Miss Lupita project

Miss Lupita project
Poster from the project
Nationality	Mexican
Movement	Mexican handcrafts and folk art
Website	http://misslupitamx.blogspot.mx/

Miss Lupita is a project based in Mexico City with the aim of reviving the traditional craft of Lupita dolls. The dolls originated in the late 18th and early 19th century as a way to cheaply copy more expensive imported dolls for poorer families. The dolls are made from a very hard form of papier-mâché called “cartonería” which is also used to create alebrijes and skeletal figures for Day of the Dead. However, the craft has waned with the only workshops making and selling them located in Celaya in the state of Guanajuato, mostly as collector’s items. The project’s aim was to create more contemporary designs through a series of free workshops to the public. The resulting dolls have been displayed in Mexico City, Japan and Portugal and featured in a number of Mexican publications.

Miss Lupita is named after “Lupita” (diminutive for Guadalupe) dolls. These are hard papier-mâché dolls with origins in the late colonial to early Independence period, created by poorer families to imitate more expensive imported dolls from Spain.

The papier-mâché technique is properly called cartonería, making a very hard surface when dry. The body and head are made separate from the limbs, which are attached with cords in order to allow them to move. This technique has been used to make a number of crafts up to this day, most notably to make alebrijes and skeletal and other figures for Day of the Dead. However, Lupita dolls have lost popularity. Today they are made and sold only in workshops in Celaya in the state of Guanajuato, often as collectors’ items.

The Miss Lupita project was initiated in Mexico City in 2010, with the aim being the revitalization of the craft of making dolls. The name is based on the Mexico City name for the dolls (in Celaya they are simply called cartonería dolls). The base of the project would be to introduce new and contemporary designs based on urban culture through workshops in Mexico City.

The project was initiated by Carolina Esparragoza in January 2010, who continues to run it. Carolina Esparragoza was born in Mexico City in 1977. She is a graduate of the Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado "La Esmeralda".Aside from the Miss Lupita project, she has worked on video and art object projects as part of groups such as Malestares and La misma historia. She has exhibited her work in Mexico and the United States.