Nearly 200 colorful pieces are exhibited to create a dialogue between traditional production and the current development of polychrome ceramics.
The story is long. It began at the beginning of the 17th century where the National Library is today and the Santa Clara convent was then located. There the nuns developed a very particular form of craftsmanship: scented pottery.
Its fame came from both its fine workmanship and its pleasant aroma. The tradition lasted for centuries in the order, until at the end of the 19th century the convent changed location and the last nun died. But not the crazy ones.
From then on there are two main lines of transmission of the technique, from two women who were in the convent: a widow and an employee who later went to Talagante. During the 20th century, the locitas began to lose their perfume, because the ingredients could not be found, because it was suspected that this preparation could be the reason for the blindness that was affecting the artisans and because the formula was finally forgotten.
It is this tradition that the Tomás Lago Museum of American Popular Art (MAPA) exhibits in Talagante, Nuevos Regards de Greda. The exhibition brings together nearly 100 pieces from the museum's collection with another 100 recent creations from Huellas de Greda, an organization of artisans who inherit the tradition in Talagante.
Thus the exhibition brings together pieces created from 1900 to the present. Traditionally made by women, the figures on display include scenes such as weddings, inns and births.