“I agree with arguments on both sides of this discussion…it is a complex issue with no easy answer re. wages and respect of native traditions.

As for culture degradation, a friend who has worked many years in Chiapas with indigenous people once said to me, “The indigenous people see the commercial work they do for us as work, like going to a job every day. What we do with their product doesn’t matter to them as they have their own vibrant work that they do for themselves.” In my experience working with indigenous artisans, I would tend to agree. As for cutting up tired traditional garments and repurposing them, when I ask the indigenous women we work with what they do with their old and spoiled clothing, they tell me they throw them away. Why not preserve these remnants and enlighten the consumer with something that is both beautiful, cultural, AND functional?

It is our mission (Latin Threads Trading) to create sustainable employment at fair wages for indigenous artisans doing what they do best, the traditional crafts of their respective villages. It is a long road, fraught with problems on both sides of the equation, one that requires time, patience, and cultural sensitivity. There is no excuse for not acknowledging the contributions made by these people within the fashion industry, but that is another discussion.

But there’s good news! Designer Carmen Rion of Mexico City has worked with indigenous artisans in a number of her collections and happily acknowledges them. This seasons designs are inspired by the chales or mocheval/ capes of Zinacatan in the highlands of Chiapas. I’m including a video of the Pasisaje Mocheval Exhibit of some of Carmen’s most elegant and inspired mochevales at the Franz Meyer Museum in D.F. You’ll notice  Zinacatan embroiderers in their full traje/costume enjoying the fruits of their labor. They were also included in the fashion show (See the second YouTube video). And although they might be too humble to say so, I’m sure they feel pride in being included.

In the article called “Indigenous Fashion hits the Runway”  you will see pictures about what’s new and cool in Mexican fashion, and you might possibly identify Tehuantepec embroidery embellishing many clothes while older Isthmus huipil pieces have been patch-worked to create rather ‘minimal’ pieces of clothing. Far from the original ‘covered up’ and modest, but elegant, look of traditional traje these fashion statements are more than a bit vulgar to my textile researchers eye.

What is somewhat disturbing is the rather cavalier and self-absorbed attitude of the designers featured. In the designer statements there is no mention or acknowledgement about where these textiles originated or who the women are who made them. Whoa and how disrespectful is that? Not everyone mentioned in the article was as callous as the designers and there was even a comment toward the end, by one of the artisans,, who said that, ‘they are hardly paid anything for their work anyway’.

So what do you think? – Fashion or more insult to artists/artisans? You decide……. but I have to include the YouTube video by Lila Downs whose mother is from the Mixteca/Oaxaca and who wears  traditional textiles when she performs. Some of these have been cut skin-tight to show her voluptuous figure but in no-way degraded to little patches of antique cloth to cover up breasts. In this video the Zapotec women of the Valle Central of Oaxaca, are also featured with their feminine dresses. rebozo head-wraps and aprons. Hooray!  Somehow this shows much more respect for Mexican indigenous culture, traditional textiles, and the artisans who spend many hours/days creating them. Thanks Lila!

Because I’ve noticed these beautiful textiles in various parts of Mexico I had to photograph them. In some cases, the tablecloth is totally hand woven (Amusgos) or embroidered within an inch of its life (Mazahua). Tablecloths were so stunning that my jaw was dropped in San Pedro Amusgos, Oaxaca; Uruapan, Michoacan; and a special dinner for me in Santa Rosa de Lima, Edo. Mexico. I had never seen such extravagant cloths on tables  in very humble surroundings and it made a lasting impression.

