Mexican artisan, Felipe Benitez Miranda, is a Náhuatl tlacuilo (painter) living in the state of Guanajuato. The Náhuatl culture, in an attempt to cling to its culture, has adapted and recreated their ancestral pictographic heritage in amate - a bark on which they paint beautifully intricate paintings called amates de historia (amates that tell stories). Generally speaking, the amate and its commercialization has become an outstanding economic means of survival, reaching the point at which the amate boom has produced a considerable amount of economic wealth. Felipe has abandoned amate and replaced it with handcarved animals (alebrijes) in wood instead of canvas for his incredible cultural depiction of rural Mexican life.

A 1990 census found that nearly 1,200,000 Mexicans over the age of five years speak Náhuatl. But numbers do little to elaborate on the impact that the Náhuatl language and cultures have had on the Mexican culture. For instance, foods such as chocolate, tortillas, and tacos, which are known throughout North and South America were produced and consumed by Náhuatl-speakers long before Columbus "discovered" the New World. And words such as coyote and chocolate, which have been adopted by both the English and Spanish languages are Náhuatl in their origin (derived from koyotl and chokolatl, respectively). The Náhuatl-speaking Aztecs and numerous other indigenous groups in Mexico, through years of working with the environment in which they lived, gained crucial knowledge and understanding of the plants, animals, mountains, rivers, and universe that surrounded them. This knowledge has been preserved through oral tradition and cultural customs and practices and still exists in indigenous communities today. However, this knowledge is in danger of being lost as economic and political forces encroach on indigenous communities, driving them to abandon traditional knowledge for the new, the modern, and the scientific.

Felipe's handcrafted work has garnered him much recognition at the 2004-2006 Feria Maestros del Arte exhibition in Ajijic, Jalisco. Watch for him again in 2007. His handmade folk art is very popular and this show brings him a good portion of his yearly income.

When you purchase folkart from a native Mexican Indian such as Felipe, you are helping to ensure that part of their culture continues. If you are interested in purchasing some of Felipe's work, call Marianne Carlson at 011522 376 765 7485 or email mariannecarlson@gmail.com

(Our thanks to Karen Henderson for the use of her photographs)