Juan Santamaría International Airport welcomes “The Lives of a Fruit” exhibition of traditional crafts

Through a strategic alliance for cultural promotion, the Ministry of Culture and Youth, via the Directorate of Cultural Heritage, and Aeris Holding Costa Rica have partnered to bring national and international audiences closer to Costa Rican cultural expressions with a traveling exhibition that highlights traditional craftsmanship techniques.

The Directorate of Cultural Heritage aims for this to be a traveling exhibition reaching other venues throughout the country.
The exhibition will be on display from May 13 to August 30, 2025.

The exhibition is titled “The Lives of a Fruit,” a product of the Our Traditional Crafts Competition, organized biennially by the Directorate of Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture and Youth.

The exhibition will be inaugurated on May 13 and will be available until August 30, 2025, in internal areas and boarding gates of the Juan Santamaría International Airport.

According to Jorge Rodríguez Vives, Minister of Culture and Youth, this is an opportunity to “enhance and open new showcases and promotional spaces for culture, where both national and international tourists can connect with our heritage through the preservation of traditions that represent us as a society and tell stories where identity, the trades of our communities, and creativity converge to generate utilitarian objects, in this case from resources provided by nature. The most valuable aspect of partnerships like the one established with AERIS is the recognition of the richness of our intangible cultural heritage and its role in the identity of different communities and the artisans who created the pieces showcased in this exhibition.”

For his part, Ricardo Hernández, CEO of AERIS Holding Costa Rica, emphasized that this partnership reflects AERIS’s commitment to promoting Costa Rican culture, understanding that airports are not just points of connection but living spaces that must represent the identity of the countries they serve. “We are proud to be part of this exhibition and offer a window to the world on the cultural richness of Costa Rica. At AERIS, we believe in connecting people but also in connecting cultures,” said Hernández.

The exhibition revolves around the craft of using jícaras (gourds), a cultural expression that has become part of the identity of various Costa Rican communities. This practice involves the passing down of knowledge and skills to many people who, throughout history, have enhanced the use of this resource as an essential household item. It also holds ceremonial value and has become a source of income for some artisans who craft jícaras as decorative products with aesthetic and artistic perspectives.

The works on display were submitted by individuals and artists from the Cabécar, Bribri, Maleku, Boruca, Ngöbe Buglé, and Térraba-Brörán Indigenous communities, as well as from Nicoya, Pococí, San José, and Guatuso (Maleku territory).

The exhibition includes a total of 139 small-format handcrafted objects, including three papier-mâché jícaras in a three-dimensional format that will be suspended as part of the exhibition, along with museum infrastructure based on banners and explanatory texts that complement the display.

All works will include labels with information about each piece in Spanish, and a QR code with English content has been provided so that all travelers can learn about the characteristics of the works and their creators.

Dayana Morales González, archaeologist and anthropologist at the Directorate of Cultural Heritage, stated that bringing this exhibition to Juan Santamaría International Airport “represents a very valuable opportunity to open new spaces where international visitors, as well as local audiences, can learn in detail about some of our traditional techniques and crafts, which are still present in the daily life of many communities.”

“These expressions are part of our traditions, ancestral knowledge, and national culture. The exhibition allows the public to learn more about our history and traditions and to discover the work of the 28 artisans who created these pieces. It also showcases the jícara as an extremely versatile resource, capable of being transformed into such diverse and useful products as lamps, kitchen utensils, culinary dishes, handbags, jewelry, musical instruments like maracas and güiros, and decorative items,” emphasized Morales.

According to the Cultural Heritage official, the exhibition is unique for the diversity of artisans and artists of all ages and from various regions who participated. One example is Zeneida Rafaela Martínez Sanabria, who won first place in the competition that originated the exhibition. Martínez is an Indigenous Cabécar woman over 100 years old, whose family registered her in the contest under the “Master Bearer” category, dedicated to individuals with more than 25 years of experience in the craft.

The piece presented by Martínez is a huacal (gourd bowl) that was part of her everyday kitchen utensils. It is a simple item that, as the anthropologist highlighted, adds great value to the exhibition because it shows the marks of time through its use and holds not only family value for the artisan but also represents the persistence of a tradition passed down over generations.

Traveling exhibition. For the Directorate of Cultural Heritage, it is vital to share the knowledge and skills grouped in exhibitions like this as part of the preservation and dissemination of Costa Rican traditions. For this reason, this exhibition is part of the institution’s traveling exhibition program.

The partnership with Juan Santamaría International Airport represents the second stop for this collection, as it was previously adapted and transferred to the Old Command Center in Liberia as part of the activities for the International Arts Festival 2024.

If you would like to know the requirements and availability to borrow this exhibition, you can email: dmorales@patrimonio.go.cr