A Market like No Other, IFAM attracts tens of thousands of visitors from all over the USA.

The 18th annual International Folk Art Market (IFAM) is Santa Fe, New Mexico’s summertime gem. A global arts and crafts market, the event draws artisans and artists from around the world. This year there were participants from 49 countries, India to Indonesia, Egypt to Japan. The artists display their finest textiles, paintings, pottery and sculptures to visitors and buyers. It is an amazing event, and the best part is that the participants take profits back to their respective countries. In the past, I’ve been an artist’s assistant to an Indian whose collective weaves exquisite shawls and pashminas. My artist had established a women’s collective in her native Rajasthan. All the shawls were created by folks in her village.

The market runs for several days, from dawn to dusk. This year featured a Night Market. When my friend Dorothy suggested that we go, it seemed like a wonderful way to spend Saturday night! It began with catching a shuttle at the campus of former College of Santa Fe. A short journey took us to Museum Hill. After viewing a program of Guatemalan dances and music, we wandered tents full of artistic creations and their makers.

The Folk Art Market stage welcomed performers from around the world. Above, dancers from Guatemala.

Dorothy and I tried to resist buying any of the treasures, shopping with our eyes only. Total abstinence wasn’t possible, however. Dorothy bought a Folk Art Market tee shirt; I couldn’t resist a multicolored silk scarf from Thailand.

Here are some of the wares we admired rather than bought:

Shoes and boots from Uzbekistan

Baskets from Africa, many shapes and sizes.

With the sun going down and another brief rainfall, it was finally time to catch the shuttle bus back home. The perfect symbol for the evening, a rainbow, awaited us.

Join Elaine on Mondays for reflections on the writing, hiking and the outdoors, Santa Fe life, and the world as seen through adoption-colored glasses. Check out her newest novel, The Hand of Ganesh. Follow adoptees Clara Jordan and Dottie Benet in their  quest to find Dottie’s birthparents. Order today from Amazon or www.pocolpress.com. And thanks for reading!

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