The Depository · Browse · The Americas

Craft Techniques of Nicaragua

The Depository documents 10 techniques in Nicaragua; by risk level: 1 endangered, 7 vulnerable, 1 stable, 1 thriving. Each record opens with a public summary; the full research record is free to view once registered.

Explore Nicaragua in the Depository →

Weaving & Textiles

  • Masatepe Wooden Rocking Chair MakingWeaving & Textiles · Stable

    The hand-crafting of Nicaragua's iconic rocking chair — a wooden frame, traditionally in hardwoods such as mahogany, cedar, or teak, joined and shaped by hand, then fitted with a hand-woven cord or rope seat and back — centered on the town…

  • Masaya Cotton Hammock WeavingWeaving & Textiles · Vulnerable

    A family-workshop hammock-weaving tradition centered in the Barrio de San Juan and Monimbó neighborhoods of Masaya, Nicaragua's "Cradle of Culture," refined in the 1960s when a group of independent weavers replaced the coarse, waterproof…

All weaving & textiles techniques worldwide →

Musical Instruments

  • Nicaraguan Marimba de Arco Making & Playing TechniqueMusical Instruments · Endangered

    A diatonic, single-row xylophone of the mestizo peoples of Nicaragua's Pacific region, distinguished from every other marimba tradition documented in this archive by its performance posture: a curved wooden bow (arco), traditionally made…

  • Orinoco Garifuna Drum MakingMusical Instruments · Vulnerable

    The hand-hollowing and skin-heading of Garifuna drums in Orinoco, Nicaragua's principal Garifuna community, founded in 1912 by patriarch Joseph Sambola on the northern shore of Pearl Lagoon.

All musical instruments techniques worldwide →

Food, Drink & Botanical

  • Estelí Hand-Rolled Cigar MakingFood, Drink & Botanical · Thriving

    The cultivation, curing, fermentation, and hand-rolling of premium cigars centered on Estelí and the surrounding Estelí, Condega, and Jalapa valleys of northwestern Nicaragua.

All food, drink & botanical techniques worldwide →

Leatherwork

  • Estelí Talabartería (Traditional Leather Saddlery)Leatherwork · Vulnerable

    The hand-crafting of leather saddles (monturas), pack saddles (albardas), reins (riendas), belts (fajas), chest straps (pecheras), and machete and knife sheaths from tanned cowhide, centered on Estelí's long-established talabartería…

All leatherwork techniques worldwide →

Mask, Puppet & Costume

  • Masaya Torovenado & Agüiezotes Festival Mask MakingMask, Puppet & Costume · Vulnerable

    The hand-carving and papier-mâché construction of festival masks in Masaya's Indigenous Monimbó district, made from paper or from jícaro (calabash gourd) and worn during two annual processions honoring the city's patron saint, San…

All mask, puppet & costume techniques worldwide →

Ceramics & Pottery

  • San Juan de Oriente Chorotega-Revival PotteryCeramics & Pottery · Vulnerable

    A kick-wheel-thrown, mineral-oxide-painted, sgraffito-carved pottery tradition of San Juan de Oriente — originally Villa Namotiva, "old town" in Chorotega, later San Juan de los Platos for the ceremonial plates once made there — whose…

All ceramics & pottery techniques worldwide →

Painting & Decorative Arts

  • Solentiname Primitivist Painting & Balsa Wood CarvingPainting & Decorative Arts · Vulnerable

    A self-taught, brightly colored folk-painting style founded in 1965–66 by the Catholic priest, poet, and liberation theologian Ernesto Cardenal, who settled on the Solentiname archipelago in southern Lake Nicaragua and, together with…

All painting & decorative arts techniques worldwide →

Sacred & Ceremonial Craft

  • Sutiava Sawdust Carpet Making (Alfombras de Aserrín)Sacred & Ceremonial Craft · Vulnerable

    A freehand, entirely ephemeral street-art tradition of Barrio Sutiava, the Indigenous quarter of León, in which colored sawdust is laid directly onto bare earth to form elaborate devotional carpets the night or early morning before a…

All sacred & ceremonial craft techniques worldwide →