SILK, WOOL, AND CORN HUSKS
Fiber Arts of Oaxaca
March 3-9, 2012
(For tour price and other information, please see the Trip Details sidebar on this page)
Sunday Market and Stone Tapestries. Masters of the Loom. Silk in the Sierra Madre. Urban Threads. Backstrap, Bugs and Cornhusks.
Trip
Details |
| Where |
Oaxaca Valley, Mexico |
| When |
March 3-9, 2012 |
| Duration |
Seven days/Six nights |
| Cost |
$1,470, includes all lodging (double occupancy), listed meals, all local transport, entry fees, small group travel-6-10 passengers. Single supplement - $210. |
| Trip Guide |
Linda Hanna
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A village of 5,000 weavers, the place where the best natural red dye on earth was first cultivated, back strap weavers, remote pueblos where a 500 year old Spanish silk tradition still carries on, high sierras, deep valleys, lost colonial churches, Zapotec pyramids, indigenous markets and one of the most gorgeous colonial cities in Mexico. Our 6-night journey through the Oaxacan highlands is a spectacular adventure into an ancient world of textiles and beauty.
This trip is built around weaving, dyeing and spinning, arts that have been continuously practiced in Oaxaca for thousands of years. But more, it is about stepping into a different culture; it is about people meeting people through the bridge of common interests. Our interest in textiles opens doors that might otherwise remain closed; it gives us a reason to travel deep into an unknown and exotic land, and come away feeling less like strangers and more like friends.
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(Meals included B=breakfast, L=lunch, D=dinner)
Day 1, (D) Arrivals. First meeting at hotel at 6pm followed by a group dinner. Night in Oaxaca.
 Day 2, (LD) Woven Market and Stone Tapestries. Sunday has been market day in Tlacolula for a thousand years, and today is no exception. We immerse ourselves in this glorious cacophony, with an eye out for threads- wool rugs, cotton shawls, smooth hammocks, hand twined rope, cane baskets, horse hair bridals, net bags and so on. The market is endless and full of treasures. Then onward to the ruined palaces of Mitla to gaze at the stone tapestries that have adorned these palaces for a thousand years. In the afternoon we will settle into our lodging, run by a family of weavers, on the edge of Mexico’s greatest weaving village, Teotitlan del Valle.
Day 3, (BLD) Masters of the Loom. Today, out our front door, an in depth journey into the Zapotec village of 5,000 weavers, Teotitlan del Valle. Weaving, natural dyeing, spinning, art tapestries, 15 ft looms and a home cooked lunch. We immerse ourselves in this creative and culturally rich village, visiting a cross section of weavers who exemplify the diversity of tapestry weaving being done here from well made floor rugs to luxury center pieces of fine alpaca and mohair wools or even contemporary loom “paintings”. We’ll spend time with one of the few authentic master natural dyers who is part of a small dyeing renaissance happening in the village. Much of the best weaving in Teotitlan happens behind workshop doors and it can be hard to know where to go and who to visit. We know and take you there, sharing a quality look at this most spectacular of artisan villages. Evening in Teotitlan del Valle.
 Day 4, (BLD) There’s Silk in the Sierra Madre! Today to the mountains! We visit a remote village where some of the last inheritors of a 450 year-old silk cultivation and weaving tradition are found and a coop working to rescue the silk way.The pine covered peaks that rise high above Oaxaca City are part of the Eastern Sierra Madre. Into them we travel today to visit one of the last surviving silk production areas in Mexico. 450 years ago the silk trade was booming throughout but by 1620 that boom was bust and silk had all but disappeared from Mexico. However Oaxaca, remote, hidden and deeply rooted, hasn’t paid much attention to the wider world’s cycles of boom and bust. What you no longer find anywhere else you still find in Oaxaca. Today we’ll meet members of a cooperative who have been on the forefront of an effort to revive sericulture in Oaxaca and see their beautiful creations of handspun silk woven on backstrap and floor looms and often colored with natural dyes. Evening in Teotitlan.
 Day 5, (BL) Urban Threads. We leave small town for city today, exploring the finer side of Oaxacan threads. We’ll enjoy a special visit to the Oaxacan Textile Museum to see their current show and a peek at their archives. We’ll also visit a store that is like a museum, for it has the best of the best in traditional Oaxacan textiles. To walk through here is to travel this broad and diverse state through its weavings. There will also be time to simply enjoy this beautiful, UNESCO world heritage city with its colonial buildings, tree shaded central plaza, shops and museums. Evening in Oaxaca.
Day 6, (LD) Backstrap, Bugs and Cornhusks. To the Ocotlan valley where we visit three villages, settling into the shady courtyards of artisans’ homes, learning about their trades, their lives, and sharing conversation. The backstrap weavers of Jalietza are the last traditional backstrap weavers in the Oaxaca valleys. Nearby we meet an artisan who ingeniously uses cornhusks to create figures, baskets and decorations. And we’ll stop at a center for study and cultivation of a little bug called cochineal that has had a big impact on the world of textiles, for this is the  source of the best natural red dye ever to exist. We’ll also stop for lunch in the market and meet a woman who you could mistake for Frida Kahlo. (don’t know who Frida is? Google her, she wore fine textiles!). In the evening we’ll get together for a final meal together and goodbyes. Evening in Oaxaca.
Day 7. Departures.
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