The Mexican people have been likened to “new shoots of a plant that has its roots in the past, leaves and flowers in the present, and seeds for the future.”
      Nowhere is this comparison more apt than in the field of craftsmanship. Almost everything produced today has an echo of the past as far back as pre-Colombian times. Potters turn out graceful vessels exactly like those found in the midden heaps of the Olmeca. Women weave the motifs of the ancient religions into their huipiles and wood carvers produce whole pantheons of the animal avatars of prehistoric deities. Yet they are not hidebound by tradition and are always quick to adopt new materials, motifs and techniques, from Mickey Mouse, to thermoplastics, as they become available.
      Mexican craftsmen can make something beautiful, clever, amusing or just plain useful out of almost anything. A stroll through any market will reveal items made from clay, wood, stone, tin, textiles and paper in many forms, as well as materials that most people consider fit only for the garbage heap. Gourds, shells, bones, used tin or plastic containers, old flour or feed sacks, straw, reeds, palm leaves, all take on new and useful identities under the skilled fmgers of Mexican artisans.