See her artworks
Designer

Elena Farah

Elena is a Colombian artist who has settled in Paris in 1978 after studying fine arts in Bogotá then in London.
In 1986, she
creates her company "La Piñata" : it is the first in France to make piñatas*. She will participate to many salons and events on Mexico .
In 2002, thanks to the honor loan of Paris Initiative Entreprise, she opens the first shop of Piñatas of Paris, in the 10th district where she still works and where the families of the district come to greet her with great happiness. A toy address unlike any other.
In 2006, to face the growing demand of the market, she is involved in a personal and social project. She decides to work with some inmates and set up a manufacturing workshop in jail. For Elena, this collaboration which has lasted for 14 years is "the most interesting human experience and enriching that I have ever known, each time a piñata broke, an other is made in prison". This teamwork in which Elena creates the prototypes and supervises the entire production was by all accounts a success, so much so that today La Piñata was awarded the Peps label (Producted in Prison.s) for her work at the Maison Centrale of Poissy in the Yvelines. You should know that this label created by the Ministry of Justice has several objectives including the remuneration of people who work for the labeled company as well as the acquisition of professional skills that can be valued outside. Inmates subscribe money to their families or to an account that is provided for their existence upon release from prison. Moreover, this time spent making piñatas becomes for some of them a way of valuing their contribution and their choice at the same time as the work allows them to create a product throughout the days. The production of piñatas can also have a therapeutic effect for some even though they reduce their holding time.


Elena Farah with her creative strength, paper, glue and scissors makes what appears to be a purely decorative object a symbol* of joy and abundance. Through her art, Elena has made known an ancestral tradition* in her neighborhood on the edge of the Canal Saint-Martin and places as different as each other as Euro Disney, Reebook, Nokia, Bic, Sonia Rikiel, Kiri, Des Petits Hauts, or Galeries Lafayette. For this last legendary boutique in Paris, Elena and her team made a thousand piñatas in 2015, which allowed them to widen the prison team to 17 people in an intense collaboration from 9am to 5pm for two weeks. The piñatas bring joy to both their craftspersons and their consumers. They decorate our living spaces during birthday parties, weddings, Christmas and New Year and especially during Halloween and the feasts of the dead.

Cultura Orquídea joins this festive momentum as small as the group of guests due to the health crisis we are currently going through. Above all, let's not forget to give joie de vivre to our homes at this year’s end and let’s hope that 2021 will be happier for all the small businesses in our neighborhoods!


La Piñata
25 rue des Vinaigriers 75010 Paris
Phone/Fax : 01.40.35.01.45
facebook
http://www.lapinata.fr

