Monthly Archives: November 2023

One-of-a-Kind. Artisan Made. Discount Code thankful2023

Jump on the post-Thanksgiving and pre-Small Business Saturday Sale. Take at look at shop.oaxacaculture.com for spectacular handmade clothing, jewelry, natural dyed rugs, handbags, boots — perfect for gifting or for your special holiday dressing. We rarely discount. Use the code thankful2023 for extra savings. Code expires December 1.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING. Gobble. Gobble.

Back on the Taos Mesa. Cooking extravaganza food fest for Thanksgiving Day. We are a family crowd of 13 people. Grateful. Thankful. Appreciate all friends and blog readers. Enjoy the day. We have much to appreciate. Wishing you a day filled with good food, good friends, good family and abundance. Sending abrazos fuertes.

Don’t forget to check out our Shop Small Sale! Use discount code thankful2023.

SALE. Shop Small. Shop Artisan Made.

shop.oaxacaculture.com is where you can find the perfect artisan made gift for family, friends, co-workers, and anyone who loves hand-made from Mexico. Perhaps you will find the perfect blouse or huipil for holiday dressing, a hostess gift for someone who has (almost) everything, or something to add pizzaz to your own home decor.

Shop today through December 1 and get a 10% discount off everything you purchase!

Use Coupon Code thankful2023 at check-out.

We rarely discount.

Why Shop Oaxaca Culture?

  • We personally curate and select each item
  • We know each artisan maker and can attest to the quality of their work
  • We ethically source each piece and verify that the process is sustainable
  • We pay artisans directly for their work at the price they ask
  • We do not bargain!
  • We know that makers depend on cash income to support their families
  • We especially support women who use this income to pay for schooling for children and grandchildren, and for health care for elderly family members

Your support gives us the means to continue to support women, men, and their families. By doing so, we help sustain traditional, ancestral artisan arts and handcrafts that are at risk of being lost as indigenous cultures become more Westernized.

Shop today through December 1 and get a 10% discount off everything you purchase!

Use Coupon Code thankful2023 at check-out.

We rarely discount.

What we offer for sale:

  • Handwoven 100% wool rugs from Teotitlan del Valle woven by Eric Chavez Santiago
  • Back-strap loomed clothing from all regions of Oaxaca and Chiapas
  • Home goods to embellish your holiday table
  • Jewelry, including vintage and collectible
  • Shoes, shawls, scarves, handbags
  • More that defy categories!

Please help us spread the word and SHARE THIS POST and shop URL.

Come back often. We post new items regularly. Here are some examples of what you will find on shop.oaxacaculture.com

At Original, Textiles from Chiapas Tell Stories

A group of us spent five days at Original this past week. This is a textile extravaganza in Mexico City that honors indigenous weavers and designers from throughout Mexico. With over 1,000 artisans showing and selling what they make, to say the event was mind-boggling is an understatement. The show also featured pottery, lacquerware, copper, basketry, jewelry, and so much more.

We needed five days to do justice to Original! The event was held at Los Pinos in Chapultepec Park. It is the former residence and grounds of Mexico’s past presidents. When Lopez Obrador took office five years ago, he converted the mansions and grounds into a cultural center accessible to all.

Prominently featured were the textile makers of Chiapas. They work on backstrap looms as wide as their hips. Each finished length of cloth is then meticulously sewn together using intricate needle stitching that when complete looks like embroidery — but it isn’t!

Chiapas Textile Study Tour 2024

A highlight was our meeting with Alberto Lopez Gomez, a weaver, designer, and one of the volunteer event organizers. We sat together under the shade of a large tree just beyond his exhibition booth while he showed us an extraordinary teal blue and black collector’s huipil and explained the meaning of each symbol in the cloth.

This particular huipil tells a story that is significant in his village, which is part of the municipality of Magdalena Aldama, one of the most accomplished weaving villages in the region.

Alberto talks about how important snakes are in Maya symbolism, and points to the first row of design in this huipil. Then he shows us Señor de la Tierra, Lord of the Earth holding up the universe. The next image is one of a bat, which is a messenger in his culture; after that is the corn god named Culiacán, then the sun, mother and father, representing the family.

There are images of clay pitchers used to water the field crops, and triangles denoting the four cardinal points.

Diamonds also represent flowers, corn, and large stars that depict the cycle of planting. Farmers arise in the pre-dawn and are guided by the stars. When stars smaller in the sky, ancient farmers knew the rainy season coming and it was time to plant.

Snakes, worms, and caterpillars are highly respected in Maya mythology and used for traditional medicine. Mayas also honor the underworld, and this is also reflected in the designs.

In this huipil, we also see white orchids, which are gathered in the mountains by the elderly. They are the only ones allowed to collect these. The orchids are the border design around the collar.

Chiapas Textile Study Tour 2024

If a garment has fringes or tassels, these represent the braided hair of the women. This particular textile is very special, Alberto says, because it represents the story of his pueblo.

He now works with over 200 weavers in various municipalities in Chiapas.

We visit Alberto in his private home studio in San Cristobal de las Casas during our Chiapas Textile Study Tour. We have spaces open and invite you to join us as we explore the Maya textile culture of southern Mexico this February 2024.

Sunday Brunch in Oaxaca: Criollo

Looking for a spectacular brunch spot in Oaxaca with gourmet taste at a moderate price? Look no further. Criollo restaurant offers it all! Note: Be sure to make a reservation! Doors open at 10 a.m.

There is a reason that this Top Chef Enrique Olvera (of Pujol fame) dining spot is packed with locals and a few foreign visitors on Sunday morning! The outdoor dining alfresco under the shade trees and palapas is a real treat. It’s casual. It’s beautiful. It’s delicious. Okay. Now I’m repeating myself.

Set in proximity to a cocina de humo — an outdoor smoke and grill kitchen — the picnic tables are adorned with huge vases of fresh flowers on a patio of crushed gravel. Waiters offer a choice of barrista made coffees or café de olla— the sweet, cinnamon and vanilla infused coffee that native Oaxacans love to dunk their breakfast bread into.

Now for the bread! The choices are conchas—bigger and more delicious than you find anywhere, sweet bread stuffed with vanilla cream, and a nutty fruit bread flavored with ashes—my particular favorite. One little bite was not enough to satisfy. I had to eat the whole thing. Estoy gordita.

Dean, Kay and I shared a plate of grilled meats. It comes with grilled veggies and pineapple, guacamole, beef, pork ribs and chorizo. It isn’t on the menu — so be sure to ask for this. We also had a fresh fruit platter. They added granola and yogurt to the meal.

As founders of Oaxaca Eats, they know the best eating and grazing joints in town. I trust their taste explicitly. We’ve known each other since North Carolina days, before they moved to Oaxaca over six years ago.

After breakfast, Kay says, wanna go to the symphony? Sure, I say. So we hop in a taxi and get to Teatro Macedonio Alcalá JIT.

Seems the symphony is auditioning for a new conductor. Today was a special treat. Maestro William Harvey was on the podium and not only dazzled us with Bach and Beethoven, showing off his own violin virtuoso, but performed his own composition paying homage to indigenous peoples and featuring a vocalist from the Spokane tribe of Washington state, of whom only 25 native speakers remain.

It was an amazing day, a cultural treat all the way around.