Rainforest Masks of Costa Rica Exhibition Returns to Selby Gardens

December 30, 2024 | Sarasota

The popular Rainforest Masks of Costa Rica art exhibition will return to Marie Selby Botanical Gardens’ Downtown Sarasota campus from January 11 to 19, 2025.

Featuring the traditional art of the Indigenous Boruca people of the Costa Rican rainforest, the show will include more than 300 colorful masks on display inside the Museum of Botany & the Arts and will be available for purchase by visitors. A ticketed preview on January 10 will give a limited number of attendees the first opportunity to view and purchase artworks in the 2025 exhibition.

The annual Rainforest Masks show is a collaboration between Selby Gardens and Lucuma Designs, a Sarasota-based wholesale fair-trade partner that represents artists and artist cooperatives in Costa Rica and Peru. Since 2004, Selby Gardens has showcased the masks of the Boruca people, bringing their traditional art and its themes of heritage, nature, and sustainability to a wider audience. The show also empowers the artists through income from mask sales that helps support their village and their growing conservation efforts.

The exhibition will run from Saturday, January 11, through Sunday, January 19, and access is included with general admission to the Gardens. On Friday, January 10, Selby Gardens will host a special ticketed preview, during which visitors will be the first to see this year’s masks and get first dibs on purchasing their favorites. For preview tickets visit Selby.org. (Purchased masks will remain on display for the duration of the exhibition. Pick-up or shipping after the show’s completion can be arranged at the time of purchase.) 

The cultural practice of mask-making honors the heritage of the Boruca people and reflects the strong connection they maintain with the natural environment in their remote, mountainous area of southern Costa Rica. Borucan tradition holds that the tribe’s ancestors fended off Spanish conquistadors in the 1500s by wearing warrior masks decorated to represent nature spirits, which scared away the invaders, enabling the tribe to keep its village and identity intact. Today, many of the villagers continue the tradition of making hand-carved and painted masks and other crafts, with a growing focus on environmental sustainability in their work.

To learn more about Rainforest Masks of Costa Rica and plan your visit, go to selby.org.