Flowers

Papier maché and paper

To order
Multicolor

39 €
+ 5 € shipping costs

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Flowers

Papier maché and paper

To order
White

39 €
+ 5 € shipping costs

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Crown of flowers

Papier maché and paper

To order
Multicolor

49 €
+ 5 € shipping costs

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Crown of flowers

Papier maché and paper

To order
Multicolor

49 €
+ 5 € shipping costs

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Piñata Christmas tree

Papier maché and paper

To order
Green

69 €
+ 15 € shipping costs

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Piñata flower ball

Papier maché and paper

D = 50 cm
White

69 €
+ 15 € shipping costs

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Piñata flower ball

Papier maché and paper

D = 50 cm
Green

69 €
+ 15 € shipping costs

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Piñata disco ball

Papier maché and paper

D = 50 cm
Silver paper

69 €
+ 15 € shipping costs

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Piñata disco ball

Papier maché and paper

D = 50 cm
Gold paper

69 €
+ 15 € shipping costs

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Piñata mexican star

Papier maché and paper

H : 85 cm
L : 85 cm
D: 45 cm
Blue

75 €
+ 15 € shipping costs

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Piñata mexican star

Papier maché and paper

H : 85 cm
L : 85 cm
D: 45 cm
White

75 €
+ 15 € shipping costs

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Piñata multicolor ball

Papier maché and paper

D : 50 cm
Multicolor

50 €
+ 15 € shipping costs

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Piñata heart

Papier maché and paper

H : 50 cm
L : 50 cm
D : 40 cm

Red

50 €
+ 15 € shipping costs

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Piñata heart

Papier maché and paper

H : 50 cm
L : 50 cm
D : 40 cm

Pink

50 €
+ 15 € shipping costs

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Piñata cube

Papier maché et papier

H : 50 cm
L : 50 cm
D : 50 cm

Multicolor

50 €
+ 15 € shipping costs

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Piñata rhombus

Papier maché and paper

H : 80 cm
L : 40 cm
D : 50 cm

Blue

69 €
+ 15 € shipping costs

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Piñata stick

Wood and paper

Multicolor

7 €
+ 5 € shipping costs

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The story of the Piñata:
*Once upon a time, long before Julius Caesar, there was a game played during the harvest in northern Italy. A clay jug stuffed with delicacies was hung on top of a post and then broken with a stick, throwing down, scattered as a sign of abundance, the gifts it contained.
It was in Spain, during the time of the conquest, that the piñata took root in popular habits, and it was the Spaniards who introduced the game to Latin America.
In Mexico, the piñatas are part of the rites linked to the celebration of Christmas which begins on December 16 with the "posadas", synonymous with rejoicing with the neighborhood. After the prayer, the fathers invited the audience to break the decorated pot that symbolized evil, which had to be destroyed with a stick so that the fruits and sweets, symbols of good, would fall to the faithful.
Thus were born the Mexican piñatas.
Some historians locate the origin of the piñata in China, and Marco Polo would have introduced it in Italy. Others believe it was brought to Spain and Sicily by the Arabs. What is certain is that the "pignata italiana" was present from the first Christmases in Mexico. Mexican artisans took the pots and transformed them with tissue paper into oranges, papayas, suns, stars, flowers...
Today, factory productions as well as the current health crisis threaten the disappearance of this ancestral tradition.


Manual

How to fill it ?
The piñata is always sold empty. Have fun filling it: little surprises for everyone - party favors, confetti, sweets... - Remember that the Piñata is a symbol of abundance!
How to hang it?
Tie the string of the piñata to a long rope that you will slip through a pulley, a ring in metal or above a beam or even a large tree branch...
How to break it?
Make a big round around the Piñata. Pick a player, blindfold him, turn him on himself to stun him a bit. The player must try to hit the pinata with the stick thanks to the indications of the participants who shout "to the right", "higher", "advance", "behind you"..., to help him, or on the contrary, to make him lose his mind. It is he or the player who leaves his place, who can designate the new participant.
-The stick should not exceed 70 cm in length. The end of the stick should hit the lower part of the pinata. In addition, using the stick with children requires caution. It is important that an adult playmaker stays close to the circle to ensure a safe space around the Piñata.
-The game must be guided by 2 people: a playmaker who chooses the player and secures the space of the player and the rounds of the participants an assistant who must manage the rope - up and down
-The pinata should always be positioned well above the heads of the guests and always only one person tries to break it.
This animation can last as long as you want, ideally everyone can play- 1, 2 or passages per player, depending on the number of participants - the new participant will be designated by the player or by the playmaker
The moment the piñata breaks ...
It's the key moment of the party, the excitement is at its peak. Whoever succeeded in breaking it discovers himself to see the gifts fall. Everyone rushes to catch them...
Warning: You must remove your glasses before flinging yourself on the floor!!!

Note: Our Piñatas are made by inmates, under the direction of Elena Farah in a workshop at the Maison Centrale de Poissy.
(They are sold empty)

Find the history of the Piñata here.

Source : Archivo Fotográfico EL UNIVERSAL
https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/entrada-de-opinion/colaboracion/mochilazo-en-el-tiempo/nacion/sociedad/2016/12/17/pinatas-los