Welcome to Tagua Art

	CARVINGS FROM THE HEART OF THE RAINFOREST	INTRO What Is A Tagua Nut?
		• The tagua ("tah-gwa") nut is also called vegetable or palm ivory and is a truly sustainable raw material. The tree fruits naturally on a regular basis after maturing at around 40 years of age. • The tagua nut is ivory white in color with natural inclusions that run from grey to brown. They range in size from 2" to 6". The example at left is a tagua nut that has been polished. .
	The Carvers In the 1980's the men of the Wounaan Indian tribe started carving tagua figures to supplement their incomes. The sculptures are a reflection of their world deep in the Darien rainforest. Many carvers have achieved master artisan status and tagua is now recognized as fine ethnic art and fast becoming highly collectible. Natural dyes from boiling leaves, etc. are now being replaced with India inks. This is perhaps the real sign of "old tagua" and "new tagua." The carving process remains the same however: individually worked with fine abrasives and hand tools only.		Value and quality: Signed or Unsigned? Each carving must be evaluated separately for attention to detail. Some excellent carvings are just not signed. Some carvers combine more than one tagua nut to make a bigger carving. Others develop their style (and probably challenge) in carving from only one tagua nut.
TAGUAART.COM SITE DESIGN BY GARSON DESIGN SERVICES 2003
01/26/2009 11:13 PM

Tagua and The Darién Rainforest

Tagua and Animal Ivory

Because of its close resemblance to animal ivory the nut of the tagua palm has had a long history as a useful product. Before the invention of plastics tagua was used in the making of buttons and other common items such as jewelry, dice, chess pieces and cane handles. In fact, some expensive "ivory" pieces from the Victorian era were actually made from tagua nuts.

Tagua products are experiencing a comeback in an effort to protect endangered species such as elephants, whales and walruses that have been a source of animal ivory. In one year a tagua palm produces the same amount of "ivory" as one female elephant. The tagua nuts, however, are harvested by hand without harming the tree.

Tagua and the Tropical Rainforest

In addition to protecting animal ivory, tagua products help preserve tropical rainforests by providing a sustainable income for forest peoples. Renewable rainforest products such as tagua can help prevent the degradation of forests into low quality farmland and cattle pastures. The sale of tagua products also helps forest peoples make the transition to a cash economy when they are unable to survive in a completely traditional lifestyle.

The tagua palm is a small understory tree of 20 to 30 feet that grows in damp areas of moist tropical forests from Panamá to Peru. There are several species of tagua palms and they often grow in colonies to the exclusion of other vegetation. The tagua nuts grow in large armored clusters with each cluster containing many egg sized nuts. The nuts are at first of a jelly like consistency and edible but eventually harden to resemble animal ivory. Tagua nuts are eaten by forest animals such as agoutis, squirrels and pacas.

The Tagua Initiative by Conservation International is one example of a successful project that has reintroduced tagua as a commodity of global importance. Tagua buttons are now being sought after by socially conscious clothing designers and the Tagua Initiative has sold over 75 million buttons to apparel companies such as the GAP, Banana Republic, J Crew and Patagonia.

Tagua in Panamá

In Panamá, the sale of tagua products provides income for forest peoples such as the Wounaan and the Emberá of the Darién Rainforest who are often unable to continue living a tribal lifestyle. The construction of the Pan American highway through part of their homelands has resulted in deforestation and colonization by outsiders.

With their traditional resource base eroded, indigenous villages near the highway are finding others ways to survive. Many villagers have migrated to the city where they find it difficult to obtain jobs. Wounaan and Emberá men often depend on the sale of their tagua carvings to support their families. They have refined their traditional carving skills to develop an art form that is becoming a collector's item in the outside world.

Tagua carvings generally depict the animals of the rainforest home of the Wounaan and Emberá. Some carvers, however, are experimenting with less traditional designs. Carving has traditionally been a means of artistic expression for the men of these tribes. Common household utensils of wood are often decorated with fanciful animal or human forms. In addition, the "bastones" or spirit sticks used by the shamans in their ceremonies have always been lovingly carved from cocobolo wood gathered from the rainforest.

In Panamá, tagua carving by indigenous artisans has been promoted by the Bernheim Gallery in Panama City, The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the Panamá Audubon Society. A few years ago a well known Wounaan tagua carver, Selerino Cheucarama, won third prize in a UNESCO craft competition. Tagua carvings from Panamá are now much sought after by collectors of fine ethnic art.

The Darién National Park and the Comarca Emberá-Drua (a semi-autonomous indigenous area) are two areas that have been set aside in Panamá to prevent further environmental destruction and to protect the remaining homelands of the Wounaan and the Emberá. UNESCO has declared the Darién National Park to be a World Patrimony and a World Heritage Biosphere.

Species protected in these areas include jaguar, ocelot, Bairds tapir, the harpy and crested eagles, parrots, macaws and toucans. The Cana Field Station located in the Darién National Park is one of the 10 top birding locations in the world. Extractive industries are held at bay while sustainable rainforest products such as tagua provide an incentive to safeguard these biologically and culturally important areas for future generations. The indigenous forest peoples who live in these areas have been to recruited to help protect them.

Courtesy of Merran