textiles are, in essence, the true testament - a during ... · the culture, history and identity of...

[email protected] El Güero Tours @elguerotours@elguerotours+52 1 (55) 6146 4380

Zapotec Natural Dye

and Weaving WorkshopZapotec Natural Dye

and Weaving Workshop

Textiles are, in essence, the true testament - a living representation of the history and identity of a culture - and in many cases, their only surviving legacy. On this wonderful journey, we travel to one of the most culturally rich regions of Mexico, where we’ll learn about thousand-year-old traditions in the homes and studios of those who keep them alive. Here we’ll gain a unique insight into a range of ancestral techniques, tools and theories which are steeped in distinct perceptions of the earth and cosmos, all constantly brought to life exclusively through the hues extracted from the earth’s plants and fibres.

During this five-day journey of discovery to the UNESCO World Heritage City of Oaxaca and the surrounding valleys, we’ll:

with indigenous wool-weavers in a hands-on, two-day Natural Dye and Zapotec

Weaving workshop.

the remarkable and diverse relationships between native flora and the development

of Oaxacan civilisations and their art for millennia.

the culture, history and identity of textiles and their designs.

the unique flavours of the region (the first cuisine in the

world to achieve UNESCO Culinary Heritage status).

the archaeological site which has inspired the region’s

artisans for centuries.

the studios of master craftswomen across various disciplines from textiles to

ceramics.

Meet and learn

Discover

Understand

Savour

Explore

Visit


Immerse yourself in thousand-year old art and natural dye pots! In this extraordinary, hands-on workshop, we learn at the loom of our master weaver and collaborate with a co-op committed to using only organic, natural dyes in the Zapotec community of Teotitlán del Valle, where each member ensures environmental, cultural and community sustainability is the basis for their art. Our dyes for the sheep’s wool will come harvested from the organic orchard used solely for the cultivation of fruit, medicinal plants, insects and vegetables for dyes. From these, we’ll develop our three primary colours: Rich Reds using cochinilla, a bug that hosts on the prickly pear

cactus, Brilliant Yellows from wild marigolds and finally Deep Blues from indigo, brought from the Pacific coast, as well as many overdyes that result in more than 20 colours/hues—all from our three primaries! Families here have co-created their art for generations, from preparing the wool to weaving it. In creating our own unique small piece, we will experience this communal process and see how social fabric is at the heart of textiles. As textile artists, we will compare and contrast the industry and its ethics today and learn how to discern nuances in fibre and dye quality, its impact on finished pieces and the art form itself.

Zapotec Natural Dye

and Weaving WorkshopZapotec Natural Dye

and Weaving Workshop

Photo by Cordelia Persen Photo by Eduardo Robles Pacheco

Tuesday February 20th to Saturday February 24th 2018.

The city of Oaxaca (wah-hah-kah) is home to Mexico’s most vibrant national arts and craft scene. A capital of indigenous culture, Oaxaca intrigues with an exceptional, world-renowned cuisine, all of which places it rightfully at the top of the must-experience list for any traveler interested in Mexican design, art and culture.We’ll amble through its plant-filled courtyards and shady plazas, leading us onto colonial high streets and alleys alike, each brimming with colour, exhibitions and colonial charm. (As our dates coincide with Lent, be sure to have your cameras at the ready for when we turn a corner and stumble upon a traditional street festival!) For three nights, we’ll set ourselves in the heart of the city’s elegant and fascinating cultural district before venturing out into the surrounding valleys to discover the centuries-old wonders within.

When

Where

The city’s culinary scene is one of the most exciting in Mexico, if not Latin America. To fuel our exploring, we’ll savour new twists on ancient flavours which have been an inspiring staple to the region for over 2,000 years. We’ll follow our noses through the aisles of the city’s famed food halls, sampling local delicacies from chapulines to chocolate with purveyors who have generations of experience in creating world-renowned flavours. At the end of each day, we’ll sit down to a meal that deliciously reflects the extraordinary inventiveness of the Mexican people and their abundance in nurturing ingredients.

Yum

This immersive experience is tailored for textile and fashion artists, lovers of cloth, culture and collaboration, weavers, embroiderers and visual artists who will be inspired by the stunning

textures, colours and wonder of Oaxaca.

