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 weavers and artists at the museum. It will be taught by a textile restorer from Mexico City and Veracruz. Eric was able to get invitations for four artist-weavers from Teotitlan to attend: Federico Chavez Sosa, Mariano Sosa, Fausto Contreras and Panteleone Ruiz Martinez. The energy and excitement generated around this new museum is fantastic. There are student volunteers from the U.S. who are helping Eric construct 200 cardboard looms to use in his introduction to weaving program for Oaxaca school children. Posters about the museum exhibitions are going up around the city and in Teotitlan to encourage general attendance, and weavers to explore innovative approaches and to use traditional natural dye stuffs. I can only imagine that there will be a surge, momentum and exponential creativity that will come from the Museo Textil that will be momentous for weaving and textile development and preservation in Oaxaca. One thing is for certain, that everyone who attends the Oaxaca Weaving Workshop: Dancing on the Loom, will get a special visit to the textile museum, too!
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Why Travel With Us: Help sustain traditions.
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- Eric was founding director of education, Museo Textil de Oaxaca + folk art expert
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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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