Ana Karen Allende facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ana Karen Allende
|
|
|---|---|
Ana Karen Allende painting a doll
|
|
| Born |
Coyoacán
|
| Nationality | Mexican |
| Known for | Cloth dolls and figures |
Ana Karen Allende is a talented Mexican artisan from Mexico City. She lives in a part of the city called Coyoacán. Ana Karen is famous for making beautiful rag dolls and soft fabric animals.
The tradition of making rag dolls in Mexico is very old. It goes all the way back to before the Spanish arrived! Making rag dolls was most popular in the 1800s.
Ana Karen made her very first doll for her sister's fifteenth birthday. In Xochimilco, where she lived, girls often get a "last doll" for their quinceañera (a big 15th birthday party). This doll shows they are growing from a child into an adult. Ana Karen decided to make this special doll herself. She used sewing skills her grandmother taught her. Soon, she was making dolls for all her friends and family. Everyone loved them so much that she thought about selling them!
In 2002, Ana Karen started her own small business called Retacitos. This name means "Scraps" in Spanish. Her family helps her, and she also works with single mothers in her area. This helps them earn money while working from home. Ana Karen sells her dolls directly to people every Saturday at the Art Bazaar in San Ángel. She also sells them to stores and museums.
She gets many special orders, like dolls that look like famous people such as Frida Kahlo. She even makes dolls that look like the person buying them! Ana Karen wants to keep the art of doll making alive, but in a new, modern way. She often makes dolls that show Mexican culture, like lucha libre wrestlers, angels, traditional rag dolls, horses, mermaids, and rabbits.
Since 2010, the government of Mexico City has recognized her as a true Mexican craftswoman. Her amazing work has been shown in many museums and cultural events. She has won several awards, including 3rd place at a big textile art competition in 2012. She also won 1st place in the toy category at the Gran Premio de Arte Popular in 2006.
Contents
The History of Mexican Dolls
Making dolls in Mexico has a long history. Small clay dolls with movable arms and legs have been found in ancient cities like Teotihuacan. Toys have been made since ancient times, but many old ones are in poor condition. This is because they were made from natural materials that don't last forever.
Today, people in many Mexican communities still make handmade dolls. This is especially true in places like Chiapas, Jalisco, Michoacán, Oaxaca, and Querétaro. They use different materials, but cloth and ceramic dolls are the most common. Rag dolls became very popular in Mexico in the 1800s.
Ana Karen's grandmothers taught her how to knit and embroider. Her great-grandmother showed her and her sister, Lorena, how to paint and decorate their toys. Her mother encouraged them to create their own toys from anything they could find. Because of this, Ana Karen became interested in painting and drawing. Her parents supported her, and she took lessons when she was a teenager.
Her grandparents lived in the center of Coyoacán. This allowed her to meet many artisans who sold their crafts there. She learned how to work with wire from them. Ana Karen's grandmother taught her to sew using an old Singer sewing machine from the late 1800s. She made her first two dolls on this very machine!
When Ana Karen moved to Xochimilco, she became part of the local culture. She joined in weddings, religious festivals, and quinceañeras. Her younger sister was turning fifteen, and in Xochimilco, a girl's godparents usually give her a "last doll" at her quinceañera. This doll is a symbol of her journey from childhood to adulthood. These special dolls often have high heels instead of flat shoes, showing the girl is growing up. Ana Karen decided to make this doll for her sister herself.
This special project made her start researching the history of rag dolls in Mexico. Soon, she was making dolls as gifts for her family and friends. Everyone loved the dolls so much that she decided to sell them. One of the first things she sold was stuffed rabbits. She started making and selling rag dolls and stuffed animals in 2002. Her first goal was to make "last dolls" for quinceañeras.
Her mother-in-law at the time worked with cartonería (a type of Mexican paper mache). She introduced Ana Karen to many other craftspeople in the city. This helped Ana Karen find more customers. Since then, she has worked hard to bring back the tradition of making Mexican handmade dolls and stuffed animals, but with new, modern ideas.
Unique Creations
Ana Karen believes that store-bought rag dolls and stuffed animals often look the same and don't have a special touch. Her creations are different because no two are exactly alike!
