Discover what makes Colombian crafts special with One Hundred Years of Solitude
Crafts are part of Colombia's ancestral history, and one of its great manifestations is jewelry, an artistic expression that comes from pre-Columbian times, traversing the passage of time thanks to the transfer of knowledge between generations.
Since time immemorial, goldsmith work with precious metals and stones has aroused the curiosity of the world, intertwining myth with reality and finding new ways to create unique artistic elements.
In their shapes and colors lies the work of hundreds of hands, the hands of different cultures that inhabit our territories and have built the beauty of Colombia with art that is exported and made visible to the world.
That's why our culture and our history are present in jewelry so unique that it has inspired songs, paintings, and great literary works, such as One Hundred Years of Solitude, making them part of the essence of Colombia and demonstrating why we are the country of beauty.
Join us to discover why jewelry is so special to Colombia and how its differentiating values have allowed it to stand out in international trade, hand in hand with Colombian artisans and exporters.
The creation of jewelry in One Hundred Years of Solitude
One of the examples of what jewelry and craftsmanship mean to Colombia appears in a work that has taken national literature to the place where the universal resides. One Hundred Years of Solitude, written by Nobel Prize in Literature winner Gabriel García Márquez, is a work with which Colombia and Latin America have found part of their identity and community. There, artisans are present in Colonel Aureliano Buendía's shoes and in his knowledge of goldsmithing, a craft to which he dedicated hours for the creation of little gold fish.
"He would melt them down again in the crucible to start over. He worked all morning absorbed, without thinking about anything."
Gabriel García Márquez
Goldsmithing is an art, or at least a way to create it. In this, the artisan melts gold or silver to then, using techniques such as filigree, create figures often inspired by the cultural and natural richness of Colombia.
Credit: Courtesy of PazApporteIn One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez shows us the value of these handcrafted pieces, as they are made with such concentration and precision that the colonel loses track of time, something that Colombian artisans have surely experienced.
The creation of crafts is an art that requires time and dedication. All this to ensure that the created pieces are of high quality. Something that also benefits exporters, as it gives them competitive advantages in the global market.
This dedication is also reflected in a custom of Colombian goldsmiths, which consisted of a test when a person wanted to participate in a goldsmithing workshop. In this, the future artisan had to perform an exhausting task, for a whole day and in full sunlight. This was to demonstrate that they had the necessary patience to create fascinating pieces with gold or silver. If the aspirant passed the test, they could start working in the workshop.
The existence of such an exam is further proof that Colombian jewelry is created with complex processes, in which the artisan's skills and talent are vital to the final product of the work. Something that undoubtedly makes our jewelry stand out anywhere and finds open doors in various commercial destinations.
Like this one, in Colombia there are hundreds of stories and traditions surrounding crafts and jewelry. This was to be expected in a country that has been dedicated to this since times of which there is not much memory.
Our ancestors were our teachers in this work and created pieces that are now in museums and fascinate those who find them. An example is the mythical Muisca Raft: one of the most iconic works of the pre-Columbian era and of Colombian artisanal traditions. Something that gives more value to the jewelry that is exported, as it has behind it the history and prestige of the ancestral.
This is how the work inspired the creation of new crafts
One Hundred Years of Solitude is part of this great history. The work reflects what crafts mean to Colombia: Colonel Aureliano Buendía's little gold fish transformed Macondo, bringing goldsmithing to the town's inhabitants.
Colombian artisans know Gabo's work and have recognized in it the magic of crafts that they themselves have lived and felt in each figure made with ancestral techniques.
Thanks to this, initiatives have been developed to create real gold fish using techniques such as filigree. Artisans from different parts of the country have participated in these, including Mompox, an iconic place for national goldsmithing; San Jacinto, a symbol of Colombian culture; and Tumaco, cultural cradle of the Colombian Pacific. All specialized in the creation of crafts, using gold and precious stones that can be found in Colombian territory.
This is just one example of the hundreds of ways in which One Hundred Years of Solitude has inspired artistic creation in Colombia and the world. And this is just a sample of what this Colombian product means to those of us who know the beauty of Colombia.
National handcrafted pieces are unique and that's why they have reached corners all over the world, fascinating those who find them. This has boosted the national export of this product, which reached USD 6.5 million in 2023, 13.7% more than in 2022, showing the interest in other countries for what Colombian artisans create and the opportunities that exporters have when positioning crafts in various destinations around the world.
