Cultural Values

Crafts

The traditional handicrafts of Corrientes are elegantly monochromatic and generally have a utilitarian purpose which adapts shapes and materials to what they will be used for.

Seats are lower to be able to sit closer to the fire (resulting in the popular “matera” chairs) and kettles are flattened for easy transportation under the "Calchas" of a “tropero” (cattle driver).

Generally, the natural materials used for making these crafts are not dyed and have simple, often geometric, shapes with little ornamentation.

A good example is the traditional basketry made of espartillo “Spartina spartinae”, palm or isipo (Dolichandra Cynanchoides), sometimes combined with details from other materials such as leather. The color palette of the “Soguería criolla” (crafts made with thin leather straps) or handspun wool crafts has different tones of cream, beige, brown and black.

These knits, particularly those of the northwest region of the wetlands, show Guarani characteristics. Although made with materials brought by the Spanish, the vertical looms used to weave ponchos, rugs or blankets, are from the Guarani. Instead, in the southern part of the province in places such as Mercedes, more complex looms can be found, which are European in style brought to the area from the Jesuit missions of the coast of the Uruguay River.

Almost extinct throughout the area is the technique of the lace, such as “ñandutí”, “filete” or the “malla correntina”. Inspired by those brought from Europe, these laces were given their own particular nuances by incorporating tools and design patterns from the surroundings and the particular creativity of the craftsman. For example, passion fruit flowers used to be a motif widely used in this kind of work. Rarely found in the remote areas of Iberá, these techniques were well known in towns like Concepcion. By contrast, the Guaraní ceramics completely disappeared, even though fragments found in the depth of Iberá evidence that it was a technique frequently used by early settlers in the area.