Some of her most popular dolls are characters from lucha libre (Mexican wrestling), like Blue Demon, Santo, and El Rayo de Jalisco. She also makes figures from Mexico's past, such as aluxes (small mythical beings), chaneques (forest spirits), calacas (skeletons), and Mayan guardian figures.
Her artwork also includes dolls of the famous painter Frida Kahlo. She makes creatures that look like alebrijes (colorful fantasy animals), as well as traditional rag dolls, fairies, horses, centaurs, and mermaids. Ana Karen says that, except for custom orders, all her pieces are inspired by Mexican culture and traditions. She doesn't use characters from popular culture outside of Mexico. Instead, she focuses on figures that are well-known in the world of Mexican handcrafts and folk art.
Ana Karen has also made dolls that look like famous people and even her own clients. One special doll she made for Retacitos looked just like the singer Cecilia Toussaint. This doll was used to open one of the singer's shows! She even made a life-sized doll of the writer Julio Cortázar, complete with his cat and a cigarette. When she gets an order like this, she researches the person to learn more about them.
Retacitos: The Business
Since 2003, Ana Karen has sold her crafts every Saturday at the San Ángel art and handcrafts bazaar. It's located in the San Jacinto Plaza. Her work is sold under the name Retacitos, which means "scraps." It's a small family business that has been officially registered since 2005.
They also work with other people, often single mothers, who make many of the pieces. This allows these women to work from home and take care of their children. The name "Retacitos" came from the idea that most homes have small pieces of cloth, string, and other items. These scraps can be used to make dolls and other creative things. Sadly, much of this material is wasted today because many people no longer know how to sew.
The business has focused on selling their products in more places. You can find their items in Mexico City, Cancún, and Nayarit. Ana Karen has also worked with universities like the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana and ITESM CCM to help her business grow.
Retacitos only sells directly to the public in San Ángel on Saturdays. Other sales are made through stores and museums. You can find her dolls in places like Cacha Estudio, Garros Galería, the Museo de Arte Popular, the Museo Mexicano del Diseño, Museo del Juguete, and the Museo de Estanquillo.
Exhibitions and Awards
Ana Karen and her team have shown their Retacitos projects in many parts of Mexico and even in other countries. Their work has been displayed in museums, art galleries, fairs, cultural centers, and stores that focus on culture. They have also been interviewed by different media, including newspapers, TV, and the internet.
With help from a government agency called FONDESO, the business has participated in exhibitions at the World Trade Center. They also attend various Ferias de Economía Popular (Popular Economy Fairs). Her work has been shown in countries like Germany, Canada, France, Switzerland, Spain, Uruguay, and Guatemala.
Allende's work has been displayed in famous places like the Museo Dolores Olmedo and the Museo de Arte Popular. It has also been part of festivals such as the Festival de las Almas in Valle de Bravo. For this festival, she created a set of dolls related to Mexico's Day of the Dead. The exhibit was called "Desde el más allá con alma de trapo" (From the beyond with a soul of rags). It included about fifty pieces, like mobiles, toys, and other items, shown at the Museo Joaquín Arcadio Pagaza. These pieces were about death and Mexican popular culture.
She had her own special exhibition for International Women's Day in March 2012. It was at the Carranza Cultural Center and was called "Retazos con Mirada de Mujer" (Scraps with the Gaze of a Woman). One of her cloth artworks, called "Yaxché, el árbol sagrado maya" (Yaxché, the Mayan sacred tree), is part of a collection in France. It was also shown in an exhibition called "Mágico Textil" (Textile Magic) in Mexico City in May 2011.
In 2006, she won first prize in the toy category at the Gran Premio de Arte Popular FONART. She is also officially recognized by the government of Mexico City as a true Mexican artisan. In 2007, her work was shown in the Museo del Estanquillo. This included a meter-tall Judas figure and a life-sized doll of Frida Kahlo. Today, these pieces belong to the writer Iván Restrepo. Her artwork, "Luchare Por Tus Sueños" (Will Fight For Your Dreams), which has a lucha libre theme, won third place out of sixty entries at the VI Bienal Internacional de Arte Textil.
See Also
In Spanish: Ana Karen Allende para niños CNN report on Karen's work
