Mint Museum/Charlotte, NC Interview for Textile Documentary

Today, I met Alex McKenzie, an intern for the Mint Museum who is making a video documentary about the textile traditions of the Americas for a museum educational program.  Alex is a student at University of North Carolina-Greensboro and his summer project is to learn all he can about weaving and natural dyeing, the indigenous textile collections at the museum, backstrap and floor looms, materials used for weaving, and interview people in North Carolina to include in the documentary who are involved with textiles.  He asked if we could get together to talk and, of course, I said yes.

These were Alex’s Interview Questions:

What is your past involvement with textiles and the arts? How were you inspired to enter this field and what have you gained from it?

Could you please elaborate on your current occupation? (UNC)

Your website consistently entitles you as a cultural navigator. Could you explain why and how you use this term to describe yourself?

What is the Oaxaca Artist Guild and what are its goals?

Why do you frequent Oaxaca?

Are the weavers you meet in Oaxaca of Mayan descent?

What type of weaving techniques and looms are used presently in Oaxaca?
Have they changed a lot since the ancient times?
Furthermore what looms do you use?

Are you familiar with the back-strap loom? What are the advantages and disadvantages of it?

Briefly explain the weaving process of a typical Oaxacan weaver.

What experience do you have with natural dyes? (Cochineal) How are these dyes important to the culture?

Is there any preference in the choice of fibers today?

What is the significance of the varying patterns used by the weavers on the textiles?

What is the cultural significance the textiles have had on the natives of the region, past and present?
What do these works of art mean to the people who create and wear them, spiritually and culturally?

How are weavers looked upon in society? How is weaving integrated within the culture?

What are you goals and ambitions of your website and blog?
What are your Goals for North Carolina and Oaxaca in relation to one another?

Backstrap Loom Weaving of Oaxaca

Nicolasa Pascual is a weaver from San Bartolo Yautepec, Oaxaca. Her work is considered to be the best and finest example of Oaxaca weaving. She uses the backstrap loom, with cotton- warp and weft, synthetic dyes, 1 heddle rod, about 35 ends/threads per inch, plain weave + supplementary weft weave technique.

You can see Nicolasa Pascual’s weaving detail.  The needle is used as a shuttle to pass the threads and weave a supplementary weft design at the same time.  The designs are interwoven using the heddle rod — they are not embroidered!

The man featured is Moises Martinez, a weaver who works in silk from San Pedro Cajonos, Oaxaca. He uses the backstrap loom, with silk-warp and weft dyed with Cochineal dye, 1 heddle rod, about 20 ends/threads per inch, plain weave technique.

Photos taken by Eric Chavez Santiago, Director of Education, Museo Textil de Oaxaca, courtesy of the museum.

Patchwork Quilt Workshop Photos: Museo Textil de Oaxaca

Oaxaca Lodging + Feedback Forum: Share Your Experiences

What has been your lodging experience in Oaxaca?  Were you satisfied with your accommodations?  Do you have recommendations for other travelers?  If you booked via the Internet, was what was promised all that it was promoted to be?  Any recommendations for where to stay?  Cost?  High end?  Moderate? Budget?  Small places?  Conference hotels?  Do you have any advice for “shopping for lodging on the Internet” that could avoid a particularly unsatisfying experience once you show up?

All ideas and comments welcome.

Because I live in Teotitlan del Valle, which is 17 miles outside the city, we rarely come into Oaxaca and stay overnight.  But, if we do, we try to book at Las Bugambilias or Casa de los Sabores, which are beautiful, small, immaculate, bed and breakfast sites.  The cost is around $80USD per night (based on current exchange rates).  The elegant, historic Camino Real hotel on 5 de Mayo, is gorgeous, would accommodate conferences, and is very costly (over $250 USD per night).

Your suggestions?

A few ideas from Roberta Christie, who has lived in Oaxaca for a number of years.  She recommends this strategy for long-term stays in response to a request about where to rent an apartment or casa for 5-7 months:

Oaxaca Lending Library on-line newsletter in the Market —  real estate section:

Craig’s List might give some leads as well.

