Tag Archives: show

Visiting India Artist Ruchin Soni Shows Work, Thursday, January 28

For one night only, Thursday, January 28, 2016, visiting India artist Ruchin Soni will present his work at an art opening to be held at  La Curtiduria studio, Barrio Jalatlaco, at 7:00 PM.  The public is invited.

RuchinInvitation

La Curtiduria is a graphic arts incubator studio space, whose director, Oaxaca printmaker Demian Flores, was mentor to Ruchin during his three-month cultural arts exchange program between Mexico and India, sponsored by the Mexican government. Ruchin competed and won support for this artist-in-residence program.

Ruchin worked in the studio to create woodcuts and other art pieces that represent his view of Oaxaca. Also a prolific muralist, painter and illustrator, Ruchin designed and painted street murals that bridge the intersection between popular art in Mexico and India.

Open Studio, Saturday, January 30, with Visiting India Textile Artist Nidhi Khurana and Ruchin Soni, 6 PM, at El Diablo y La Sandia Boca del Monte

Nidhi

El Rebozo Made in Mexico Exhibit, Franz Mayer Museum, Mexico City

Getting to see this exhibit El Rebozo Made in Mexico before it closes Sunday, August 30, 2015, has been a priority for me since I first heard about the planning for it several years ago from British fashion designer-textile artist Hilary Simon. I scheduled this Mexico City stopover of two days before returning to the U.S. just for this purpose.

Rebozo Franz Mayer 53-44 Rebozo Franz Mayer 53-20

The rebozo, or shawl, is a symbol of Mexico’s cultural identity. Textile regions throughout the country have designed and woven these rebozos according to local custom. Some are woven on a back strap loom, others on a pedal loom by women and men who learned at the feet of their parents and grandparents.

Rebozo Franz Mayer 53-17

Some are finished off with elaborate macrame hand-tied fringes that can be as longs as twelve or eighteen inches. Some are plain weave and others are Mexican ikat or jaspe from the Tenancingo in the State of Mexico or Santa Maria del Rio in the State of San Luis Potosi. The one above is hand embroidered from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

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Fibers vary, too. There is silk, a mix of silk and cotton, rayon or artecel that is called “seda” (silk) here in Mexico, plus wool. The type of material, gauge of the thread and density of weave depends on the climate in each location.

Rebozo Franz Mayer 53-7 Rebozo Franz Mayer 53-40

In pre-Columbian times, indigenous people cultivated coyuchi or wild cotton that is a beautiful caramel color, using it to weave garments, including rebozos. In the mountains above Oaxaca in a village called San Pedro Cajonos, they cultivate a wild silk the color of straw from a local worm, spinning it with a drop spindle. Below is the red silk rebozo dyed with cochineal by Moises Martinez, part of Lila Downs‘ collection.

Rebozo Franz Mayer 53-41 Rebozo Franz Mayer 53-19

Local dyes were derived from indigo, wild marigold, nuts, mosses, tree bark. They used the caracol purpura snail found along the southern coast of Oaxaca to dye purple and the miniscule cochineal beetle, a parasite that lives on the prickly pear cactus paddle, for an intense, color-fast red.  Feathers dyed red with cochineal were often woven into the fibers for embellishments.

Rebozo Franz Mayer 53-9 Rebozo Franz Mayer 53-8

All these techniques and materials are still used today and are part of the exhibition.

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The State of Oaxaca is well-represented in this exhibit. Many of the rebozos on display are part of the personal collections of Oaxaqueños and its institutions: Remigio Mestas Revilla, Mauricio Cervantes, Lila Downs, Trine Ellitsgaaard, Maddalena Forcella and The Museo Textil de Oaxaca.

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A black scented burial rebozo (above) woven in Tenancingo, part of Maurico Cervantes’ collection, displays an ancient Mexican tradition that is at risk of extinction because it is so labor intensive to make. Western fashion is dominating the tastes driven by a young, hip population.

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It is a completely manual process that takes months to complete. When you think of the rarity of the raw materials and the time commitment involved to complete a piece, it is no wonder that many command prices of up to $2,000 USD each.

