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Why Travel With Us: Help sustain regenerative traditions.
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- We know the culture! This is our land! We are locally owned and operated.
- Eric Chavez Santiago is tri-lingual --Spanish, English, Zapotec.
- Eric was founding director of education, Museo Textil de Oaxaca + folk art expert
- Norma Schafer has lived in Oaxaca since 2005.
- Norma is a seasoned university educator.
- We have deep connections with artists and artisans.
- 63% of our travelers repeat -- high ratings, high satisfaction.
- Wide ranging expertise: textiles, folk art, pottery, cultural wisdom.
- We give you a deep immersion to best know Oaxaca and Mexico.
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We organize private travel + tours for museums, arts, organizations, collectors + appreciators.
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Creating Connection and Meaning between travelers and with indigenous artisans. Meet makers where they live and work. Join small groups of like-minded explorers. Go deep into remote villages. Gain insights. Support cultural heritage and sustainable traditions. Create value and memories. Enjoy hands-on experiences. Make a difference.
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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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OCN Creates Student Scholarship at Oaxaca Learning Center Giving back is a core value. Read about it here
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Meet Makers. Make a Difference
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Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC has offered programs in Mexico since 2006. We have over 30 years of university, textile and artisan development experience. See About Us.
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Programs can be scheduled to meet your independent travel plans. Send us your available dates.
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Arts organizations, museums, designers, retailers, wholesalers, curators, universities and others come to us to develop artisan relationships, customized itineraries, meetings and conferences. It's our pleasure to make arrangements.
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Select Clients *Abeja Boutique, Houston *North Carolina Museum of Art *Selvedge Magazine-London, UK *Esprit Travel and Tours *Penland School of Crafts *North Carolina State University *WARP Weave a Real Peace *Methodist University *MINNA-Goods *Smockingbird Kids *University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Tell us how we can put a program together for you! Send an email norma.schafer@icloud.com
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- WEAVE Podcast: Oaxaca Coast Textiles & Tour
- NY Times, Weavers Embrace Natural Dye Alternatives
- NY Times, Open Thread–Style News
- NY Times, 36-Hours: Oaxaca, Mexico
Our Favorites
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- Oaxaca Weather
- Taller Teñido a Mano Natural Dyes
In-Between, Let It Rain, and Murex Sea Snail Purple Dye
August 26, 2013–In Mexico City it’s raining, it’s pouring. I left Oaxaca this morning to a full-tilt drizzle that went on through the night. The maize fields are almost saturated. Whew!
My Zapotec friends told me about the mysteries of the ancients. Don’t worry, they said a few days ago. It will start raining on August 26. I didn’t believe them. Yes, they said, the ancient Zapotecs know. It’s part of the natural cycle in time for the Calendula. It will rain throughout September, they said. Ah, hah, I discovered the rain will produce the wild marigolds so essential for Day of the Dead celebrations. The rhythms of nature. When we move too fast, we don’t have time to put our ear to the earth and remember our history. This has been a wonderful part of my learning experience living in a small Mexican village.
A friend sent me an email that I read during the six-and-a-half-hour bus ride to Mexico City. I am in-between leaving Oaxaca and arriving in the USA. We are in-between two tropical storms, Ivo and Fernand, bringing rain on two fronts, east and west, one from Baja, the other from Veracruz. I am now sitting in the shelter of historic Downtown Hotel, sipping a tequila (they offered it gratis, though I prefer mezcal) and listening to the deluge pouring on the soft roof of the courtyard just beyond my door. It is a wonderful sound. The earth in Mexico is thirsty.
Mexico City has become another stopover favorite, in addition to Puebla. It’s why I like to take the bus and take a few extra days between Oaxaca and the USA. I can stay over a night or two and discover another part of Mexican culture. Tomorrow morning I’m meeting a writer friend for breakfast. Then, rain or shine, I will make a beeline to see more Diego Rivera murals and revisit the street food vendors I met in July. What I like about this hotel location is that it’s two blocks from the Zocalo, walkable to everything, in a restored colonial house with great restaurants and textile shops. Very convenient.
On Wednesday, I leave D.F. on a very early flight to Chicago for a reunion with friends and the Grant Park Jazz Festival. Then, briefly back to North Carolina, before going on to North Africa.
When I retired from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing, where I raised $23 million, for endowments, student scholarships and faculty support, the Foundation Board of the school gifted me with a surprise. A trip to anywhere! I am SO grateful. Now, almost two years later, I’m going to use that gift to travel to Marrakech and Essaouira, Morocco, for three weeks in September-October, with a very brief stopover on the way back in Madrid. I’ve never been to either of these places and I’m traveling with a friend who knows Morocco well.
My question is: Are you interested in hearing about my experiences in a part of the world far from Oaxaca? The connection, of course, is the history of weaving, textiles, and natural dyes. I plan on investigating whether the purple dye once used to distinguish the togas of Roman senators is still in existence on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. The murex sea snail is at risk of extinction on Oaxaca’s Pacific coast and is guarded carefully, under governmental regulation. The rocky shoals of Essaouira, Morocco produced some of the finest purple in the world. And, I understand the textiles there are magnificent.
Let me know your thoughts. If I write about it, will I be digressing too far from your interests?
Thanks for the feedback!
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Posted in Cultural Commentary, Photography, Textiles, Tapestries & Weaving
Tagged D.F., Diego Rivera murals, Fernand, Mexico, Mexico City, Oaxaca, tropical storm