Imagine! A 4-day hands-on weaving workshop in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico, with the family of master weaver Federico Chavez Sosa. For beginners and experienced weavers!
- Arrive Friday, February 1 — participate in the weaving workshop from Saturday, February 2 – Tuesday, February 5
Then, take a traditional Zapotec cooking class with one of Oaxaca’s premiere cooking teachers — fun, flavorful and hands-on!
- Cooking Class, Wednesday, February 6
Left: Federico Chavez Sosa at the loom
“The workshop was an incredible program. I have enjoyed the process! Thank you very much for your hospitality and for sharing your talent, knowledge and wonderful teaching. I would recommend this program to any friend. This has been an unforgettable week.” –Giovanna Balarezo, New York City
Cooking teacher Reyna at the metate
Workshop tuition is $995 per person, including lodging (double occupancy), most meals, and cooking class. Workshop is limited to 6 participants.
Includes 22 hours of instruction, 6 nights lodging, 6 breakfasts, AND a traditional Zapotec cooking class with lunch. Perfect for fiber artists, weavers, knitters, natural dye aficionados, artists, teachers. A great shared experience for parents and children.
“Dancing on the Loom” was a marvelous experience; not only did I learn the essentials of weaving and dyeing, but I have the opportunity to see people engaging in the building of a sustainable production.” — Akilah Zuberi, Philadelphia
Not only will you learn the way Zapotecs have been weaving for over 500 years, and dyeing for millenia, you will be experiencing village life through a very unique and personal perspective.
The Federico Chavez Sosa family has traveled and exhibited throughout the United States, are in the permanent collections of galleries, museums and artists, including the Snite Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame. They have exhibited and lectured widely, including at the National Museum of Mexican Art (Chicago), the San Jose (CA) Quilt and Textile Museum, the American Tapestry Alliance, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Purdue University, and the University of California at Santa Cruz.
Who Should Attend: Weavers, artists, knitters, textile designers, teachers, university students, anyone interested in weaving and natural dyeing techniques, and sustaining indigenous art forms using traditional methods.
Level of Experience Necessary: These are small group, hands-on workshops that can accommodate varying levels of ability, from beginner to advanced student. Because the size of each group is limited, you will receive individualized instruction and coaching from the master weaving family of Federico Chavez Sosa. More experienced weavers can create more complex projects.
Participants will have a personal loom for the session. The loom will be dressed (warped) and ready for you to begin weaving upon arrival. Materials include your choice of naturally dyed wool yarn from which you will weave a sampler textile that can be used as a wall hanging, pillow cover, or form the body of a purse or shoulder bag. You will select the wool from colors dyed with pomegranates, pecans, mosses, indigo, and cochineal. Our participants have created amazing textiles that range from 18 inches to 30 inches in length.
What You Will Learn:
- Traditional Zapotec weaving techniques, patterns and motifs that produce squares, stripes, diagonals, circles and color gradations;
- Use of the two-harness pedal loom and shuttles;
- Practice weaving simple or more complex patterns, depending upon your level of experience;
- The cultural history of rug weaving in Teotitlan, ancient wool preparation techniques, natural dyeing methods, and how to discern synthetic dye use
- Participate in natural dyeing demonstrations to see how the range and variety of color comes from native plant materials;
- Complete a finished textile: cut the sample tapestry from the loom, clean the wool tapestry, twist and tie the fringes; and
- Work under the expert guidance of weavers who have created extraordinary textiles for generations.
Left: Participants with Federico at the tapestry loom
Day 1: Arrive and settle in to your Bed and Breakfast lodge.
Weaving Workshop: Days 2-5, 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Day 2: Arrive at the Chavez Family Studio for an orientation and demonstration of Zapotec weaving patterns and techniques to create squares, stripes, diagonals and circles. Choose your loom and select the colors for your tapestry. Prepare the bobbins. Begin your project.
Days 3-4-5: Participate in demonstrations and then practice using the two-harness pedal loom using a variety of shuttles to make more complex patterns and greater variety of colors, experiment with using the equipment on your own, learn dyeing techniques using cochineal, indigo, wild marigold (pericone) and moss. Learn how to count threads to create a circle or square within the overall design. Finish off your piece by cutting it off the loom, rolling and tying fringes.
Day 6: After breakfast, walk around the block to the kitchen of the famed cooking teacher. You’ll go to the market with her, select the food you will prepare, join her in her kitchen for all the preparations, then enjoy what you have cooked for comida!
Day 7: Depart for the airport and home after breakfast, or extend your stay in Teotitlan del Valle or Oaxaca city.
What Is Included:
- All weaving equipment and supplies to create a finished wool tapestry sampler that is approximately 18” wide by 24” long
- 22+ hours of supervised instruction in English
- An educational reference notebook of workshop materials
- 6 nights lodging (double occupancy) with daily breakfast in Teotitlan del Valle at family-operated posada/bed and breakfast within easy walking distance of the weaving studio
Cost for the 6 Night/7-Day Program is $995 USD per person, double occupancy. Additional nights lodging can be arranged at $55 per night per person in Teotitlan del Valle. Oaxaca city extension can be arranged at $125 per night (includes breakfast).
