3000 wooden birds a month in Solentiname
In my last post I wrote about radical poet-priest Ernesto Cardinal coming to the remote Solentiname Islands in the 1970s and fostering a climate of political activism and creativity that still endures today. I posted the oil-on-canvas paintings of the islands in that last post.
The islands are also known for their wood carvings.
The head of the artists’ cooperative in the Solentiname Islands showed us a brightly painted wooden bird smaller than my hand. He said the bird had been a godsend to the local woodcarvers. An importer from Holland wanted 2500 – 3000 of them every month. All the same, with all the same colors.
“I don’t know why they wanted so many, and all the same,” said the manager of the cooperative. “But it was good for the artists. They were paid 20 cordobas (about a dollar) a bird.”
The bird boomlet is over for now. December 2009 was the last month the Dutch clients wanted that many of the little blue-bodied balsawood birds.
wooden birds, Solentiname Island, Nicaragua
Balsa wood carved turtles from the Solentiname Islands in Nicaragua
Photos by David W. Smith.
Tags: art, artesania, birds, solentiname
Nicaragua, Things to Do | Erin Van Rheenen | 
December 6, 2009 8:17 pm