(BEST) Oaxacan Textile Shopping – Part II – Individual and coops

Around the Santo Domingo church are several individual shops with fine textiles. Out and about? Take a look at these!

El Nahual – 412 A Reforma (near and across from the Botanical Garden) El Nahual is a small coop of friends who present the best of their work. Master weaver Erasto ‘Tito” Mendoza’s exquisitely woven tapestries are highlighted along with some excellent San Antonino embroidered ‘Oaxacan wedding dress’ style blouses by Miriam Campos Cornelio…and of course some other non-textile artisania i.e. jewelry, wood carvings and an interesting secondary market of prints from famous Oaxacan artists.Toledo anyone? Definitely great stuff!!

Silvia Suarez – Gurrion #1110 interior 1 (across the street from southern side of Santo Domingo nr. Alcala) For over 10 years Silvia has been working with different textile groups throughout the state of Oaxaca. Artisans involved in her projects develop creative skills which are then transmitted into her clothing line that joins the contemporary with the traditional. Lots of great ‘younger’ innovative style dresses, blouses etc. Plus some wonderful accessories and gifts.

Sivia’s Website  and YouTube presentation

A R I P O – 809 Garcia Vigil (located in a beautiful colonial building above Alcala)  The Oaxacan Institute of Artesania, is a state sponsored institute with multiple small galleries of fine artesania: ceramics, textiles, jewelry etc. Especially interesting to me are the textiles and I usually find some good specimens among the huipiles and blouses. Plus there is innovative jewelry coming directly from remote parts of Oaxaca. Different craft media is featured at various times during the year – so you never know what you will find here and you won’t see it any other place. Generally good quality and worth the visit if just for the colonial building alone. Climb the hill above Alcala.

(The BEST) Textile Shopping in Oaxaca City

Having recently lived in Oaxaca for 3 years plus many other visits over time, I’ve scouted out the BEST and highest quality Oaxacan textiles. The following shops are where I hang out and send my fellow textile junkies. Of course, there are LOTS of textiles EVERYWHERE  in Oaxaca, but even if you aren’t a collector, it’s a good idea to educate your eye with the BEST. Honestly, you won’t find anything better than the textiles here!  You’ll most likely be back to buy something as the textiles are that beautiful. I call the following stores —textile DANGER ZONES.

Baules de Juana Cata – Alcala 403  – entrance to ‘Los Danzantes Restuarant’ – inner courtyard to the right. Remigio Mestes’ store is chock full of the most gorgeous textiles in all Oaxaca. The last 15 years Remigio has been instrumental in revitalizing traditional back-strap weaving and natural dyeing, not to mention embroidery and use of finer base materials.  He has encouraged over 200 artisans (see picture) to create the most refined and elegant textiles probably in all of Mexico. To talk to Remigio you have to have luck and timing as he’s often out of town visiting his artisans or out of the country or traveling searching for better base materials (silks & cottons) or setting up exhibits in places like Japan. If your timing is right the best time to catch him is around 7 pm in his shop. If you are seriously interested in seeing (and possibly buying) the VERY best he will be happy to pull things out of his ‘baules’ / trunks that will knock your socks off!  He also has a very knowledgeable staff who look young but are very charming and capable of assisting you. He’s training the children of his artisans to be merchants and ambassadors of their traditional textile culture.

Museo Textile de Oaxaca – Hidalgo 917 corner of Fiallo – two block east of the Zocalo –  The museum shop at Museo Textile de Oaxaca offers top quality textiles from Oaxaca and other parts of Mexico. GREAT stuff. The Museum itself  has an outstanding collection of Mexican textiles but seeing it will depend on what is currently showing. You might get lucky and be there for the monthly 3-4 day sales/demonstrations by visiting regional artisans, which is a great opportunity to buy directly from the artists. Please check the following link to see what’s going on. The museum also offers short classes in indigo dyeing, back-strap loom weaving, embroidery and other things textile related. Current classes will be listed on the site too.

Arte Amuzgo – 5 da May #217B– one block down from Camino Real Convent Hotel on the right. Odilon Morales, represents his weavers coop from San Pedro Amuzgos,and indigenous villages near the coast of Oaxaca. (see a little sign painted on the wall outside of his shop of a weaver at her back strap loom). Odilon is another innovative organizer/promoter of traditional weavers who provides the high quality threads and encourages contemporary color combinations. His weavers produce refined sophisticated huipiles and blouses sought after by affluent Mexicans and foreign collectors. High quality textiles from other weaving groups in the Oaxacan coastal area available too. Both Odilon and Remigio have been participants in the prestigious Santa Fe International Folk Art Market – so my best images of them are from this event.

COMING SOON  – PART II AND III – Textile Shopping in and around Oaxaca and Individual Artisan Shops….

Museum Shop – Museo Textile de Oaxaca

Shelves in shop -Museo Textile de Oaxaca

Remigio and his Oaxacan traditional textile artisans

Remigio at Folk Art Market in Santa Fe.

SuperFino Huave huipil – Remigio’s shop on Alcala

Odilion Morales at Maestro de Arte Fair in Chapala, Mexico

Amuzgo huipiles – Folk Art Market – Santa Fe, NM

Exceptional Amuzgo Huipiles- Folk Art Market Santa Fe, NM

Odilon finishing huipil.