Another plan would be to get there, stay a couple of weeks

at Casa Arnel   http://www.casaarnel.com.mx/default.html

or

Las Mariposas   http://www.lasmariposas.com.mx/

(both offering a few rooms w/ kitchen) and then search and decide.

Expo & Sale of Natural Dyed Silk Textiles @ Museo Textil de Oaxaca

Wednesday-Sunday, June 17-21, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., free admission.  The silk weavers of San Pedro and San Miguel Cajonos demonstrate traditional methods of dyeing handspun silk using natural plant materials and cochineal.  Come watch this ancient and magical process.  They will offer beautiful silk rebozos for sale, too.

Tom Robbins’ Notebook: June 15, 2009

I’ve always loved the drama and the fantastic landscape of clouds, the gentle ones, the soaring, towering ones, and even the angry ones.  Coming into Oaxaca by air late last Friday night, the sky on the horizon was rippling with orange and purple and yellow and red, and below us, rather than above, the color of the sky above was still its deep azul, dissolving into those colorful paintings of light.

The shapes were of a fantasy, unexpected sworls and columns of exploding puffs.  Below them, the darkening earth became lost in a mist of thin vapors and the entire landscape was as though we were inside a fabulous painting.  Like hump-backed whales, the Sierra Madre emerged from the fluid mist below — all this on an immense world scale.

We couldn’t have known when we made our reservations a couple of months ago…or more…that it would be such an arrival to remember.

*Editor’s Note:  Tom Robbins is an art photographer who shoots in black and film film that he develops in his studio darkroom in Columbus, Ohio; he also teaches college-level photography.  Web site:  www.robbinsx2.com Tom’s wife Sam is teaching a workshop at the Museo Textil de Oaxaca this week.

Las Granadas Bed & Breakfast: An Interview with Josefina Ruiz

Scenes of Las Granadas Bed & Breakfast, Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca

In 2005, our friend Annie Burns invited Stephen and I to visit her in Teotitlan del Valle, where she was now living permanently.  She told us about a young mother and mother-in-law who were at a loss to figure out how to provide income for themselves and their three children/grandchildren after their husbands had died earlier that year.  That is how we came to know Josefina Ruiz and her mother-in-law Magda. Josefina’s husband and Magda’s son was a famous weaver (Eligio Bazan) who died suddenly of a rare form of cancer at age 38.  Annie said she was encouraging them to start a guesthouse and asked if we would be the first guests as an experiment to get the venture launched.  Of course, we said yes, and that is how Las Granadas Bed & Breakfast was born.

Now, four years later, the house at 2 de Abril is transformed into a garden paradise in large part through the effort of the two women and the help of Roberta Christie, a Florida State University administrator, who took early retirement and helped renovate the compound.  Lush bougainvilla, clean, basic rooms, and fruit-bearing pomegranate trees surround the outdoor kitchen where Magda now prepares her famous hot chocolate made from cacao beans she roasts herself.  During the early morning hours before breakfast, you can see Magda at the comal (outdoor wood fired clay griddle) preparing the fresh maize tortillas that she mixed earlier, turning them with her fingers.

Now, participants who enroll in the workshops and small group tours offered through Oaxaca Cultural Navigator: weaving, natural dyeing, oil painting, documentary filmmaking, enjoy a stay at Las Granadas as part of the package cost.

I asked Roberta to talk with Josefina about her life as an innkeeper.  Here is her response.

R:  What things do you enjoy most about operating a B&B in Teotitlan?

J:  I like everything about it.  I enjoy working in my own home and making sure that our guests enjoy their stay with us.  It is very interesting for me and my family to get to know people from other countries.

I especially enjoy cooking for our guests and am proud when they finish every bit of food on their plates.   They seem to especially enjoy the fresh fruit and fresh juice I serve at breakfast, and many say they have never tasted such good eggs — all from local chickens. Everyone enjoys the quesadillas straight from the comal.   I’m also pleased to serve vegetarians the things they want to eat.   Luckily I can get fresh vegetables every day at our market.

