Alebrijes

Alebrijes from Oaxaca

As most of you know I am currently in the U.S. (Chicago area right now) speaking to churches about my ministry in Mexico. Since I miss Mexico while I am here, I thought that I would give you a glimpse - and remind myself - of one of the crafts of Oaxaca. I have a collection of these little animals in my dining room.

A green donkey with horns, a purple giraffe, a bright red elephant--these are just some of the figures that have been carved from the wood of the copal tree and are called "alebrijes" pronounced "ah leh bree heys". The word alebrije is from gypsy slang for a tangled thing or something shaped in confusing or fantastic figures.

The story is that a man that was visiting Mexico City saw these images while suffering from fever dreams. While ill he dreamt of a strange and foreign world populated by bizarre creatures with wild colors and designs. When he recovered, he returned to Oaxaca and began molding the creatures in paper. A Oaxacan carver was inspired by the paper creatures and began carving them out of wood. Copal is a wood that has a small heart and no layers so the animals can be carved in one piece without splitting.

There are two towns in the state of Oaxaca - Arrazola and San Martin Tilcajete that are famous for these carvings. All carvings are done with machetes (for large alebrijes) or kitchen or pocket knives (for small ones). Most alebrijes take one to five days to carve and a week to a month to paint--depending on the design. Making an alebrije is a family affair. The men carve and the women paint.