OAXACA'S ARTISANS

                                   Many and Varied

        Art flows in the veins of the Oaxacan people as is reflected in its history. Oaxaca is one of the major centers of Mexican Indian crafts.  Women create thin wool with a waist loom known as telar de cintura. One end of the loom is tied to a wall, post or tree and the opposite end to the woman’s waist. Basketmakers weave complex patterns into their baskets. Potters make the famous black pottery without the benefit of a potter’s wheel.  Others make wool ponchos, rugs and wall hangings. In many hamlets artisans create alebrijes, the comical, colorful dotted animals seen and sold everywhere throughout the area. There is a craft market every day of the week somewhere in the city.

      One afternoon we rode Teotitlan del Valle, place of the Gods, to visit a weaver and rug maker. The weaver demonstrated the hand carding of the wool, explained the many washings, showed us how she spun the wool, and finally the loom. The valley is full of rug makers, most of whom are involved in family enterprises. Lastly she showed us the many rugs, in all sizes, which were for sale.

      Teotitlan was settled by Zapotecs and it is estimated that 1000 people lived there in 400 AD. The village of about 5000 own rich communal landholdings. Before leaving we took time to visit the Church of Blessed Blood of Christ.

     We stopped to visit a candle maker who made beautiful fragile paper-thin flowers in wax. The flowers decorate large ceremonial and fiesta candles as well as appearing in church floral arrangements. Her flowers were unusual and absolutely beautiful.

       Octolan’s  native son, Rudolfo Morales, was a world-renowned artist who died in 2001. In the early 1990s he established a foundation to restore his hometown. The beautiful church restoration, the creation of a museum, restoration of other historic buildings, mountain reforestation, and educational projects have all been beneficiaries of the foundation. We visited his beautiful home, built in 1962 and finished in 1989.

      We enjoyed a very interesting visit to the world-famous wood carver, Jacobo Angeles. Copal wood is used for carving and the popularity and revival of the art has initiated copal plantations. The carvings are done with green wood. The wood has a red skin just under the bark, which is used to make a dye. The wooden animals originally started as a gift to a baby when it was born, and the animal was usually of the calendar animal under of the child.

       Senor Angeles demonstrated how different natural dyes are obtained. Honey makes the dye fluid and sticky. It also changes the color. Powered lime makes a dye darker. Baking soda also changes a color. Lemon juice changes a color and makes it more liquid. Black is used to outline designs and yellow is used to fill cracks as they appear as the wood dries.

  We visited several potters including   the workshops of the famous Aguilar sisters. Each of the three sisters has her own technique and design specialty. Their homes are next to each other and the workshops front the street.   We also visited a maker of the famous black pottery. The kiln was quite primitive and interesting. The pottery is supposed to be rather fragile.

      Oaxaca is the heart of Mexico’s Indian population and one of the most Indian towns in Mexico where a pure-blood European seems to be a rare being. The Indian calendar appears to govern life of the city. The people seem endlessly productive and inventive. Every rug, mask, tapestry, animal is different.  The people retain an exhilarating sense of separateness. Although compromise with political trends and market forces are a must, they are still loyal to their ancestral idioms and ideals.

OAXACA SITES

                          Churches and More

      Because of a fear of earthquakes, Oaxaca has many churches with original facades of green quarry stone, giving the city the nickname of  city of green temples. The city’s churches are the most lavish in Mexico.

We spent most of one day visiting churches in the colonial city. There are numerous churches so we could not begin to hit them all but we saw the most important ones.

      The Church of Santo Domingo, built in the 16^th century, has a lavish carved façade. Although the building started in 1572, it was 200 years and 12 million gold pesos before the church was completed. Because of the long time span it reflects a combination of Gothic, Romanesque, Baroque, and Moorish designs. The impressive interior showcases a gold

covered altarpiece. Each of the 14 lateral chapels is a unique beauty. It is traditional for Mexican churches to use masses of flowers everywhere.

The inside of this church is overwhelming. There is not a square inch of wall or ceiling that is not covered with gold. It is extremely ornate, yet beautiful in all its busyness. We were awe struck and at a loss of words as we sat and looked up at the ornate decorations.

      The old convent now houses the Museum of the Cultures of Oaxaca once known as the Regional Museum.  The massive 16^th century structure is flanked by the Temple of Santo Domingo, the entrance plaza and an extensive desert botanical garden in the back. Some of the long hallways are decorated with frescos and other ornamentation, while other hallways are stark and shiny from centuries of thick white paint.  The many old cell rooms serve to display a large collection of pre-Columbian and colonial artifacts. Instead of guides computer display screens provide additional information in each room.

     The Basilica de Nuestra Senora de la Soledad is on Calle Independencia.  The front baroque façade is one of the finest examples of stone carving in Mexico. It is beautiful. The city’s patron saint, Maria Santisima de la Soledad, at one time had a five-pound gold crown decorated with 600 sparkling stones and diamonds.

A couple of years ago some of the stones were stolen. From a distance it looks like she is dressed in gold filigree, but underneath is a layer of black fabric.

The church has a lavish golden interior. A crystal chandelier hangs in the middle of the church. At each corner of the cross four angels hold smaller chandeliers. On each side of the altar two cherubs bear staffs with frosted globes. Along the walls, about waist high, are paintings that resemble marble slabs. They are quite different in their painted gold frames.

As is the custom masses of flowers were inside.  The eye-catching doors at the front of the church are carved wood painted in white and mauve.

     The Hotel Camino Real was originally a Dominican convent built in 1576. Masses of hibiscus, bougainvillea, palms, and exotic hanging plants provide surprises around every corner.  A three-tiered fountain in one of the courtyards is known as the nun’s lavabo. The domed structure on a circular row of arches holds up the central pool from which water flows to twelve small and twelve larger washing bowls where nuns did their laundry. It is quite a unique structure.  We were told a few years ago Japanese bought the hotel El Presidente and renamed it. They have installed air conditioning, extravagant lighting for a show and other amenities that go against the city’s colonial atmosphere. Residents are upset over these changes and are trying to buy the hotel back, but the Japanese won’t sell. Although the hotel is the largest and most expensive in the city the food is notoriously bad. I’m not sure of the present status.

      At Santa Maria del Tule we viewed  the famous 2000-year-old Tule Tree. The Mexican cypress is said to be the largest tree in Latin America. The gnarled house sized trunk divides into a forest of elephantine limbs that rise to 15 stories high. With little imagination all sorts of figures can be seen in the gnarls of the trunk. Three small boys, dressed in green sweaters and pants, escorted us around the tree shining a mirror on the trunk to point out various images. Then they would say, “Do you see?” They were cute as can be and well deserving of our tips.

       Oaxaca is a lovely city and we certainly enjoyed our visit there.