Tenth National Artisans Fair 2011 to Begin this Month

Tenth National Artisans Fair 2011 to Begin this Month
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic  12/12/2011

The Office of the First Lady (DPD in Spanish) and the Ministry of Culture is sponsoring the Tenth National Artisans Fair 2011,to be held December 14-18. This year the Fair is dedicated to the artisans of San José de Ocoa.

The slogan, “Where Wood is Turned into Art,” the fair will be opened from 9 am to 9 pm in Colon Park in the Colonial City.

The slogan, “Where Wood is Turned into Art,” the fair will be opened from 9 am to 9 pm in Colon Park in the Colonial City. More than 200 artisans and craftspeople from the Ministry of Culture and the Progresando Program will be taking part. Artisans will be coming from communities all over the country such as El Seibo, Miches, Samaná, Las Terrenas, Sánchez, Monte Plata, Yamasá, Capotillo, Villa Mella, Haina, Barahona, Baní and from the Cayena Project.

At this year´s Fair there will be more than 10,000 pieces of handmade artwork on sale. Crafts are made from wood, ceramics, vegetable fiber, papier–mâché, horn, bone, clay, coconut shell, amber and Larimar, among other natural fibers and sources. There will also be jewelry, pottery and costume jewelry on sale.

In addition to the craft stands and exhibitions, there will be an extensive program of activities for all ages which will include handicraft workshops, roundtable discussions, artistic and folkloric presentations and more.

The Tenth National Artisans Fair 2011 seeks to incentivize the production of new hand-crafted projects and to contribute to the protection and diffusion of original and quality cultural heritage products that display their own characteristics.