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.