Where to see such wonderful tablecloths? Most likely if you are invited as the ‘honored’ guest there will be one on the table. In Uruapan, at the Easter Week Artisan Fair, there was an indigenous food event where all the vendors tables had finely embroidered tablecloths (covered with clear plastic). While at the San Pedro feast day in San Pedro Amusgos, Oaxaca, I started to see these uber-bright woven table cloths and then ran into one for sale by in a vendors display. At Tlacolua Sunday market, Oaxaca, sometime there are fine embroidered ones available from the tourist blouse vendors. Keep your eyes open…

Also included in this collection are some photos from San Felipe Progresso’s (Edo.Mexico) Feast Day, held the last weeks of January. The entire church is draped with hand embroidered cloths on the altar, walls, under the Saints, over the Saints – everywhere you look! Not exactly tablecloths but elaborate Mazahua embroidered cloths honoring the occasion and blessing the church in the process.

The Feria de Maestros Artesania – Chapala Yacht Club, Lake Chapala, Chapala, Mexico

80+ Artisans, 15 Maestros, 100s of volunteers, 1000s of pieces of beautiful folk art, 50 pesos admission daily, Musicians, regional dancing, tequila tasting, raffle, Mexican cocktails and cuisine, sunshine and laughter — that’s the Feria! It’s the Feria’s 10th Anniversary! And it all starts on Friday.  Open 10 am to 6 pm Friday, Nov. 18th and Saturday, Nov. 19th.  Open 10 am to 4 pm Sunday, Nov. 20th., 2011

The last  two years I have volunteered at the Maestros de Artesania Fair de Chapala. Besides all the general excitement and wonderful opportunities to meet people and find treasures, the feria featured rebozo weavers from Michoacan, Oaxaca, and Malinalco (Edo.Mexico) in  2010. In 2009 Tenancingo, Santa Maria del Rio etc were included. I helped at some of my Tenancingo and Oaxacan weaver friend’s booth – a little selling here and translation for buyers there.  What I want to capture in this post is the fashion show that was held both Saturday and Sunday  2009 and 2010, featuring local Chapala ex-pat women wearing the beautiful rebozos/shawls of the Mexico.

Generally North Americans haven’t worn shawls in the way that Mexicans do – so it was time for a demonstration of the mired ways these sensuous textiles could be tied and arranged on the body. Following are some fine examples of the most beautiful rebozos offered as well as creative ways to wear them.

If you are in the area of Lake Chapala/Guadalajara this year, Nov. 18 – 20th be sure and attend the fair because although the rebozo people might not be featured this year, Ceclila Bautista, Purepeche/Michoacan weaver of (feather rebozos) is sure to be there as well as Camelia of Malinalco. There will also be so many other fabulous items you’ll be overwhelmed and delighted.

Here’s the link for the show to check out artisans who  will be featured at the Feria- http://mexicoartshow.com/2011maestros.html

So if you happened to have missed that article I’m putting in a link here with a few more photos to fill out the story: http://handeyemagazine.com/content/huipiles-oaxaca

I’ve always been fascinated and awed by the elaborate Tehuana costumes as I frequently see them on the streets of Oaxaca in Calendas/ processions around the Santa Domingo church. Women in full regalia and sometimes men in traditional costumes parade elegantly down Alacala street often with a band. I think they are social groups originally from the Tehuantepec/Juchitan area but I haven’t really found out the real story. They love to dress up to say the least.

I had the honor of being invited to a wedding earlier this year and the brides family was from Juchitan. It was a huge affair held in the groom’s village of Santa Ana near Tlacolula in the Valle Central of Oaxaca. The wedding parties sat in their assigned sides of the huge airplane hanger-like event room. 700 people had shown up! But the groom’s side was all navy blue, beige and black while the brides side was a riot of color. It was like the documentary film on the Juchitan culture…”Blossoms on Fire”, a perfect description. Afterwards my friend said – “Oh those Juchitana’s are such SHOW-OFFS!” Well it was worth sitting through many wedding games and rituals just to get up-close and personal (BEST in the bathroom) with so many sumptuous textiles.

