The majority of the objects in the Permanent Collection have been created in the past one hundred years and are considered “folk arts,” as they belong to traditions preserved by the informal transmission of knowledge from one generation to another within the communities that create them. Other items, however, which are now assembled under the rubric of Popular Traditions, did not evolve in this manner. They are works invented by artists that bear witness to idiosyncratic styles, media, and symbolism. Such is the case of the shiny beasts created by Gregorio Marzán, who worked in East Harlem, New York, or the colorful wooden gallos (fighting roosters) carved by Emilio Rosado Méndez, in Puerto Rico. Finally, utilitarian objects, epitomes of vernacular design, created with ingenuity and resourcefulness by individuals who do not even consider themselves artists, are also part of these holdings. A wonderful example is the piragua cart, used to sell a cool drink made of shaved iced with flavorful, colored syrup. It consists of a wooden box painted yellow, with handwritten announcements of flavors and prices, mounted on the wheeled chassis of a baby carriage. El Museo also collects objects made out of gourds: a seemingly humble, but extremely important medium of vernacular design, and artistry. These document the various manners in which gourds can be transformed, at certain times turned into musical instruments such as the maracas or the güiros; and at others turned into water cups, such as the jícaras of Guatemala.
Gregorio Marzán, Jirafa rayada (Striped Giraffe), ca. 1980s, Jirafa (Giraffe), ca. 1980s, Mixed media, Collection El Museo del Barrio, NY, S93.170-171. Detail.
