Alto do Moura, the Clay Artists' Village of Caruaru

About this place

Alto do Moura is a district of Caruaru, the main city of inland Pernambuco, about 135 kilometres from Recife. It is described as one of the largest centres of figurative art in the Americas, thanks to the small clay figures that portray everyday characters and rural scenes of the Brazilian Northeast. The tradition began with «Mestre Vitalino» (1909–1963), who learned to shape clay from his mother and sold his figures as a boy at the Caruaru market; his fame grew after an exhibition in Rio de Janeiro in 1947. He moved to Alto do Moura in 1948, and the neighbours who had been making household pots learned from him to model figures, until pottery became the livelihood of the whole village. Vitalino's works are now held by museums in more than twenty countries. Visitors wander between the artisans' workshops and shops along the main street and visit the «Casa-Museu Mestre Vitalino», his former home, which shows replicas of his best-known works, family belongings and photographs. Pieces can be bought straight from the workshops or at the famous Caruaru market.