San Augustin Etla

San Augustine de Etla is not in any tourist book, including Moon and Lonely Planet. It's not on a bus route, and is several miles from the main road heading north out of the city. But, it's worth looking for! There is an old cloth weaving factory there, vacant for I don't know how many years. Francisco Toledo (you know, the famous artist) took on the job of renovating the old mill several years ago, revealing a beautiful space for an art gallery. Stuart and I stumbled on the village before the work began, and feel priviledged to have seen it during it's rebirth. We went there, originally, to see a tiny paper manufacturing co-op. The village, who's population appears to be less than 1,000, is up the mountain a little bit. The magic of the little village, apart from the beauty of it's location and the quiet, is there is water flowing. Water is a magic word in this high, dry valley.

There is an impossibly white church in the center of the vilage, beside the old mill. This photo doesn't begin to describe it's brilliance.

With friends, Jerry, Eshkie and Paula, I walked to the second class bus station and caught a collectivo. A collectivo is a taxi that picks up more people as it goes. The driver will pick up as many people as possible, without concern for space in the car. You might sit in someone's lap, or they in yours! Everyone pays 10 pesos, not matter how far they are going, or how many are in the car. The first passgeners determine the route. Size does NOT matter! The four of us paid a little extra($1us), when we found an empty collectivo, to have the car to ourselves. It's about a 20 minute drive to the village, the last part on badly rutted dirt roads. When we arrived in San Augustine de Etla, the locals were hanging the Christmas banners across the tiny street. A banner is a rope draped with spanish moss (remember, there is water here), and some paper christmas themed cut-outs. A pinata is at the center of each banner. I think one family is in charge of the cost of the supplies, the padre de decoracion de Navidad. Otherwise, not a creature was stirring in town.

This is one of the pools installed in the empty courtyard of the Gallery. The sky is unbelievably blue, and clear! There are quiet waterfalls and endless pools, like this one, all around the Gallery.

Inside the Gallery, on the first floor, we found an exhibit of watercolors on hand-made paper. The light is perfect, coming from all four sides. Three artists were featured here, and I was particularly drawn to the work of Victoria Compan'. The large sheets of hand-made paper in the center of the gallery moved slightly with the breeze, and when someone passed. Victoria's exhibit included some beautiful hand-made books, which you know I loved! I'll post more pictures...