Alebrijes
are brightly colored Mexican folk art sculptures of fantastical (fantasy/mythical) creatures. They were first created back in the 1930's by Pedro Linares, a paper macher crafter from a local neighborhood in Mexico City. The story behind the creation Alebrijes, is that Pedro Linares became very ill and experienced a feverish dream where he saw mythical creatures of all kinds chanting the name "Alebrije". Following his dream, he started to recreate these creatures in paper mâché. Then in the 1950's, the craft was adapted into hand carvings of local wood in Oaxaca... In modern day Mexico, Alebrije have become an important factor to the Mexican culture, that represent its mixture of indigenous and modern influences.