Tucson Gem and Mineral Show - Delight and Misgiving

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By Melisse
For two weeks in February each year people come from all over the world to sell and buy gems, minerals and all sorts of other exotic goods at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. Booths are set up all over town, filled with amazing amounts of amazing stuff. Walking through the grand, labyrinth-like bizarre can be either delightful and/or overwhelming, depending on your state of mind and purpose. Acres of gems, fossils, jewelry, beads, and much much more, from the tiny and refined to huge and raw, from the inexpensive to the pricey, every color and form are spread out for perusing and buying, should you choose. The variety and beauty is mind blowing!! So is the realization that these earthly wonders have been dug out of the earth’s crust, all over the planet, and amassed here in Tucson. As Dave and I walked around the show for two whole days, we were at once dazzled and delighted by what we saw and also horrified at the thought of massive destruction to beautiful places on earth during the extraction of these gems which were created over eons of past time.

One of our favorite areas of the show was The African Village, which displays ancient and modern art and textiles from a variety of African nations. We enjoyed talking with the vendors, learning about their wares and cultures while there we felt a sense of immersion in an African Village, like we’d actually left the USA.

Unfortunately we were sad to hear that vendors all over the show, were experiencing slow sales due to the poor economy. The amount of money, effort and time it takes to participate in these kind of shows is huge, so it is sad to think of these people not realizing a profit for their sizable investment.

The distribution of gems from their place of origin to other locals all over the planet, whether they are minerals from the earth or ancient works of art, the cultural heritage of a people, leaves me with misgivings and a feeling of sadness. Although I have enjoyed bringing home ancient textiles and carvings from my travels in other countries as well as have bought them at import stores in the US and I also work in silver and stones that come from far away places, I have always felt ambivalent about such collecting and use of resources. In my mind there is a sacredness in leaving old and natural items in their place of origin rather than pulling them out of their context. But so it is and so it will always be. That being said, we had a fabulous time taking in the rich sights of the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.

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Photos

Rounded Stones
Each one of these is about 2 1/2 feet long.

Fossil Table
Too bad this wouldn't fit in Ruby Grace.

Dave in the woods
Petrified wood

Made from recycled telephone wire
These are made by African women as part of a project to help them use their skills to earn a living.

Comments

[Debby]

thought provoking
Well, guess we can feel good about the recycled telephone wires...I've seen and felt that artwork and it's way cool!

[jill]

Ooooohhhh
I love these pictures! What a fun show....I want to touch everything!