Editing Alebrije (section)

==Description==
The first alebrijes originated in Mexico City, originally created by '[[cartoneria|cartonero]]' artist [[Pedro Linares]].  Linares often said that in 1943, he fell very ill. While he was in bed unconscious, he dreamt of a strange place resembling a forest. There, he saw trees, rocks, and clouds that suddenly transformed into strange, unknown animals. He saw "a [[donkey]] with [[butterfly]] wings, a [[rooster]] with [[Cattle|bull]] horns, and a [[lion]] with an eagle head," and all of them were shouting one word ''"Alebrijes! Alebrijes! Alebrijes!"''{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} Upon recovery, he began recreating these [[Chimera (mythology)|Chimera]]-like creatures that he had seen in [[cartonería]], the making of three-dimensional sculptures with different types of papers, strips of papers, and "engrudo" (glue made out of wheat flour and water).

His work caught the attention of artists [[Diego Rivera]] and [[Frida Kahlo]] because they used to purchase [[Cartonería#Burning of Judas|Judas figures]] from Pedro Linares. In the 1980s, British filmmaker Judith Bronowski arranged an itinerant Mexican art craft demonstration workshop in the United States featuring [[Pedro Linares]], [[Manuel Jiménez (artist)|Manuel Jiménez]], and [[Maria Sabina]], a textile artisan from [[Oaxaca]]. Although the Oaxaca Valley area already had a history of carving animals and other types of figures from wood, artisans from Oaxaca learned of the alebrijes paper-mâché sculptures when Bronowski's workshop took place. Linares demonstrated his designs on family visits. These were adapted to the carving of a local wood called [[Bursera glabrifolia|copal]]; this type of wood is said to be magical, made from united magic. In the 1990s, the artisans of Oaxaca began to use the word Alebrije to designate their figures carved in wood.

The papier-mâché-to-wood carving adaptation was pioneered by Arrazola native [[Manuel Jiménez (artist)|Manuel Jiménez]]. This version of the craft has since spread to several other towns, most notably [[San Martín Tilcajete]] and La Unión Tejalapan, and has become a significant source of income for the area, especially for Tilcajete. The success of the craft, however, has led to the depletion of the native [[copal]] trees. Attempts to remedy this with reforestation efforts and management of wild copal trees have had limited success.<ref name="MTW-2018">{{cite book|url=https://www.motherearthnews.com/nature-and-environment/renewable-copal-trees-alebrije-ze0z1803zphe|title=Managing the Wild: Stories of People and Plants and Tropical forests|last=Peters|first=Charles|publisher=Yale University Press|chapter=9|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181111010913/https://www.motherearthnews.com/nature-and-environment/renewable-copal-trees-alebrije-ze0z1803zphe|url-status=live|archive-date=2018-11-11|year=2018}}</ref> The three towns most closely associated with alebrije production in Oaxaca have produced a number of notable artisans such as Manuel Jiménez, [[Jacobo Angeles]], Julia Fuentes, and Miguel Sandiego.