any pols working the crowd when I was there, one legislator who's seeking re-election against a couple of strong challengers in a single-member district, Panama Oeste's Arturo Araúz (National Liberal - San Carlos) got his name prominently displayed at the fair, in a way that may or may not have impressed the shoppers but most likely won him some votes. Araúz sponsored a strong contingent of San Carlos ceramic artists and furniture makers, and had his name in red letters above an arch at the entrance to that part of the fair. His opponents, the PRD's Kike Florez and Arnulfista Junior Herrera, have more signs, flags and bus stop murals around the district than the incumbent does, but maybe the sign at the fair represents more bread on the tables of San Carlos than the challengers can boast. The works shown above were on display in Araúz's San Carlos section.

Also present, as in past years, were a number of Peace Corps volunteers. Many of the young Americans are assigned to help rural artesans' co- ops market their goods, and because unlike the people who make the things for sale, they can speak English to the tourists, I found them behind tables selling Embera beadwork and bark paintings from the mountains of Cocle.

Some of the things for sale are, within the cultures from which they come, functional rather than decorative. The inexpensive baskets shown above, for example, are what the locals in beach communities from Panama Oeste through the central provinces use to carry a day's fish catch or the oysters gathered on a negative low tide. A lot of other people, like this woman, have adopted them as shopping baskets. They also make good carry-on luggage for air travelers, and have the advantage of being easy to inspect in these days of heightened airport security.

Embera and Wounaan basket weaving, on the other hand, may be functional within those cultures but the works are highly prized as beautiful home and office decorations, take long hours and skilled labor to make, and fetch some good prices for the artesans. Among the Embera and the Wounaan basketry is a female art. Male wood and tagua nut sculptors also bring in a lot of these indigenous nations' meager income.

Yolanda Lam (above) isn't Kuna, but rather a designer who incorporates applique and reverse applique mola art into her clothing and other products. The stuff she makes, however, she doesn't make alone. Kuna women do the molas, so Lam's economic role is more that of a job creator than as a competitor from the Kuna perspective.

Panama's most populous indigenous nation, the Ngobe, were well represented at the fair. In years past it seems that Ngobe dresses adapted for non-indigenous consumption with simple shoulder straps instead of the traditional big collars and sleeves represented a larger part of their merchandise. This year the chacaras (woven bags) and chaquiras (beadwork worn around the neck) were bigger sellers.

And of course, the kids are always a big part of the National Handicrafts Fair. They're part of the singing and dancing onstage, and at the same time they're receiving a cultural education that will keep many of Panama's folk traditions alive for generations to come.

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