Chiapas Women’s Textile Cooperative Jolom Mayaetik
The textile cooperative Jolom Mayaetik is one of the oldest and most successful in and around San Cristobal de Las Casas, founded in 1980. This is the 5th year we have visited them and they continue to improve processes, increase production, build capacity and create highest quality weavings. They have over 200 cooperative members in […]
Sophisticated San Cristobal de Las Casas: A Changing Scene
It’s different this year in San Cristobal de Las Casas. There are more upscale shops and sophisticated clothing designs using indigenous textiles. Just meandering the three andadors — cobblestone walking streets here — I see remarkable differences. There are more visitors coming who are interested in textiles and the Maya culture. There is a greater […]
Japan Blue: Textile Study Tour to Mt. Fuji Indigo Studio
The Japan Textile Study Tour is filling up. We are a small group, limited to 10 people, and there are 4 spaces remaining! If you are thinking about coming with us to Japan, please don’t wait much longer. I have confirmed plans to visit a noted Japanese national treasure, a textile artist who works in […]
Into the Villages on the Oaxaca Coast: Women Who Weave
For me, the most emotional part of our visits to the remote Oaxaca villages along the coast of Oaxaca is to meet the women who weave and hear their stories. Our Oaxaca Coast Textile Study Tour takes us north out of Puerto Escondido along Mexico Highway 200. This region is called the Costa Chica and […]
On the Manialtepec Lagoon, Pacific Coast of Oaxaca
Our Oaxaca Coast Textile Study Tour 2020 began with a deep dive into the ecology of the region. We left Puerto Escondido in late afternoon for a hour ride north to the Manialtepec Lagoon. We are in the tropics, hot, sultry and a perfect place to escape winter. It is magical here, where sea and […]
Far and Away: Maya Weaving Village Magdalena Aldama
The locals call it Aldama, preferring to honor the 1810 Mexican Revolutionary War hero Juan Aldama, rather than the saint name imposed by Spanish conquerors. They are revolutionaries themselves here with most of the village sympathizing with the Zapatista movement. They are also extraordinary weavers of traditional huipiles and finely woven agave bags. The largest […]
Carnival in San Juan Chamula, Chiapas
The red flags fly from banners carried by men young and old. Their faces hidden with paisley scarves or animal masks. A dried ocelot skin hangs from a belt, connected to brass bells that jangle with each movement. Is this the man’s spirit animal? In the church courtyard there are troupes of celebrants on parade. […]
Feathered Plumage: Rebozos in Ahuiran, Michoacan
Grand Master of Mexican Folk Art Cecelia Bautista Caballero is recognized for her outstanding creativity and innovation. About 30 years ago she developed a weaving technique to re-introduce the feathered plumage of Purepecha royalty into the rebozos (shawls) she makes on the back-strap loom. Our Michoacan study tour leads us to a humble home on […]
Afro-Mexicans on Oaxaca’s Costa Chica, Museum of Afro-Mestizo Culture
Mexico is a true melting pot. Her people are a fusion of ethnicities, races, and cultures originating from Asia, Europe, and Africa mingling with America’s First Peoples. The Spanish brought slaves from the Philippines and China, while Portuguese traders imported forced labor from Africa to work Mexico’s sugar cane fields and cattle ranches when indigenous […]
Video: Danza de los Diablos, African Roots in Mexico, El Tule Guelaguetza 2018
Danza de los Diablos is connected with the Afro-Mestizo history of Oaxaca’s Costa Chica, the Pacific coast region between Puerto Escondido and Acapulco, Guerrero. Now referred to as Mexico’s Third Root, people of African descent are an integral part of what it means to be Mexican, more than only the mix of Europeans and AmerIndians. With the […]