Amazon Spirits

Decorate for Christmas with these painted calabash gourds from the Amazon rainforest. From his home in the Peruvian port city of Iquitos on the Amazon River, Alex Mermao crafts these ornaments with dried calabash fruits, harvested from the depths of the rainforest by indigenous communities. Once dried, each calabash is hand painted with acrylic paint and receives a string, made from the fibers of native chambira palm tree leaves.