 

Mexican Textile Presentation – March 13th, 2014 – Louisville, CO

I’ve been a bit tardy with my posts in 2013 and now March 2014 is here!

Collecting Mexican Textiles Presentation – March 13th – 2013 – Louisville, COLORADO

If you live near Denver/Boulder Colorado and want to learn more about collecting traditional Mexican Textiles and the excitement of finding beautiful clothing and textiles in Mexico …. you are cordially invited to Laura Lambrecht’s charming store BELLA FRIDA – on 924 Main Street, Louisville, Colorado. Come early and try on beautiful huipiles from Chiapas and Oaxaca as well as learn how to tie a REBOZO – the signature Mexican accessory shawl.

Trunk show opens at 6:30pm and the slide presentation around 7:15pm.

(720) 301-1645 – event questions

VIVA LA FRIDA – VIVA LA VIDA – VIVA LOS TEXTILES DE MEXICO!!!

Aguatenango’s huipi – Chiapas

Tehuana Women , Gala Outfits, Isthmus of Oaxaca

Amuzgo weaver – Florentina Lopez – Oaxaca

Lila Downs’ Costumes – Performer and Fashionista Mexicana

I became a Lila Downs fan when she performed in Santa Fe, NM perhaps over 12 years ago. At that time her fashion sense was pretty much ‘Dead Head’ exotic-hippie-Mexicana. I loved her long ribbon braids and pieces of traditional  heavily embroidered Tehuana skirt fabric that she somehow managed to keep on her hips during her dynamic songs. Well, things have changed, baby – and now she has a designer  (Mane’ Alta Costura of Oaxaca) making her still-indigenous based costumes, to my great joy, from traditional traje /regional clothing and textiles of Mexico.  Since I’m a collector/documenter of Mexican traditional textiles, I certainly recognize the original pieces. But how they’ve been transformed!  All I can say is , WOW! ! !.  I’ve been collecting images of some of her most original uses of these beautifully woven or embroidered textiles and the creative ways they’ve been reconstructed into lavish and sometimes ‘over the top’ creations.

I hope you enjoy this slide show (many of the images are from past performances featured on Lila’s FB pages) and for those interested in “Living Textiles of Mexico”, I’ve identified the original village or region, where her textiles are from. After all, Lila’s mother is from Tlaxiaco in the Mixteca area of Oaxaca and Lila spent part of her childhood there, and currently spends part of the year in Oaxaca, living, performing and doing philanthropic work by supporting education for young rural indigenous girls. She knows  the traditional origins of her clothing, most are from Oaxaca her home, and she’s proud of it!  They are the very best of the best Oaxacan traje ! 

VIVA LILA – Fashionista Mexicana!  VIVA the traditional trajes of Oaxaca!

Here’s a YouTube vido I just made for this post – and my favorite song – ‘La Cumbia del Mole’

http://youtu.be/4bDmM8rN4n4

Textiles of Oaxaca / Remigio Mestes – Intern.Folk Art Market 2012 – Santa Fe, NM

The International Folk Art Market will be opening in Santa Fe, New Mexico on July 13th, 2012 with a previous week full of festivities, parties, concerts and related gallery openings. I’m looking forward to the arrival of Remigio Mestes, a friend from Oaxaca, who for the second year will be bringing the BEST textiles of Oaxaca to the market. Remigio works with about 250 artisans from remote Oaxacan communities, supporting their finest work, promoting the textile arts of Oaxaca and making sure the artist’s kids have the opportunity for higher education, by providing a home for them in Oaxaca City. It’s all part of his master plan for raising the level of Oaxaca’s textile artisans to the highest level of national textile ARTISTS. Remigio has been hard at work for at least 20 years making it happen and now has a store in Mexico City (see below), besides his Baules de Juana Cata store on Alcala street in Oaxaca (his flag ship) and a shop in San Miguel Allende. See my previous post Tres Colores – Indigo, Cochineal &  Caracol  an exhibit of Remigio’s artists’ work at the Museo Arte Popular in San Bartolo Coyotepec (near Oaxaca City) last year.

Last year two of his master weavers, Nicolasa Pascal Martinez from San Bartolo Yautepec and Luisa Jimenez, who is Trique from the Mixteca demonstrated weaving on their traditional back-strap looms. Many beautiful blouses, long huipiles, rebozos/shawls and quechquemitles (triangular caplettes) were offered of very fine weaves, ancient patterns and sumptuous colors. Included are images of garments brought last year as well as the Tres Colores exhibit. I suggest heading over to the Banamex booth, Remigio’s sponsors, EARLY  for the best selection of Oaxacan textiles at the International Folk Art Market July 13 – 15th, Santa Fe, NM.

See Remigio in action in this slide show, at his store in Oaxaca and in the Mixe region with some of his weavers.

His new shop is called Los Baules at the Museo Textile de Oaxaca – near the Oaxaca Zocala and he has also opened a shop in Mexico City store at Isabella Catolica Street, 30-7 in the Centro Historico to broaden the knowledge of indigenous arts throughout Mexico.

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