If you want to know a little more of the history of these elaborate outfits and the many embroidery techniques developed over the the years read the Hand/Eye article. Oaxaca’s Istmus of Tehuantepec was a transportation route for moving exotic goods from the Phiippines to Spain, so there were many outside influences on the women’s clothing in this area. Hand-Eye is a wonderful e-journal of world hand arts that publishes weekly stories on traditional artisan crafts and contemporary artists etc. Don’t miss it! You can subscribe, I think, for free. I’ll be writing more articles in the future

http://handeyemagazine.com/content/huipiles-oaxacaClick to view slideshow.

Now almost two years later my article : “Un traje en peligro de extincion” (a costume on the edge of extinction) has appeared in this beautiful journal covering not only textiles but other little known cultural aspects of the indigenous Mazahua. My excitement stemmed from being able to bring this issue to the home of the project coordinator, Regina Torres. She, in turn, invited many of the Flores members to have a look. We joked around about how famous their village would now be. The Arte de Mexico photographer Pablo Aguinaco had beautifully captured pictures of their Fiesta Patronal in August 2009. Regina had a full page picture in Gabriel Olmos’ article “Flores en el Asfalto – Fiestas mazahuas” (Asphalt Flowers – Mazahua Fiestas) and she was pleased. The women were pleased and I was pleased and we all had several big meals to celebrate. Lovingly, I was gifted with a beautiful cochineal dyed quechquemitl made especially grande for the tall gringa with long arms. (see slide show)

Cultural recognition has come very slowly to most of the Mexico’s indigenous. To actually be featured in the most prestigious Mexican cultural/art journal Arte de Mexico seems like a big deal to me, a visitor from el norte. But perhaps it is just another day-in-life occurrence to the Mazahua ladies, like grinding the blue corn that has been drying in the corner of the living room – or shearing the sheep, but perhaps a bit stranger.

Well I’d like to think I kept my word – that the ‘story’ of the many pasos (steps) that go into the making of their traje will now be known to many people in Mexico and the world. That their hard work and artistry will be acknowledged and that they can now be confident that ‘we’ think they are intelligent and resourceful women. To me there was no question of that.

If you live in Mexico, Arte de Mexico is available at most museum book shops for about $15US.  In the U.S. you can try….. (working on finding a source – sorry!) Written in Spanish with English translations in the back (don’t worry). Known for its fabulous photograph, these journals of Mexican art and culture has been published since 1953 – (some are now out of print). Other Textiles issues include: Textiles de Oaxaca, and Textiles de Chiapas, and others textile related – China Poblana and La Tehuana (women of the Istmo).

Click to view slideshow.

This ‘charla’ or talk is is in conjunction with the exhibit ‘Quechquemitls‘ at the Museo Textile de Oaxaca – which currently is showing their large collection of rare historical quechquemitles mostly from Central Mexico where the quechquemitl is still worn in a few communities.

Once upon a time in Oaxaca – during the early colonial times, the production of silk was one of the main cultivated products, along with cochineal dye, for export. In the area of the Mixteca, were most of the recorded villages of silk production are located, this persisted until trade with the Spanish colonies of the Philippines replaced it – and a local plague on the silk worms finished it off. But it never completely died in Oaxaca and while silk thread was still special and often reserved for the highest class levels of priests and caciques (chiefs), the humble people still wore silk fajas (belts) and silk symbols and patterns were sometimes woven into of their traditional garments.

When I learned there was a family reviving the cultivation of silk in the nearby rug weaving village of Teotitlan del Valle, the next thing I knew I had signed up for a a video documentary workshop coordinated by Norma Hawthorne’s organization- http://oaxacaculture.wordpress.com/. The teachers were Erica Rothman and Jim Haverkamp, both professional videographers from North Carolina and the Duke Center for Documentary Studies.

