February 15-21, 2014 (For tour price and other information, please see the Trip Details sidebar on this page)
Sunday to Market and Revolutionary Potters. Five Thousand Weavers! The Blind Potter and a Mirror to Build a Church. The Hidden Whittlers. Smoking Kilns and Recycled Art.
Trip
Details
Where
Oaxaca Valley, Mexico
When
February 15-21, 2014
Duration
Seven days/Six nights
Cost
6-12 pax $1,600, 3-5 pax $1,840, includes all lodging (double occupancy), listed meals, all local transport, entry fees, small group travel-6-10 passengers. Single supplement - $260.
Potters, weavers, wood carvers, basket and candle makers. Oaxaca valley holds perhaps the richest concentration of creative, traditional artisans in all of Mexico. From artisans who create their wares for the local weekly market to those who have been featured in books and shown their work internationally, this tour introduces you to the best of a creative world.
From Zapotec villages and artisan homes, to a grand Sunday market and the silent stone remains of great palaces we take a meaningful peek into that which makes Oaxaca so special; it’s people, customs and roots.
This is a journey for people who love folkart and culture, and like all of our adventures, it is for travelers who would rather go beyond the tourist side-shows and find what is authentic in a place and the people who bring it to life.
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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) Sunday toMarket and Revolutionary Potters. Sunday has been market day in Tlacolula for a thousand years, and today is no exception. There is no better place to begin a folkart journey, for all of Oaxaca’s folkart, humble or high, traces its origins to items made for the market. We’ll explore this wonderful market, learning about the unusual foods, the iron smith’s trade and the yoke maker’s wood. Then we visit a family of Zapotec potters in San Marcos Tlapazola who have been creating pots for 150 generations. We’ll learn how this family is quietly revolutionizing the way things are done here. We’ll spend the evening at a cozy, family run hotel in the village of Teotitlan del Valle.
Day 3, (BLD) Five Thousand Weavers! (Don’t worry, we won’t be meeting all of them.) Teotitlan del Valle is Mexico’s largest tapestry weaving village . Almost every family in this friendly Zapotec village creates colorful woolen tapestries. We will visit two masters. One who has refined natural dyeing to a fine art and another who turns fine art into woven tapestry. We’ll also visit an artisan who makes wonderfully gaudy ritual candles from beeswax and have a home cooked lunch in a village household. In the afternoon we step back in time and explore the quiet stones of the fallen palaces, temples and ball court of Yagul. Evening in Teotitlan del Valle.
Day 4, (BL) The Hidden Whittlers. We travel onward today to the rolling, grass covered hills and tree lined hollows of La Union. This small settlement is home to a handful of seldom visited but very skilled wood figure carvers. We will meet with a couple of these knife wielding country gentlemen and see how they turn a round of wood into a colorful creation. Then to Atzompa, a village that may have been producing pottery as far back as 3,500BC! We’ll meet two extraordinary potters today, one who was featured in the fine book, Great Masters of Mexican Folkart, and another who was recently awarded the nation’s highest honor for creative artists. Yet both are humble masters, clearly rooted in their past, yet with a vision towards tomorrow. We spend the night in Oaxaca city.
Day 5, (L) The Blind Potter and a Mirror to Build a Church. Going against the odds, a potter loses his sight and continues working; a village church and local jobs rebuilt one mirror at a time…and more!A journey into unique stories: Jose Garcia has been blind for years but creates with more passion than ever, his home and courtyard a fairly tale land of his clay sculptures; nearby in Zegache there was an ancient and decaying church and decaying work options, but a creative project is afoot offering alternatives to both, renovating the church and generating local jobs through the crafting of…mirrors < http://www.proyectozegache.com/main_en.php> ! And more- Lunch in the market with Frida Kahlo’s twin (?). And a visit to a household of weavers who are masters on the backstrap loom. Night in Oaxaca.
Day 6, (LD) Smoking Kilns and Recycled Art. Oaxaca’s most famous pottery is the smoke black pottery of Coyotepec. There are thousands of potters in this village, but to get a sense of this village we will visit two very select potters who mark the extreme of a spectrum. The first is an old-time gentleman who is one of the very last potters making the sturdy and lovely old-style Coyotepec pottery. The other, Carlomagno, creates contemporary works with the clay, has exhibited internationally and was featured in Great Masters of Mexican Folkart. Then we visit artisans who take one of Oaxaca…and the planet’s, most abundant resources, garbage, and turns it all variety of creative and fascinating objects. In the afternoon we return to Oaxaca city. You will have free time or the option of a visit to the Oaxaca Textile Museum. Night in Oaxaca
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Day 2, (LD) Sunday to Market and Revolutionary Potters. Sunday has been market day in Tlacolula for a thousand years, and today is no exception. There is no better place to begin a folkart journey, for all of Oaxaca’s folkart, humble or high, traces its origins to items made for the market. We’ll explore this wonderful market, learning about the unusual foods, the iron smith’s trade and the yoke maker’s wood. Then we visit a family of Zapotec potters in San Marcos Tlapazola who have been creating pots for 150 generations. We’ll learn how this family is quietly revolutionizing the way things are done here. We’ll spend the evening at a cozy, family run hotel in the village of Teotitlan del Valle. .jpg)
Day 3, (BLD) Five Thousand Weavers! (Don’t worry, we won’t be meeting all of them.) Teotitlan del Valle is Mexico’s largest tapestry weaving village . Almost every family in this friendly Zapotec village creates colorful woolen tapestries. We will visit two masters. One who has refined natural dyeing to a fine art and another who turns fine art into woven tapestry. We’ll also visit an artisan who makes wonderfully gaudy ritual candles from beeswax and have a home cooked lunch in a village household. In the afternoon we step back in time and explore the quiet stones of the fallen palaces, temples and ball court of Yagul. Evening in Teotitlan del Valle. .jpg)
Day 4, (BL) The Hidden Whittlers. We travel onward today to the rolling, grass covered hills and tree lined hollows of La Union. This small settlement is home to a handful of seldom visited but very skilled wood figure carvers. We will meet with a couple of these knife wielding country gentlemen and see how they turn a round of wood into a colorful creation. Then to Atzompa, a village that may have been producing pottery as far back as 3,500BC! We’ll meet two extraordinary potters today, one who was featured in the fine book, Great Masters of Mexican Folkart, and another who was recently awarded the nation’s highest honor for creative artists. Yet both are humble masters, clearly rooted in their past, yet with a vision towards tomorrow. We spend the night in Oaxaca city..jpg)
Day 6, (LD) Smoking Kilns and Recycled Art. Oaxaca’s most famous pottery is the smoke black pottery of Coyotepec. There are thousands of potters in this village, but to get a sense of this village we will visit two very select potters who mark the extreme of a spectrum. The first is an old-time gentleman who is one of the very last potters making the sturdy and lovely old-style Coyotepec pottery. The other, Carlomagno, creates contemporary works with the clay, has exhibited internationally and was featured in Great Masters of Mexican Folkart. Then we visit artisans who take one of Oaxaca…and the planet’s, most abundant resources, garbage, and turns it all variety of creative and fascinating objects. In the afternoon we return to Oaxaca city. You will have free time or the option of a visit to the Oaxaca Textile Museum. Night in Oaxaca