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Why Travel With Us: Help sustain regenerative traditions.
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- We know the culture! This is our land! We are locally owned and operated.
- Eric Chavez Santiago is tri-lingual --Spanish, English, Zapotec.
- Eric was founding director of education, Museo Textil de Oaxaca + folk art expert
- Norma Schafer has lived in Oaxaca since 2005.
- Norma is a seasoned university educator.
- We have deep connections with artists and artisans.
- 63% of our travelers repeat -- high ratings, high satisfaction.
- Wide ranging expertise: textiles, folk art, pottery, cultural wisdom.
- We give you a deep immersion to best know Oaxaca and Mexico.
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We organize private travel + tours for museums, arts, organizations, collectors + appreciators.
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Creating Connection and Meaning between travelers and with indigenous artisans. Meet makers where they live and work. Join small groups of like-minded explorers. Go deep into remote villages. Gain insights. Support cultural heritage and sustainable traditions. Create value and memories. Enjoy hands-on experiences. Make a difference.
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What is a Study Tour: Our programs are learning experiences, and as such we talk with makers about how and why they create, what is meaningful to them, the ancient history of patterning and design, use of color, tradition and innovation, values and cultural continuity, and the social context within which they work. First and foremost, we are educators. Norma worked in top US universities for over 35 years and Eric founded the education department at Oaxaca’s textile museum. We create connection.
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OCN Creates Student Scholarship at Oaxaca Learning Center Giving back is a core value. Read about it here
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Meet Makers. Make a Difference
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Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC has offered programs in Mexico since 2006. We have over 30 years of university, textile and artisan development experience. See About Us.
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Programs can be scheduled to meet your independent travel plans. Send us your available dates.
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Arts organizations, museums, designers, retailers, wholesalers, curators, universities and others come to us to develop artisan relationships, customized itineraries, meetings and conferences. It's our pleasure to make arrangements.
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Select Clients *Abeja Boutique, Houston *North Carolina Museum of Art *Selvedge Magazine-London, UK *Esprit Travel and Tours *Penland School of Crafts *North Carolina State University *WARP Weave a Real Peace *Methodist University *MINNA-Goods *Smockingbird Kids *University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Tell us how we can put a program together for you! Send an email norma.schafer@icloud.com
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- WEAVE Podcast: Oaxaca Coast Textiles & Tour
- NY Times, Weavers Embrace Natural Dye Alternatives
- NY Times, Open Thread–Style News
- NY Times, 36-Hours: Oaxaca, Mexico
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- Taller Teñido a Mano Natural Dyes
Indigo Dye Workshop in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca
Making a shibori scarf using indigo dye was a highlight of the Penland School of Crafts visit to Oaxaca.
We settled into the workshop studio of the Chavez Santiago family to hear about the planting, cultivation and preparation of indigo on the coast of Oaxaca in the village of Santiago Niltepec.
Some people called it tie dye, but we know better since the technique was originally developed in Japan. Lots of ways to make designs and patterns in the cloth that will resist the dye that coats its surface.
It is a long seven month process to grow the indigo plant. It needs the right soil and climate plus the knowledge of how to extract the blue color from the plant so that it becomes a stable and strong dye.
The Museo Textil de Oaxaca now has an excellent exhibit and video that explains the fermentation, dye extraction and drying process. What you end up with is a hard chunk of material that looks like coal. It’s then ground into a powder and carefully added to a water bath so that the oxygen molecules are not activated.
After we use rubber bands, string, marbles, beans, nuts, and just simple folding to create the pattern, we tie a string to the cotton cloth to submerge it gently into the dye bath. It stays there for about twenty minutes. Those who used the folding technique wrapped their cloth around styrofoam cylinders.
I work with local experts and guides to put together an unusual and intimate view of Oaxaca, her art, food and culture. I am not a tour guide but an expert at award-winning university program development. If you organization has interest in a program such as this one, please contact me.
Art making in Oaxaca comes in many forms and varieties. Making indigo scarves is just one way to participate hands-on in all that Oaxaca has to offer.
At the end of the workshop we enjoyed a tapestry weaving demonstration with Federico Chavez Sosa and his wife Dolores Santiago Arrellanas who operate Galeria Fe y Lola in Oaxaca city. Its amazing to see how they color all their wool with natural dyes and use the color together to make extraordinary, vibrant carpets.
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