My First trip to Oaxaca was filled with all that I had heard about and looked forward to for years. It is a beautiful colonial city with architecture very similar to Mazatlan's Centro Historico. The trip was organized by friend and fabric artist Mary Ruzich, who put out a call for women friends to accompany her on a journey - especially to visit weavers.
A highlight for me was visiting Monte Alban,
a Zapotec archaeological site dating back 500 to 850BC. I enjoyed climbing the pyramids as well as seeing the stone carvings and architectural details. Maureen, Ann and I practiced Yoga amongst the ruins.
One night, BC, Ann, Kerry, and I went for drinks after dinner to hear a local guitarist play. We not only enjoyed his music but were also treated to guest singer, Lila Downs getting up for a few songs. How exciting was that? (Lila Downs did the song track for the Frida movie with Selma Hayek).
I also visited a printmaking studio, Taller Grafica Actual, where they had studios for lithography, etching, silkscreen and digital work. I would love to return to Oaxaca one day and work there
Below is Beverley Kreutzer's account of our tour of artisan villages:
Early the next morning we began a tour of the craft villages surrounding Oaxaca. We started our day in San Martin Tilcajete. It is a village known for its wooden hand-carved and brilliantly painted animals often referred to as alebrijes. We first visited the workshop of what is said to be the best in the state, of Jacobo and Maria Angeles, for a fascinating demonstration of the total process. We learned of the utility of natural pigments for paints, the different uses of the male and female copal tree including trunk, bark and sap, and the importance of Zapotec designs for symbolism. I found out my birth date coincides with the design of the armadillo and so one now sits proudly on my mantel. I did not find a monkey which is my husband’s birth date animal.
We moved on to the cotton textiles of Santo Tomás Jalieza. We were able to see the results of the women’s weavings using a back strap loom. There were the most colorful table runners, placemats, purses and much more. Their embroidery skills were very much in evidence. Next came the homes and workshops of the Aguilar sisters with their brightly painted clay figures. Close by was the Ocotlán market. For sure, we could not leave without a few purchases from that location. The colorful aprons were my purchase of choice.
We stopped for lunch where we enjoyed the local cuisine and our first taste of mezcal. Our travel van was getting pretty full but we had more places to go and more things to see. Coming up was a most important stop in the black pottery village of San Bartolo Coyotepec. There we had a demonstration of the technique and its history by Don Valente Nieto, son of the late Doňa Rosa. It was fascinating to watch this 80 year old man produce a vase almost totally by touch as it appears his eyesight is failing.
Our final stop brought us to the rug village of Teotitlán del Valle. In this rug workshop we saw how the rugs are produced. The quality of the rugs and other products are outstanding. Oh, I was sorely tempted many times! It had been a wonderful tour with Alvin Starkman, a very knowledgeable tour guide who added much to the enjoyment of the day. We stumbled out of the van packed down with parcels and eager to do a show and tell.