How to Register: A $500 USD deposit is required to reserve your space.
Final payment of the balance is due 45 days before the start day of the workshop. If the final balance is not paid by then, we reserve the right to treat the reservation as cancelled and no refunds are offered. Any registrations made within 60 days of the workshop start date must be paid in full at the time of registration.
Cancellations and Refunds
If cancellation is necessary, deposits are refundable, as follows:
Cancellations must be made in writing by email.
Deposits may be refunded:
- up to 60 days before the workshop start date, 50% of the deposit will be refunded.
- After that, deposits are not refundable.
- If cancellation is necessary, you may apply the deposit to a future workshop scheduled in the same calendar year or transfer your registration to another person.
- We reserve the right to cancel or reschedule workshops, in which case you may choose a 100% refund or to apply the tuition to a future workshop.
We prefer payment with PayPal. See “Register Today” for form and procedures. We will send you a PayPal invoice when you tell us you are ready to register.
What Is NOT Included:
- Transportation in/to Mexico, Oaxaca and Teotitlan
- Local transportation costs (bus, taxi, collectivo)
- Gratuities and fees
- Trip insurance, medical expenses, hospitalization, and other fees
- Lunches and dinners (unless noted in the itinerary), snacks, liquor/alcoholic beverages
- Optional afternoon side trips and excursions
Upon registration for the workshop, we will provide you with:
- Transportation options to get from the Oaxaca airport to Teotitlan del Valle and your bed and breakfast
- A self-guided tour map of Teotitlan del Valle
- How to get from the airport to the village
- A seasonal packing list, and travel tips to make your journey easier and fun
Note: Zapotec weavers use the pedal loom, which they stand at to work. People who have difficulty standing for any period of time, or who have back problems are discouraged from attending. Many of Teotitlan’s streets and alleyways are cobblestone and/or dirt, with many uneven surfaces. It is a several block walk between lodging options and the weaving workshop. Please bring appropriate walking shoes.
Documentation
U.S. Citizens traveling to Mexico are required to carry a current passport, valid for at least three months after your re-entry to the U.S. It is your responsibility to obtain proper documentation. If you are not a U.S. Citizen, contact the Mexican embassy, consulate or national airline of Mexico for entry requirements.
Trip Insurance
Please consider purchasing travel insurance. Unforeseen circumstances of getting to Teotitlan del Valle could cost you more than you expected. In the event of an emergency or natural disaster caused beyond our control, trip insurance will cover any unexpected expenses.
Questions? Contact oaxacaculture@me.com
Oaxaca Organic Indigo Blue Dye — Añil or Teñido de Reserva
Indigo blue color is derived from an organic botanical plant that grows on the coast of Oaxaca in the village of Santiago Niltepec near Tehuantepec on the Isthmus. Do you hear the añil in the name? It takes 200 kilograms of plant material to end up with 1 kilogram of the hardened rock of blue that has dried from the fermented paste. It’s what Levi Strauss used to make the original blue jeans during the California Gold Rush and even today, a bit of natural organic product is used to “stimulate” the chemical color of blue that was developed in 1904 during the Industrial Revolution.
Eric Chavez Santiago, the Museo Textil de Oaxaca‘s director of education, keeps a stock pot of indigo going in his dye kitchen almost constantly. Eric says it can be refreshed with fructose crystalline. He recently took a workshop from French dye master Michel Garcia who uses mango skins to activate the dye chemistry.
During a three-hour indigo dye workshop at the museum that I took from Eric, I learned that indigo has been in use for thousands of years in Egypt, Africa and India. It was used by the Mayans, Incas and Zapotecs of Oaxaca! It is grown in South Carolina, U.S.A. and most of the world’s production comes from San Salvador. A small production, boutique crop, only 100 kg of añil is produced each year in Oaxaca state, but the market is growing as more local people are using natural dyes in their woven textiles. They only produce the indigo in Niltepec. They don’t dye fabric with it there.
It is tricky dyeing with indigo. Añil oxydizes in water and becomes yellow green. It is very important to gently immerse what you want to dye into the dye bath so the indigo is not disturbed by movement. No stirring allowed! When the cotton or silk or wool is removed from the dye bath, the fabric color is yellow green and changes to blue as soon as it meets the air. Multiple dippings are required to get a deep, intense blue and the indigo must not be “tired,” according to Eric.
During today’s workshop, we create shibori and tritik designs on the white cotton cloth we bring to dye. We have not actually created the dye bath — it is already prepared for us! Eric Chavez Santiago offers this indigo dye workshop once or twice each month at the textile museum. Check the museum’s calendar for exact dates. The cost is 50 pesos and you bring your own fabric to dye. Very fun.
See my next post for more about Oaxacan indigo.
→ Leave a comment
Posted in Cultural Commentary, Oaxaca Mexico art and culture, Oaxaca rug weaving and natural dyes, Textiles, Tapestries & Weaving, Travel & Tourism, Workshops and Retreats
Tagged anil, blogsherpa, blue, class, indigo, Mexico, natural dyes, Oaxaca, organic, shibori, tritik, workshop