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
Find the history of the Piñata here.
https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/entrada-de-opinion/colaboracion/mochilazo-en-el-tiempo/nacion/sociedad/2016/12/17/pinatas-los