Rebozo Franz Mayer 53-16 Rebozo Franz Mayer 53-18                 No Mexican exhibition would be complete without a reference to beloved Frida Kahlo. Above, left, is a photograph of a rebozo from her personal collection taken at Casa Azul by Pablo Aguinaco. To the right is a photographic portrait from 1951, just three years before her death at age 47.

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Other iconic images in the exhibition are this Diego Rivera painting, Vendadora de Flores, painted in 1934 (above), and this compelling photograph (below) by Pedro Valtiera taken in Oaxaca, 1974.

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I wanted to see the best of the best in preparation for a textile trip I’m taking to Tenancingo in September to the rebozo fair. Going to the exhibit is part of my continuing education to know even more about Mexico’s textile culture and the importance of garment for cultural identity and continuity.

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In addition to the textiles, the exhibit integrates old and new photographs, paintings, mixed media art work, memorabilia and related folk art.

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Above left is the felted wool and silk rebozo with cochineal stripe by Maddalena Forcella, titled Rebozo de Sangre, made in 2014. Above right is a handmade paper rebozo designed and constructed by Oaxaca textile artist Trine Ellitsgaard.

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Photographer Tom Feher, who lives in Oaxaca with his wife Jo-Ann during the winter months, is represented with photos he took of the Miramar, Oaxaca women’s cooperative (above) for his book, Weaving Cultures, Weaving Lives: A Circle of Women. Oaxaca photographers Antonio Turok and Mari Seder also have pieces in the show.

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I loved Hilary Simon‘s Mi Altar Mexicano (above) and a series of watercolors (below) that Christopher Corr painted in 2000, all capturing the rebozo and the women who wear them.

Rebozo Franz Mayer 53-32

Rebozos have so many uses. They carry babies and bundles. They are wrapped like a crown to balance a basket filled with fruit or tamales or flowers. They are folded and put atop the head for sun protection. They protect shoulders from the evening chill. They cover the breast as baby takes nourishment. They are the embodiment of Mexican life.

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El Rebozo Made in Mexico is at the Franz Mayer Museum, Hidalgo 45, Cuauhtemoc, Centrol Historico in Mexico City. Tel: 55 5518 2266. Open daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., except Monday. Hours can change, so call ahead to make sure they are open when you can be there.

Rebozo Franz Mayer 53-40 Rebozo Franz Mayer 53-37

 

 

 

Pop-up Expoventa San Felipe Usila Saturday Only

Textile show and sale from San Felipe Usila
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When: 1:30-4:30 pm, Saturday, March 7, 2015

Where:  Las Granadas B&B, Avenida 2 de Abril #9, Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca

What:  think Danza de la Pina — Dance of the Pineapple– at The Guelaguetza to picture what these garments look like

San Felipe Usila is a remote mountain village near Tuxtepec, about an eight-hour drive from Oaxaca. The women weave extraordinary textiles on back strap looms. I was there last October and met a talented family.

Jorge Isidro is coming with his mother, an accomplished weaver, and bringing excellent quality pieces to show our Women’s Creative Writing and Yoga Retreat participants. Because he is making such a long trip, I want to open up the opportunity to you to see and buy the work.

The sales go directly to the weaving families.  Prices are reasonable because you are buying direct.

Please invite your friends and share this post to support fine indigenous Oaxaca textile culture.  Thank you.

Norma H-Shafer

 

Pictures of the Exhibition: Today at Las Bugambilias B&B

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Oaxaca Arts & Artisan ExpoVenta–Show and Sale, This Weekend at Las Bugambilias B&B

ExpoBug_NewDon Arturo Hernandez, who just returned from the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market, is one of the artisans who joins us this Friday and Saturday for a curated ExpoVenta — Show and Sale.  Arturo works only with naturally dyed wool and cotton. He creates glorious scarves and shawls with elaborate hand-tied fringes.  Stunning to wear and drape around you.  He is also working with ikat, dyeing part of the yarn, which results in some beautiful, assymetrical patterns that collectors love.

Also joining us is the family of Viviana Hipolito Maves, Grand Master of Oaxaca Folk Art, recognized for her handmade beeswax candles that are decorated with flowers, flags and birds.  The molds she uses are made of wood and inherited from her grandmother. These candles adorn the Teotitlan del Valle church and are presented to families at special life cycle events.  She will bring tapers that you can use in your home, too.

invite and bring a friend!

please share this post.  thank you.