=Join Us =

Photo by Adam_BT


Flights to and from Oaxaca from Mexico City

Accommodation: 3 nights shared occupancy in family-run, charming, central hotel. 1 night single occupancy in secluded, community-run

boutique hotel

Comfortable and private transportation from World Trade Centre in Mexico City

to Airport and within Oaxaca

Visits to a selection of the country’s most lauded

artisans’ studios

Two-Day Natural Dyes and Wool Weaving Workshop

Curated selection of exciting dinners and lunches to fuel

our exploring

All breakfasts Water on transportation All Entry Fees Tailored guided toursin English

Lunch on our last day of the trip

Alcohol Tips and gratuities Highly-recommended international health/travel/

accident insurance

Personal expenses

Trip Includes

Not Included

$1,200 USD


Upon arrival into Oaxaca City and after checking-in to our charming and centrally-located hotel, we’ll get our bearings in our new, brilliant surrounds by setting off for a spot of traditional Oaxaqueño breakfast. What better way than doing as the locals do and sitting down at one of the oldest and most famed market fondas! Here is the perfect spot to people watch campesinos, office workers and students alike set themselves up for the day, as we sample wholesome and authentic regional fare. Immersing ourselves in Oaxaca City, its flavours, people and traditions will help prepare us for our intimate explorations-to-come of the culture and art of the region.Flora has always occupied a central role in the culture and history of Oaxaca. After breakfast,

we’ll explore Oaxaca’s lush Ethnobotanical Garden to learn firsthand about the endemic flora that have served mankind for medicine, food, clothing, dyes, drink and more in the region for over 4,000 years. As well as being the most bio-diverse region in Mexico with over 900 different species recorded, Oaxaca state is also the most ethnically diverse region in the country - a combination that has produced a rich and varied symbiosis, unparalleled in Latin America - and which thrives to this day. Set inside the walls of an ornate 1500s Dominican monastery, we’ll walk through and interact with thousands of years of ethnobotanical history, gaining an understanding of the extraordinary role flora has played in the survival, development and flourishing of civilisations here.

Day OneINSPIRATION AND DISCOVERY

Photo by Eddy Milfort


Mexico’s gift to the world and the fuel of Mesoamerican civilisation after civilisation is not chilies, but corn! And it continues to be a staple in Oaxacan cuisine to this day. For our first lunch, we’ll visit one of our favourite eateries in Oaxaca to experience and savour the multiple native corn varieties; black, red, white, yellow and blue, all prepared by hand from scratch for us using methods that have remained unchanged for millennia. Here is a wonderful place to sample some of the award-winning Pluma Hidalgo coffee produced in Oaxaca. After lunch we’ll begin our discovery of Oaxaca’s diverse and distinctive textiles, their history, role and significance in Mexico at the delightful Oaxaca Museum of Textiles. Here we’ll learn of the vast array of garments in use, their development and about the various processes and techniques used in creating these works of art, some of which we’ll see still in use on our journey!

We savour a welcome dinner at acclaimed Pre-hispanic-inspired restaurant La Biznaga, where regional delicacies are prepared with great attention and flair, making for a succulent slow-food experience as we reflect on our new surrounds under the ceiba tree and look forward to the days ahead.

Day OneINSPIRATION AND DISCOVERY

Photo by Marcos Ojeda


We make the short trip from the city out into the Central Valleys, to the Zapotec archaeological site of Mitla (Place of the Rested) - a magnificent sacred city which served as a cemetery, point of entry to the world of the afterlife and place of ritual for the supreme priests and Zapotec rulers. Here we’ll learn about the unique iconography, colours and exquisite motifs dating from 450AD which have inspired artists of the region for centuries.

Day TwoLEARNING THE WAY OF

THE MASTERS

Having witnessed some of the earliest forms of surviving Zapotec art, we’ll travel to the community of Teotitlán del Valle, world-renowned for its stunning wool work and preservation of their ancestral art. To begin our two-day workshop, our master weaver will introduce us to the cooperative that works exclusively with natural dyes. Here we’ll learn about the origins, preservation and process of endemic, natural dyes straight from the co-op’s orchard of sustainably-sourced, organic materials such as pomegranate, the endemic marush, indigo, cochinilla, local tree barks and the effects of their natural fixers. In preparing our sheep’s wool, we learn how to carefully ascertain the difference in quality between various weaves and fabrics used, a technique that will serve us well in our later explorations of Oaxaca’s textiles.After setting our dyes for the evening and washing our hands for the day, we’ll sit down to a dinner of traditional Zapotec cuisine in the heart of the community, prepared by Mexico’s most celebrated female chef, where we’ll savour the fruits of these fertile lands.

