The International Folk Art Market is back and bringing the best of international artistry and culture to the West.
On July 10, the 21st annual International Folk Art Market will hold its annual Opening Night Celebration — an exclusive celebration of international art, food, music. and performance. And it’s the first opportunity for market sponsors to interact and shop with 140 artists from 57 countries. The following morning, the market opens to the public at 8 a.m. with the “early bird” ticket.
This year C&I is previewing the work of three exhibiting artists from India, Colombia, and Argentina who in spite of their diverse and distant geographies share a connection to horses, land, and cattle.
Master bell maker, Janmamad Salemamad Luhar from Kutch, Gujarat India.
The exquisite leatherwork of Jeronimo Coll is informed by a four-century-old craft that originated in the region of the Río de la Plata. The intricate rawhide soguería is a testament to the vital relationship between the South American cowboys known as gauchos and their horses. Over time, leatherworking techniques expanded to include items like belts, wallets, and cutlery. Coll learned his craft from his father, Máximo, a renowned craftsman. In addition to teaching his children the artform, Coll is continuing the tradition by teaching classes at the National University at the Center of Argentina.
Leather belt by Jerónimo Coll. Photo.
Janmamad Salemamad Luhar is a master bell maker from the Muslim Luhar community in Kutch in Gujarat, India. The metal craftsmen of his village have preserved and practiced the art of bell making for over 300 years. Originally used by local cattle, camel, sheep, and goat herders, whose animals grazed in the nearby Banni grasslands, the melodic iron and copper-coated bells were made to adorn the animals’ necks and were thought to create good vibrations in the body of the animals to increase the productivity of the herds.
Iron and copper-coated bells by Janmamad Salemamad Luhar.
Today, the highly polished and finely tuned bells hang in entranceways and are combined to make wind chimes and other forms of festive decoration. The daily life of the entire artisan family revolves around the craft, which begins with the men preparing the iron bells from locally sourced scrap iron. While many artisans are trained in the basic art of welding the bells, few have the expertise to get the right tonal sounds out of them — a knowledge and skill passed from one generation to the other.
Artisans carefully hand-set each bell’s tone with a tool called an ekalavai, and the quality of a bell’s tone is a reflection of the artisan’s mastery. This biographical sketch is excerpted from folkartmarket.org/artists/luhar-janmamad-salemamad/.
Visit Janmamad at IFAM in the Sustainability Neighborhood.
Colombian artist collective, Divine Child Coop — founded by master artisans Reinel Antonio Mendoza Montalvo and Magno Mahecha, members of the Indigenous Zenú group in the northwestern part of Colombia — will exhibit their work at this year’s folk art market. Featured pieces include intricately woven hats and other items made of arrow cane, a wetland grass that grows extensively throughout the Americas.
Zenú women learn to braid and weave this fiber, which men then sew together using a pedal-powered sewing machine. The sombrero vueltiao — a fedora-style hat made of woven and often dyed fibers — is traditional to Colombia.
With woven symbols representing clans, boundaries, and personal ancestral legacies, in addition to woven purses and hats, the coop’s artists also create exceptional jewelry, including necklaces, earrings, bangles, and other accessories.
Visit all these artists this month at the International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe. Tickets are still available.
IF YOU GO
Make sure not to miss:
Saturday Night Market
July 12, 2025
6 p.m. – 9 p.m. | $25
Experience the market under the stars!
Featuring Cuban poet, rapper, and songwriter Telmary, on the IFAM Main Stage.
IFAM 2025 Insider Talks: Where Culture, Art, and Conservation Converge, featuring Chris Rainier and Olivia McKendrick, Co-Founders, The Cultural Sanctuaries Foundation
Friday, July 11, 2025
1 p.m. | $35
Evoke Contemporary Gallery
A language disappears every two weeks. Traditional knowledge is vanishing as globalization accelerates. But Chris Rainier, acclaimed photographer and National Geographic Explorer, and Olivia McKendrick, an international lawyer turned cultural advocate, are working to change that. With stunning photography and heartfelt stories, they’ll explore how craft can serve as a lifeline for endangered cultures and ecosystems — and why the preservation of art and biodiversity must go hand in hand.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Courtesy of IFAM
