Textile Museum of Oaxaca

Stuart and I finally found time to visit the Textile Museum of Oaxaca. It's purpose is to support the work of women in the state, and they've concentrated on the artwork of indigenous women. Our neighbor, Tom Feher, contributed all the photographs in a book about the women of Miramar, a remote village in the mountains north of Oaxaca city. The books were published in Mexico City, and arrived just last week here, and in Boston , where the woman who wrote the text lives. Judith Lockhart-Radtke. Judith has been a supporter of the Circle of Women in Boston for a few years, and lives part time in Oaxaca. The book is beautifully presented, and tells the story of a multi-year project to form a cooperative with the women in the tiny village.

www.mixtecaweavers.com

Initially, the marketing was done in the Boston area, with members of the Circle of Women volunteering their time and energy to sell the beautiful weavings. The next phase of the project is to complete a marketing plan to be executed by the women of Miramar. The group is now known as the Mixtec Weavers, and have taken big steps towards independance by paying back the start-up loan quickly, and learning to speak, read and write spanish...their second language. A literacy program was developed specifically for them, by volunteers. Entitled, "Reading with all the senses", it began with drawing pictures of familiar things such as coffee, flowers and tortillas.

The women of Miramar live in a communal culture, one that supports each person in the village. But it is also a machismo culture, one where women are less valued than men. Even though they tend the children, tend the animals, tend the crops, tend the coffee, harvest the coffee, do all the cooking and washing! It is mostly a women's village now, since most of the men have gone north to earn money. According to the book, there are 117 homes inthe village, and 18 have running water, sewer and electricity. The others have some of these services. Of the 301 women, 100 have complete primary school. I assume that most of the 100 are younger women. The school is a one hour walk in the mountains, no roads, only trails.

The book, "Weaving Yarn, Weaving Culture,Weaving Lives: A circle of women in Maramar, Oaxaca, Mexico" is on sale now. Tom has signed my copy!

All this brings me back to the Textile Museum of Oaxaca. This is where the women of Miramar first exhibited, and Tom and wife Joann were largely responsible for the formation of both the cooperative and their exhibit. It's a lovely museum, in a renovated Spanish convent. The current exhibit is embroidered paintings, by Natividad Amador and other artists. Natividad studied art at the university here in Oaxaca, and has mastered a beautiful embroidery technique that has much power and expression. I snapped the photo above at the exhibit. Her artwork took my breath away! Stuart was equally enthralled, and that's saying something! Joann and Tom happened to come into the museum while we were there yesterday, and she mentioned that Natividad is teaching a class in late January. Well, I MUST get in this class! Joann volunteered to talk to the Education Coordinator, and to our surprise, he happened to be at the Museum yesterday morning, too. He accepted my payment of about $50US for one week of study with Natividad. Fifty dollars for 40 hours of study!

We're leaving for Guatemala Monday morning, in order to get back in town for the class, which begins January 24. How's that for a circuitous tale?