Art and Handcrafts of Jequitinhonha Valley, Brazil

BSAG intends to disseminate Brazilian art and handcrafts in the United States. We have some items for sale in Ann Arbor. Our pieces are acquired from handcraft associations or cooperatives, thus furthering the artists’ economic inclusion and avoiding exploiting their labor and talent. The profits will be used in BSAG’s social work.

In the Jequitinhonha Valley in the state of Minas Gerais the people are noted for their creative works in ceramics, weaving, basketry, wood carvings, leatherwork, embroidery, paintings, drawings and musical instruments.

The main locales where ceramics are produced are the towns of Itinga, Araçuaí, Santana do Araçuaí, Turmalina, Caraí, Itaobim, Taiobeiras, Padre Paraíso, Joaíma and Minas Novas.

The most famous artists working in ceramics are: Isabel Mendes da Cunha; João Pereira de Andrade, her son-in-law, married to her daughter Glória Maria, who is also a ceramic artist; Ulisses Pereira Chaves; Noemisa Batista da Silva; Raimunda da Silva (Dona Mundinha); João Alves and Dona Pedra.

The clay works in the Jequitinhonha Valley trace their origins to the small utilitarian pots called paneleiras made by the local women. The tradition has been handed down through the generations and been expanded to include water jugs, cooking pots, vases, etc., all with a marked indigenous influence. They also produce figurines to adorn mangers and a variety of toys.

As time passed, they also began to make human and animal figures, used in scenes depicting the everyday life of the region.

Today the artists still use their traditional wood-fired kilns, and artisanal tools. The pigments used to decorate the pieces are extracted from local rocks and clay pits.

In Santana do Araçuaí, home of the famous ceramist Dona Isabel, a handcraft association was created in 1989 to sell its members’ output, both utilitarian and decorative: dolls of various sizes; flowers; water jugs; vases; soup and salad bowls; crock pots, braziers, flour pots, ashtrays; and various types of figurines, etc.

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