From World War II
Guimaraes, who has always worked as an artisan, has since 2008 creating “reborn babies”. He has already done more than a thousand. It takes an average of seven days to make them, and then sells them for up to 7,000 reais (about 1,300 dollars) to clients, especially Brazilians, but also from countries such as Portugal, the United States, France or Australia.
“First I saw a girl who made them on television and I loved it. I also wanted to start making them, since I have been working with crafts since I was very young,” she explains.
This discipline, with a strong presence in Europe and the United States, has its roots in the scarcity experienced in the World War II, when mothers repaired their children’s broken dolls with all kinds of materials.
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Hence the name “reborn” (reborn). Then it evolved to the creation of babies from scratch.
Guimaraes clients include collectors, children (“although they are not toys”), parents who “want to eternalize their babies already grown” and people with reproductive problems or who suffered abortions.
“Once a client came looking for me because she had been trying to get pregnant for eight years and she asked for a baby. Two months later she became pregnant naturally, after undergoing numerous treatments“explains Guimaraes, who teaches online courses for those who want to learn this expanding art in Brazil.
“Oddly enough, the baby I made was identical to the baby that was born,” he adds.
