The Capula Catrina Dolls

There is a town in Michoacán where the streets are filled with hundreds of ladies – their slender frames attired in colorful dresses, their angular heads covered by large brimmed hats or elaborate hairdos, their long slim limbs placed just so to give them that exquisite flair of elegance and style a Mexican Catrina must always posses.

The Capula Catrina Dolls

During the decade of the seventies, plastic artist Juan Torres settled in the town of Capula , Michoacán, and little by little became an important advocate for the art and crafts in the community.

Back then, the villagers only made clay utensils and pottery. Out of his love for the place and its people, Torres taught the artisans how to to use their clay to mold one of the most symbolic characters in Mexican folklore, and before long, his own version of the Catrina merged with the town's identity.

The enthusiasm for this character gave birth to the Catrina Fair of Capula ( Feria de la Catrina de Capula ) which celebrated this year its seventh edition.

At the end of October and early November, over 300 artisans showcase their works, and thousands of visitors travel to this town to buy their crafts.

This is today an emblematic event of the region to celebrate the Day of the Dead.

Javier Cervantes is a young man who has adopted the love for crafts and currently has his own workshop and an assistant who helps him with special orders. Clients request specific characteristics to have custom-made versions of the famous Catrina, first created by José Guadalupe Posada.

The Capula Catrina Dolls

Some are painted in bright colors, others in darker shades resembling the black clay, yet whatever your preference, one among the many will surely please your taste.

am