Argentina · Criollo-loom wool weaving and fine leather-goods making (marroquinería)
Tejido en Telar Criollo Riojano / Marroquinería
The hand-spinning and criollo-loom weaving of sheep's wool into ponchos and peleros (sheepskin saddle covers), alongside the tooling of greased calfskin into fine leather goods, in La Rioja, a province specifically identified — alongside neighboring Catamarca and Santiago del Estero — as having achieved the highest artisanal level of traditional weaving in Argentina. The telar criollo, a colonial-era copy of the European loom brought by Spanish settlers, spread widely across the Argentine Northwest from the Puna to Cuyo, and La Rioja's weavers specifically employ the faz de urdimbre (warp-face) technique — in which dense warp thread conceals the weft — as their classic method for poncho construction. In leatherwork, named contemporary master José Luis Ortega Gérica works greased calfskin into wallets, belts, bracelets, rings, and sculptural figures and masks from his own workshop, continuing a craft whose recent losses include Honorio Colino Blanco, a guarnicionero (harness-maker) and honorary artisan who died in July 2026 after a lifetime dedicated to traditional leather harness work.
Risk level: Vulnerable · Not Applicable — no UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage inscription exists for this craft at time of writing
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