Photo by Aaron Rodriguez


With our dyed wool now ready for the looms, we learn firsthand the significance and origins of the Zapotec designs based on ancient codices and architecture, before bringing them to life on the the fixed frame 2-harness pedal loom.

Such is its beauty, after the conquest of Mexico, the Spanish made cochinilla a trade secret well-hidden for over 400 years, disguising its name as grana cochinilla or “grain cochineal”, so as to keep English and Italian textile competitors from understanding the real source of those rich reds.

Upon completing our workshop and saying our farewells to the cooperative, we return to Oaxaca City to to celebrate our latest creations, over an exciting meal at one of Mexico’s most creative restaurants, famed for its inventive interpretations of quintessential Oaxacan cuisine. We can’t wait!

Day ThreeLEARNING THE WAY OF

THE MASTERS

Fun Fact:

Photo by Guy Le Page


Having gained a deep understanding of the Central Valley Zapotec culture and art, today we journey out into the diverse Southern Central Valleys of Oaxaca, to discover the southern Zapotec traditions and the artisans who keep them alive, adhering to centuries-old methods to ensure their masterly quality is not lost to industrialisation. First on our route is the indigenous market-village of Santo Tomás Jalieza, famed for its intricate designs of the splendid Zapotec dress. Here, we’ll meet an array of weavers at the town’s centuries-old market and witness first-hand the intricacies of pre-hispanic back-strap weaving which is used to create visual representations of the Zapotec cosmology, in the form of cotton huipiles (blouses), shawls and table runners.

Day FourCOMPARING AND CONTRASTING

After lunch, we continue on to the town of San Antonino Castillo Velasco, a town with a strong tradition of dress, shirt and blouse embroidery.Here we’ll visit the home and studio of an embroiderer who, with over 50 years of experience, is a true master in the gloriously detailed and brilliant silk “wedding dress” style embroidery.Before returning to Oaxaca City for the evening, we’ll stop off in the town of San Bartolo Coyotepec which has supplied the region with unique, intricate ceramics for centuries. Originally used to transport mezcal from hillside distilleries into towns and villages, these remarkable pieces are created adhering to a fascinating process. Hand-spun and kneaded

by foot, a finished piece takes up to a month to complete, with slow drying in temperature-controlled rooms, hand-polishing with quartz stone and finally pit-firing with wood, where the pieces acquire their stunning jet-black colour.Inspired by both the Mixtec and Zapotec cultures, we’ll visit the house and studio of an award-winning ceramicist who revels in creating striking, innovative and whimsical pieces. After our day of artistic exploration, we’ll take our seats at the table of one of Mexico’s most lauded chefs where we’ll sample a dynamic selection of flavours from all corners of Mexico and reflect on the magic we’ve witnessed, shared and created during our time in this special land, on our final evening in Oaxaca City.

Photo by Angélica Portales


Proficient in our new knowledge of Oaxaca textiles, we’ll visit a curated selection of textile boutiques and markets in Oaxaca City, each with unique offerings from the wider state of Oaxaca, enabling us to compare and contrast different Central Valley hues and weaves, while also discovering the diverse colour effects of endemic dyes such as those from the Pacific purpura snail, jungle tree barks and regional flowers across Oaxacan wools, cottons and silks. Today we’ll have the afternoon free to explore by foot and thrill the senses one last time at the colours, aromas and sounds of craft shops, museums and markets alike before we fly back to Mexico City in the evening.

Day FiveUNCOVERING HIDDEN WONDERS

Photo by Michael Swigart

We require a 60% deposit to secure your reservation. The deposit is due no later than 60 days before the travel date. Remaining 40% must be paid 30 days prior to our arrival. If cancellation is necessary, please notify us by email at least 30 days before the travel date to receive a 50% refund of your deposit. After that, refunds are not possible, as we will have made transportation arrangements and secured the dates and times with the weavers, as well as paid them their advance to secure their time and skills. With these communities who will open their doors to us, it is essential to keep commitments to ensure relationships continue into the future. Thank you for your understanding.

To travel and partake in the experiences with peace of mind, we highly recommend that you carry international travel/health/accident insurance. We must receive proof of insurance at least two weeks before departure to Oaxaca City. If you wish to travel uninsured, we require a .PDF copy of a signed and witnessed waiver of liability, holding harmless El Güero Tours, Quilters de México, María de Lourdes Ramírez Cruz and Benedict Ingoldsby.

[email protected]+52 1 (55) 6146 4380

El Güero Tours@elguerotours@elguerotours

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textiles are, in essence, the true testament - a during ... · the culture, history and identity of...

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