Eric Chavez Santiago to Speak About Textiles on WARP Chat
Meet a Member Fireside Chat: with Eric Chávez SantiagoTuesday, April 9th at 3 pm Eastern(Spanish)Wednesday, April 10th at 3 pm Eastern(English) Will you be attending?EVENT DETAILS: NOTA: puede ver la historia en español abajo del inglés. This program is a series of monthly Fireside Chats on Zoom with a different WARP member each month. (This […]
Gratitude and Introducing Eric Chavez Santiago
Every day that I wake up here on the mesa overlooking the Rio Grande Gorge in Taos, New Mexico, I give thanks. It’s that time of year for giving thanks, for renewal of spirit and reaffirmation of life, for expressing gratitude to family and friends for all they have contributed to my well-being and for […]
Stories in Cloth: Presentation at the OLL
You are invited! Eric Chavez Santiago and I are making a presentation at the Oaxaca Lending Library (OLL) on January 11, 2022 at 5 p.m. Please come if you are in Oaxaca. The library is next to the Hotel Mariposa o. Pino Suárez near Parque Llano FACE MASKS REQUIRED. PMEASE KEEP YOUR NOSE AND MOUTH […]
Color Intensity of Natural Dyes from Oaxaca Sources
Today I changed the banner of the blog to give you a picture of the range of intense colors we got from the natural dye workshop we just completed with Eric Chavez Santiago. Eric is one of Mexico’s most knowledgeable dye masters and his techniques include how to extract the color without wasting it. We […]
Oaxaca Rug Exhibition + Sale @ Dos Perros, Durham, NC, October 5, 5:30-8:30 PM
Inviting Friends of Oaxaca: Meet the Chavez Family Weavers
Eric Chavez Santiago, director of education at the Museo Textil de Oaxaca (textile museum) and his sister Janet of the Galeria Fe y Lola, will be with us in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill the week of October 4. We will be hosting several welcome receptions for them. They’ll be bringing naturally dyed, hand-woven wool rugs for […]
Three Documentary Videos Produced at 2010 Film Making Workshop
YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/normahawthorne Rescate Seda features the taller of Arte y Seda and the family of Aurora Contreras and Reynoldo Sosa, written and directed by filmmakers Sheri Brautigam and Pam Holland. The interview was conducted in Spanish and translated to English subtitles. The film, below, features the labor-intensive process of growing silkworms, cultivating the cocoons, […]
Weaving a Curve: A Documentary Short Film
Eric Chavez Sosa and I made this six minute short documentary film during the January 31-February 6 workshop held by Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC in Teotitlan del Valle. It was our first film making collaboration and we were definitely novices! Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UHCPpaap3E “Weaving a Curve” featuring master weaver Federico Chavez Sosa. He talks […]
Tenidos de Reserva Taller — Bound Resist Natural Dye Workshop
Carolyn Kallenborn worked with Eric Chavez Santiago, director of education at the Museo Textil de Oaxaca to offer a natural dye workshop in the technique of bound resist or “tenido de reserva.” Attendees included indigenous weavers, artists and expatriates from the U.S. and Canada who live in Oaxaca. Carolyn is assistant professor at the […]
Feliz Compleanos y Prospero Ano Nuevo: New Year’s Eve Part Two
Celebrations for the new year begin at sundown on New Year’s Eve with the sound of firecrackers and bands playing throughout the village. Small groups of young men gather at street corners waiting for something to happen. Water is sprinkled on courtyards and stairways by women with brooms in hand to sweep up any dust […]
Remigio Mestas: Textile Museum of Oaxaca Exhibition
“Remigio Mestas: A Mirror on the Rich Textiles of Oaxaca” Exhibition at the Museo Textil de Oaxaca November 9, 2008 to February 16, 2009 Here is an exhibition you won’t want to miss if you are in Oaxaca through mid-February. Sr. Remigio Mestas has an incredible shop in the arcade next to Los Danzantes Restaurant […]
Diagramming the Altar of the Dead: Dia de los Muertos
Beginning in pre-Columbian times in the Zapotec culture, the dead are remembered through ofrendas (offerings). Each year the souls of the dead return to earth to partake with the living the foods they enjoyed when they were alive. The ofrenda rests on an altar dedicated to the dead relatives who are only able to return […]
Pan Comida! Piece of Cake!
After hours of preparation, Eric and Janet hosted a free 3-hour after school workshop yesterday afternoon for Chatham County, NC teachers, for which they received in-service training credits from the school district. There were seven teachers. “The right people always show up,” I reassured them after a few expressed the wish that more would have […]
Weavers from Oaxaca exhibit in North Carolina
Pittsboro, NC – Textile artists, brother and sister Eric and Janet Chavez Santiago, from the village of Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico, will present weaving and natural dyeing lectures, demonstrations, exhibitions and workshops in Siler City and Pittsboro during a 3-week artists residency starting Oct. 1, 2008. Over nine programs are scheduled, made possible through […]
From Mitla to Sumatra: The Art of the Woven Fret
THIS is Oaxaca! The colors and graphics alone of this brochure singularly depict the vibrancy and energy of Oaxaca life and art. The opening exhibit at the new Museo Textil de Oaxaca explores the pattern of the fret or greca as a universal textile design used around the globe, from southern Mexico to Indonesia. There […]
Weaving With Feathers!
I can’t wait to get back to Oaxaca! Just a few more weeks until we arrive on June 25. I want to see our casita construction progress AND I want to see the new textile museum. Eric reports that this Saturday there will be a “by invitation only” workshop about weaving fibers with feathers for […]
Letter From Eric, May 31, 2008
I have been at the Museo Textil de Oaxaca for only for 2 weeks and I am still trying to understand and learn the complexities of the job. I had a group of 9 year old kids today to test the workshop I proposed. Mexican kids are very different from those in America. They were […]
Notes From An Artist’s Journal by Andrea Donnelly
I am writing this entry from Teotitlan del Valle in Oaxaca, Mexico. I’ve been here since July 4th, exploring the culture and landscape of this beautiful place. Surrounding mountains hug this little village like silent guardians, spirit-lifting backdrops to cobblestone roads and adobe brick walls. The rhythm is slower here, more thoughtful. Teotitlan is a […]
Names
Federico Chavez Sosa: People here have at least two family names. The first last name is the father’s name followed by the mother’s name. Federico’s father was Jose Chavez Ruiz and his wife is Soledad Sosa XXX. Federico’s wife is Dolores Santiago Arellanas. Their children are Eric Chavez Santiago, Janet Chavez Santiago and Omar Chavez […]
Finding Federico & Eric Chavez: Calle Francisco I. Madero #55
Preface: The village just had an election and there is a new president and village council. They have renumbered every home on every street. Many homes will now have their “old numbers” and their “new numbers” enameled in yellow on dark green. I’m certain this will be confusing to many travelers who want to search […]