THE POISON ARROW FROG CONTEST, THE FERIA AND FAREWELLS
November 24, 2022
by Campbell Plowden
October 15, 2022
One skill we want Artisan Facilitators to develop is making a prototype of a new craft just based on a photo of an animal. While many artisans were used to making different birds, I gave them a bigger challenge on the final afternoon of our Artisan Facilitator workshop. Three small groups each got a photo of a black and yellow poison arrow frog as a reference to make a chambira ornament. The total length of the body with folded legs should be 3.5 inches. Teams could choose any process they wanted to make them.
An hour into the process, some people were seriously pondering the task while others were going through the motions. They knew it was unlikely they would make a model worthy of sale to us on their first try. People perked up a bit when I offered a prize of 100 soles to the group who produced the best frogs.
While the groups worked on their frogs, I reviewed other crafts with Yully and Marianela that the artisans had displayed on tables for sale in another structure. It was honestly disappointing to see the poor quality of most of these crafts in the open feria, but it was good to know the same artisans working 30 feet away could make crafts that were ten times better. I selected some to bring back to the US while Yully selected others to sell in our store in Iquitos.
The frog contest ended at 4:30 pm. In two groups, one frog was quite good while the others were just getting started. Wenceslao’s group won the prize because they had worked together to produce a full set of good first attempts. I accepted that one reason a few groups had struggled to complete the challenge was the limited supply of black chambira fiber needed to make this frog. We encouraged everyone to produce better second round models.
Each artisan filled out an evaluation and each group got orders to make 10 to 20 of each craft they made in the workshop. We closed with a full collection of songs and cake for two artisans and Yully whose birthdays were that day and the next. I bid farewell to many artisans I hope to see next year.
Andrea spent months working with this designer and four artisans to make dozens of colorful balsa wood birds and giant chambira butterflies. The birds included an egret, tiger heron, toucan, macaws and a kingfisher. When we stopped at the mall after visiting the aquarium, I loved seeing these creatures twirl around in a mild breeze.
I was most happy to hear the Chino artisans wanted to resume attending our bird ornament workshops. Half of them have made some birds based on what they learned five years ago, but they were eager to improve the quality of these woven animals they could sell to their visitors and have secure sales to us.
I selected a few baskets laid out on benches and placed an order for elegant two-color models. Lindy reported good progress making lady bug ornaments and planned to attend our artisan facilitator training. We were happy the group looked forward to hosting a bird-making workshop in July with artisans from 3 Tahuayo communities.
