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Stories from the global community
Come along on the journey!
Day 37: Visiting Ceramic Artists in San Juan de Oriente, Nicaragua
Destination:
San Jusan de Oriente, Nicaragua
San Juan de Oriente, Nicaragua, in Central America, is a small town about 30 miles south-east of Managua, the country's capital city. The village is nestled among volcanos, alongside a picturesque lagoon, named Laguna de Apoyo. The wet season in San Juan de Oriente is continually overcast, while the dry season is windy and partly cloudy. It is hot and oppressive year round. Over the course of the year, the temperature only varies from around 70°F to 90°F.
Fun Facts:
Before Colonial conquest the
Nicoya and
Potosme tribes lived here and spoke
Náhuatl. The area has been a pottery center since 500 BC.
The village was first called San Juan el Bautista in 1585, taking its name from its patron saint, John the Baptist.
Long known for its ceramic plates and decorative pottery, San Juan was later called San Juan de Los Platos (San Juan of the Plates or Platters). Spaniards were at one time paid in pottery as a local form of currency!
After Nicaragua declared its independence from Spain in 1821, the village was again renamed, changing San Juan de Los Platos to San Juan de Oriente, or Saint John of the East.
Art Form: Nicaraguan Ceramics
Our journey today takes a look at
two different styles of ceramics - decorative vases and luminaries. Both made in family run workshops in San Juan de Oriente, a village of nearly 6,000 people, where some of the world's most distinctive pottery is created. This village is a beacon of creativity and craftsmanship.
Mundo Handmade - Decorative Vases
As you enter the village, you are likely to see ox carts delivering wood, clay and other materials to the various workshops.
San Juan de Oriente sits upon deep deposits of clay that were laid down by volcanic activity in the distant past.
The clay is "thrown" on a kick wheel to form the shape. The ceramic pieces are painted using mineral oxides and then meticulously carved, sgraffito style, using homemade tools typically fashioned from the spokes of a bicycle wheel.
Once the decorative incisions are complete, the pot is baked in a wood-burning kiln, constructed from adobe bricks in a traditional bee-hive configuration.
After firing, the pot is finally removed and polished. Watch this fascinating process. . . (and, yes, the first part of this one-minute video is silent).
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| The Making of Nicaraguan Pottery |
Women of the Cloud Forest - Luminaries
As Amy Sobkowiak, founder of Women of the Cloud Forest says, "Twice a year we wind through the brick-lined streets of San Juan de Oriente to visit with Duilio and Damarias.
The air smells like wood-fire smoke from the beehive shaped kilns that the artisans use to fire their pottery."
"Damarias usually greets us with a large bowl of chicken soup filled to the brim with chunks of root vegetables. Since their workshop is also a part of their house, the atmosphere is very low-key and homey. Duilio and Damarias have been working with pottery for the majority of their lives and are able to offer long term employment and fair wages to 6-10 other artisans."
"Over the years we have seen their home transform from a two-room dirt floor structure, to a tiled showroom/store and open-air workshop with private bedrooms off to the side."
Amy's video is a bit longer, but very fascinating from start to finish. . .
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| The Ceramic Making Process - San Juan de Oriente, Nicaragua |
Did you notice the nativity lumanaries? We've carried some of them in our annual nativity shows for the last several years. Watch for them to return early November.
The Companies:
Mundo Handmade was founded in 2011 by Chris Matias. Their mission is to foster the success & well-being of his artisan partners while conducting business as a socially responsible corporate citizen. Their business practices are based on fair trade principles helping to support the livelihood of artists and their families.
Working to support youth programs is one of their priorities.
Women of the Cloud Forest is a Certified Fair Trade business working directly with artisans in Costa Rica and Nicaragua since 2001. They have direct, long-term relationships with small family workshops and cooperatives.
In addition to placing consistent orders with their artisan partners, they provide business training, product development/design and they offer no-interest micro-loans and direct grants for homes and increasing workshop capacity. This holistic approach to business enables their artisan partners to grow their businesses and access new markets without creating cycles of dependency.
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Shopping . . .
Are you ready to explore
what we have in our store?
Click the picture or the link below to see all the decorative vases and the luminaries.
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Don't forget to stamp your Passport!
Click on the
"stamp" to add to your "passport."
We keep track of your stamps for you!
We draw for another
$25 gift card in 4 more days!
"Collect" at least 12 different "country" stamps during the second 20 days of our around-the-world trip to
be entered
into the drawing for a $25 gift card.
At the end of our 80-day
Around the World
excursion, all eligible travelers (minimum of 48 country stamps)
will be
entered into a drawing for . . .
a Grand Prize
$100 shopping spree gift card!
Thanks for traveling with us today.
Where to next? Stay tuned!
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As we do interviews with the amazing people involved in these different companies, we hear facts and details, but also touching and challenging stories.
Amy from Women of the Cloud Forest shared that Nicaragua is one of a few countries that has not issued a Stay at Home Order. Their President is also not giving an accurate accounting of the number of cases, hospitalizations or deaths. Amy said she was told people are getting sick and the hospitals are over run. She is very concerned about the artists and families she has worked with for so long. COVID-19 is touching our entire world.
Our Brookside store is open today from 11 to 5 and will be open through Sunday. Our current hours are posted below my signature and we look forward to seeing you!
For those of you who cannot or choose not to shop in our Brookside store right now, we thank you for your continued online shopping support. And, yes, we plan to continue our global "journeys" with daily additions to our online store.
And I can't say it enough times -
YOU are an important part of what makes World's Window so special! THANK YOU!
World's Window
"Nobody can define you like you."
P.S.
We are glad to be on this around-the-world virtual journey with you and delighted that you are traveling with us. We hope you are learning some new information as we travel along.
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P.P.S.
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As always we are "sharing the world" through clothing, jewelry, folk art, textiles and hand-selected gifts -
and
buying locally-owned is a gift to your community!
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One way to support us
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In-store gift cards can also be purchased by calling
us at 816-361-2500.
And, with all gift card purchases
we'll ADD 10% more
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