Venezuela · Textile / Fine-Art-Adjacent Workshop Craft
Muñeca de trapo; muñeca negra (Afro-Venezuelan variant); the naming ceremony is called bautizo de muñecas
A regionally varied hand-sewn rag doll tradition practiced across Venezuela, most strongly associated with Anzoátegui and Sucre states in the country's east, with a historically and culturally distinct Afro-Venezuelan branch — the muñeca negra — concentrated in the coastal states of Vargas, Miranda, and Carabobo, whose roots are traced to comfort and skill-transmission dolls made under slavery. Regional doll archetypes carry specific names and identities (Andinita, Campesina, Llanera Quitapesares, Sirena Playera, Brujita, Ángel), and finished dolls are traditionally "baptized" — ritually named and blessed with water in a small community celebration — often held at the close of a doll-making course or workshop.
Risk level: Vulnerable · Not inscribed; Venezuela is a State Party to the 2003 ICH Convention
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