This endeavor was all with the idea of visually capturing the revival of silk production in Oaxaca.To say it was an intense 5 days, is an understatement, as it was my first time holding a video camera. My supreme luck was in having, as my partner, Pam Holland. a world class quilt maker and visual artists, so together we accomplished a 7 minute exploration (with a lot of editing help from Jim) telling the story of the  ’Revival of Silk’ by  Arte Seda (Silk Art) the family business of the  Reynoldo Sosa of Teotitlan del Valle.

This short documentary shows the process of creating a silk scarf, from the tending of the tiny silk worm eggs to the natural dyeing of the finished woven scarf…hopefully answering the initial question, “Why are these things so expensive?”

The Reynoldo Sosa family would be happy to have you visit their home and production place featured in this video. They are located on Av. Juarez # 4, Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, Tel: (01-951) 52 4 41 19
arte-seda@hotmail.comClick to view slideshow.

Attached is my YouTube slide show of the exhibit listing the village from which the textile came. I will also provide the artist’s name if you contact me. Enjoy the fine textiles and the Tres Colores de Oaxaca!

If you are in the city of Oaxaca you can visit Remigio’s store Los Baules de Juana Cata inside the entrance to Las Danzantes’ Restaurant on Alcala #403 – 2 – near Santo Domingo church.

Shopping at textile co-ops is the best way to support local weavers while assuring them fair prices for their labors instead of prices set  by a retail shop owners. The following are by no means the only ones in town. Zapatista villages also have co-ops on Guadalupe walking street, but not necessarily focused on textiles. You might find good deals there if your timing is right.

Sna Jolobil - Temporarily located on Calzada Lazaro Cardenas #42 The highest quality textile co-0p in San Cristobal should be your next stop – if you want to see the very best. Sna Jolobit which means ‘the weavers house’ was founded about 30 years ago by Pedro Meza a Tenejapa weaver and ‘Chip’ Morris who wrote “Living Maya” and currently includes 800 weavers from 20 Tzotzil and Tzeital indigenous communities. Without going into too much detail included are photos of some of the most impressive items in the store. Chamula, Tenejapa, Magdalena, are a few of the communities pictured. Expect the high quality and high prices although be assured you will be getting the BEST. If you are good shopper you may be able to find some of these items in different locations somewhat cheaper, although some items you will only see here.

J’pas Joloviletik – Avenida General Utrilla # 43 - Easily overlooked as it’s a pretty low-key  enterprise manned by very shy women. This co-op located on the back side of Santo Domingo Church across the street and inside a blue arched colonial building, has been in operation 26 years and has two rooms of nicely woven goods- from  6 communities:  Pantelho, Chamula, Zinacatan, Huixtlan, Aldama and San Andres L. There is a wide range of items from napkins, table runners, and pillow covers to very nice contemporary  blouses, traditional huipiles, woolen items from Chamula all at competitive prices. Remember shopping at co-ops allows more profit to return to the weavers/embroiders for their intensive labor…motivating women to continue weaving and teaching their daughters the skills, helping keep the traditional Mayan textile culture alive.

Jolom Mayaetik - Calzada de la Escuela 25 on the ‘old road’ to Chamula – up about 1.5 blocks on the right- This co-op has been in business since 1996 and includes 250 women weavers from the highlands of Chiapas. The store is a light filled  room with shelves stacked with textiles located  on a small parcel of land  a short ways up the ‘old’ road to Chamula, which includes a school and meeting center. The place was buzzing with activity when we were there – women delivery goods and the shop ladies’ kids playing on the floor. The focus here is more on ‘domestics’ – nice contemporary designs and colors – pillow covers, decoratively woven and embroidered, napkins, table cloths. There are wearables: bags, shawls, blouses and even irresistible baby clothes. High quality goods with a European flair – (French designers were involved a few years back and their influence is in evidence).

San Cristobal is a wonderful shopping experience that doesn’t quit. The market in front of Santo Domingo is chocked full of stuff . It takes awhile to sort through to find the true bargains and unique items, but worth it. Remember here you are expected to bargain but the co-ops prices are fixed.