Friends of Oaxacan Folk Art (FOFA) seeks to preserve and promote the rich folk art traditions of Oaxaca, Mexico, which have been passed on from generation to generation over hundreds of years. FOFA collaborates with the local folk art community to create and implement a range of programs that support this mission.
FOFA’s seventh concurso (contest) for young folk artists who live in the state of Oaxaca will take place in February 2025. There is NO fee to enter, and it’s open to artisans 35 years old and younger. Artists who enter are asked to create works of art that invoke the concurso’s theme of “My Story In My Hands” (Mi Historia Entre Mis Manos).
Starting with the first young artists contest in 2008, FOFA has organized the concursos in conjunction with MEAPO, the state of Oaxaca’s official folk art museum.
Managed by FOFA’s Oaxaca-based director, Gina Barrionuevo, the process for inviting participants starts with designing and printing cards, posters and flags. The materials are then personally hand-delivered to villages in the Valles Centrales, Sierra Norte and beyond by Gina and FOFA’s communications consultant, Mónica Diaz.
FOFA’s concursos shine a light on Oaxacan families’ rich, multi-generational folk art traditions that derive from ancient Zapotec and Mixtec mythology. Many young artists who participate in the concursos learned their craft from older relatives in their extended families: parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Six folk art categories are open for entry: woven rugs and wall hangings; woven and embroidered textiles; ceramic arts; sculptural wood carving; decorative painting of carved wood; and “various,” including tinwork, totomoxtle, dried flower art, jewelry, basketry, paper maché, carved bone and more.
FOFA has enlisted a panel of five Mexican folk art experts to serve as judges. Cash prizes will be awarded to 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place winners and honorable mentions in each of the six categories. Their work will be showcased in a handsome four-color catalogue, on social media, and in an exhibition at MEAPO opening in summer 2025. Check out past concurso catalogs.
And, throughout 2025 and beyond, FOFA will offer winners and honorees classes and workshops in Oaxaca that have been specially developed to support their artistry and entrepreneurialism.
FOFA's Oaxaca-based director, Gina Barrionuevo (center), delivers a flyer announcing the 7th concurso to acclaimed ceramic artist, Leticia Aguilar (left), and her teenage son, Leandro (right). Leandro is a fourth generation folk artist. His grandmother is the world-renowned terracotta pottery artist, Josefina Aguilar. The talented Aguilar family lives an hour south of Oaxaca city in Ocotlán, and they exemplify the multi-generational nature of Oaxaca’s folk art traditions.
A poster announcing the upcoming young artists contest hanging in the town center of Mitla, a village in Oaxaca’s Valles Centrales known for its archeologically significant ruins.
Gina Barrionuevo delivers a 2025 concurso announcement to Laura Raymundo at her family’s workshop in the village of San Antonino. Laura and her sister Montserrat create unique artworks out of dried flowers (flores inmortales), a traditional but increasingly rare folk art.
Students in FOFA’s Cultural History course visiting Mitla, a sacred site for early Zapotec and Mixtec peoples
If you’d like to join our efforts to make this the largest, most inclusive concurso in FOFA’s history,
please consider making a donation to FOFA so we can encourage more young artisans than ever before to participate.
We appreciate your interest and support!
How can you help?
If you’d like to help keep Oaxaca’s rich cultural heritage alive, please consider supporting FOFA’s ongoing programs. Mil gracias!
Have a question?
Contact us to find out about our ongoing programs, how to reach a particular artesano, or plan a trip to Oaxaca.
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Read our most recent e-newsletter about FOFA'S ongoing programs and the artesanos we support.
