Panamanian Artist Elevates Doll-Making Tradition to an Artistic Level

Álvarez seeks to make a cultural contribution to the country, as he does not want to be remembered as the one who made dolls, but for elevating a tradition to an artistic level. Víctor Álvarez, a painter and sculptor known for his creations exhibited during the December season on the banks of the Inter-American Highway, in the Bejuco district of Chame, has taken it upon himself to elevate this tradition, which he has kept alive for 15 years, to a more artistic level. "This is a personal project that I want to scale up to a collaborative level... We are seeing many other options that can be done, not just for December," added Álvarez. "They are not the typical dolls of the past," said Álvarez, who this week presented the main piece of this year's exhibition, a tribute to the qualification of Panama's National Football Team. This piece has a very special meaning and blends elements of national culture: it is a recognition from the people for those boys who come from the neighborhoods and are now world champions. The tribute piece to "La Sele," featuring 15 carved faces of players aboard a red devil for the Panama - World Cup 2026 route, is a high-level artistic work valued between $4,000 and $5,000. It was created in collaboration with his friend and colleague José Ángel Valdés, who was in charge of the art and painting of the red devil. The tradition of making Old Year dolls has evolved over time; they are no longer just cloth figures stuffed with pyrotechnics but have become art pieces using sculpture, realism, and caricature techniques. The result presented by the artists was not even what they had planned, as the idea emerged during the qualification match, and as the project progressed, changes and adaptations were made according to the available space.