R:  How has Las Granadas made a difference in your life?

J:  With the income, our life has improved a lot.  I sleep better (laughs) because I feel confident that I will be able to support my family.

We’ve also been able to sell some tapetes (rugs) and bolsas (shoulder bags), and Magdalena has sold chocolate. This is also good for us and is very satisfying when people tell us how beautiful the rugs are and how delicious the chocolate is.

R:  What are your plans for the future?

J:  We are making improvements to the house and second level using some of the income from room rental.  I want to eventually put tile on the kitchen and patio-level rooms.  Poco a poco, Las Granadas will become even better and we hope even more people will come and enjoy their stay with us.

Shakira Calls for Tourism to Mexico

Friday, June 5, 2009

MEXICO (AP) – “Dolls like this vacation in Mexico” read one shirt that the Colombian singer Shakira wore in Los Angeles this week that was part of a campaign to revive the battered tourism industry following the outbreak of swine flu, reported his record label company Sony.

The pledge taken by Shakira, the interpreter of “The hips do not lie,” was a gift to fellow Mexican Alejandro Fernandez, who also participates in the campaign to promote Mexico as a safe destination and where the authorities say they have controlled the epidemic.

Mexico had suspended school activities for a couple of weeks and some business activities between April and May due to the detection of  the new influenza A virus H1N1, which has left more than 5,700 infected (fewer than the U.S.) and at least 106 deaths in the country.

A press statement released by Sony, the label of the Colombian artist, explained that the purpose of Shakira’s stay in Los Angeles is to record a video, but they did not specify whether this will be new material to be recorded from the multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy award winner.

Shakira aboga por turismo a México
vie 05 jun – 18h11

MEXICO (AP) – “Muñecas como esta vacacionan en México” se leía en una camiseta que la cantante colombiana Shakira lució en Los Angeles esta semana y fue parte de una campaña para reactivar la industria turística del país golpeada tras el brote de gripe porcina, informó su firma disquera.

La prenda que llevó la intérprete de “Las caderas no mienten” fue un regalo que le hizo su colega mexicano Alejandro Fernández, quien también participa en la campaña para promover a México como un destino seguro y en donde las autoridades dicen haber controlado la emergencia epidemiológica.

México debió suspender durante un par de semanas las actividades escolares y parcialmente las comerciales entre abril y mayo debido a la detección del nuevo virus de influenza A H1N1, que ha dejado más de 5.700 contagiados y al menos 106 muertos en el país.

Un comunicado de prensa divulgado por Sony, el sello disquero de la artista colombiana, explicó que la estancia de Shakira en Los Angeles tiene el objeto de grabar un video, aunque no se especificó si se trata de algún nuevo material que esté por lanzar la ganadora de múltiples Grammy y Latin Grammy.

Source:  Yahoo! Musica Mexico http://new.mx.music.yahoo.com/news/read///05062009/8/entretenimiento-shakira-aboga-turismo-mexico.html

Flying? Don’t Book Under a Nickname

From the New York Times, June 6, 2009: Tips for having all your travel documents match with the same name.

The Transportation Security Administration is getting ready to take over responsibility from the airlines for checking passengers’ names against terrorist watch lists, and is advising travelers to start booking airline tickets using their full name as it appears on their driver’s license or passport.  Full text here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/09/business/09security.html?_r=1&hpw

What do you love about Oaxaca? Add a Comment

Contribute to the Oaxaca Cultural Navigator blog and tell us your favorite things about Oaxaca:  the food you like and where you like to eat it, the arts and crafts — who makes it and where you buy it, street life, music, textiles, wood carving, pottery, beverages, lodging, villages, shopping, archeology, and whatever else about Oaxaca that comes to mind.  Use the comments box to reply.

What Janet Chavez Santiago loves about Oaxaca:

I love the weather, the quesillo.

I love the kindness of people.

I think Oaxaca is the warmest state in the country.

Also, I love its cultural diversity!!

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