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The Filigree of Mompox

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The Filigree of Mompox

mompoxSince the days of my childhood, I have always been enamored with Mompox, that quaint, picturesque little town where my paternal grandfather, a vallenato singer and an avid guitar enthusiast, was born. Through the internet, I would peruse photos of the town’s colorful colonial houses, which seemed like something out of a very old movie.

I always thought that it was where I wanted to go to learn about its history and tradition; however, when I located it on the map and I realized the long distance that had to be traveled to get to its narrow streets, bustling with motorcycle taxis, I knew that fulfilling this dream would take years.

As an adult, and thanks to my work, I was first able to visit this enchanting city. I was shocked not only by its beauty, but also by its impressive filigree. But what it is this filigree? Many of my compatriots would ask me this still do; I had assumed they would know the answer. Well, filigree is an ancient technique of elaborating 100% handmade jewelry by weaving fine threads of silver or gold. The first time I walked into a jewelry store in Mompox, I was just was absolutely dumbfounded by such art, and I decided to buy some big woven “snail” earrings, a technique that you can familiarize yourself with in the historical part of this website.

On a second trip to Mompox, I bought a flower necklace and matching earrings flower – simply spectacular! However, it was in Bogota, capital of Colombia, at a handcraft fair, where I came across a craftsman who exhibited the most precious pieces that I had never been able see. I quickly fell deeply in love and without much thought what he was going to do with them, I bought several dozen.

marcela-martinez

Marcela Martinez

As my trip to Canada was approaching, where I would settle to live, I thought, why not sell them there? Nevertheless, the trip was still a few months away, and Christmas was coming, so I thought, why not sell them here in Bogota? I was greatly surprised to discover that not even Bobotanos, inheritors of this legacy as Colombians, knew what filigree was and knew even less where was Mompox was. It was from that moment on that I decided take a gamble on this project, so with the support of my family and some very dear people in Canada, I decided to promote Mompox filigree.

These gems you have purchased or perhaps are thinking of puchasing, have gone through a very arduous process and have traveled a number of kilometers by car, ferry and plane to reach their final destination, beautiful Canada. I myself made the 18-hour, nonstop trip to finally have access to so much beauty and tradition. You tell me if it was worth it.

3 Comments
  • scvflowers

    August 24, 2017 at 5:50 pm

    It is really a great and helpful piece of information. I am glad that you shared this helpful info with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.

    • Akiani

      September 19, 2017 at 1:24 am

      Thank you very much for your comments, I will be posting new information in my blog. On the other hand, I’ll be in Mompox the last week of September and I’ll be posting on Facebook some live videos. If you are interested on them, please I would appreciate if you can give me a like in my Facebook page “Akiani Handmade Jewelry”. Thank you very much.

  • Coffee Maker Black Friday

    September 9, 2020 at 8:34 pm

    Howdy! This post couldn’t be written much better!
    Looking through this article reminds me of my
    previous roommate! He always kept talking about this.
    I most certainly will send this article to him. Pretty sure he will have a very
    good read. I appreciate you for sharing!

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