Chorotega Ceramics Expo on Display in Costa Rica | Costa Rica Travel News

Chorotega Ceramics Expo on Display in Costa Rica | Costa Rica Travel News:

Chorotega Ceramics Include Figurines, Vases and Bowls in Earthy Tones.

Costa Rica’s unique indigenous cultures and crafts often go overlooked, but there is a family in the Nicoya Peninsula that is fighting to keep the traditional Chorotega Ceramics alive. In the little town of San Vincente de Nicoya, in Guanacaste, three generations have dedicated their lives to this art. Zoraida Grijalba is still producing pieces at the age of 76; she learned the art of pottery from her own parents and is now teaching it to her daughter and her grand children. This activity has been around Nicoya for generations, since the pre-colombian days, as well as the whole of Latin America. Everywhere on this continent this art can be admired, telling us about the life and customs of lost civilizations.

Some samples of this ceramic can now be admired at the University Las Veritas located in Zapote, San Jose, in the Roberto Sasso Auditorium. According to curator Luis Fernando Quiros, the pieces tell the stories of the Chorotega culture, and how it evolved over the years. Out of the 50 pieces on show, some are purely decorative while some are utilitarian.

This legacy is however in danger of extinction. It gets harder to get by in remote villages today, and the younger generations often leave home to seek a better future in larger cities. The disappearance of this form of art would mark the end of an era in this country, the era of its very beginning. Making a living out of pottery cannot be easy in a modern Costa Rica. Artisans often take truck loads of their own work to beach towns to sell on the street to visiting tourists. A lack of understanding about the ancient culture often leads to a lack of appreciation of the art.

The ceramic of San Vincente shows the characteristics of the Chorotega legacy in a unique and authentic way, found nowhere else in the country. The technique and material used are also special to the area, in the way that they have not changed over the years resulting in pieces that very much resemble those of hundreds of years ago. The black sand they use for example, typical of this sort of ceramic, is found nearby in the Mount Curriol, where it has always been. Black, red and white rocks are extracted and are later grounded and mixed with water and clay in order to obtain the characteristic pigments to decorate to pots. The functional pieces usually do not carry any form of decoration.

The aim of this exposition is to try and keep this art alive for today and for future generations. One way is to show it to the public, and educate them about the Chorotega culture, as more often than not it gets forgotten. It seems that it is only when one travels to Guanacaste that one is reminded of these ceramics, as the artists sell them along the roads and their bright colors are hard to miss. Although traditional, they never look out of place anywhere, whether it is modern or a rustic home. They make the perfect souvenir for those who like to take something back from their Costa Rican vacation, or for those who live in the country and who want to remember who was here first!

Written by Mireille Darras