Not My Michoacán

I opened up my ever-thinner San Francisco Chronicle yesterday morning and there was yet another warning for Americans to "avoid unnecessary travel" to Michoacán, Mexico. It has been a week since we said goodbye to Michoacan, and I have been so busy unpacking our treasures and doing mundane chores like laundry and paying bills, that I had forgotten how scary it must have been for us to be there---NOT! Even the Chicano customs agent at the New Mexico border crossing (who works every day at the border about 40 miles west of Ciudad Juarez) raised an eyebrow and commented that we were "very brave". Oh really? Has he ever been to Michoacán? No, he hasn't, nor have most of the people who report on or freely offer their opinions on the danger. Yes, it is different now. The first day we woke up in Mexico on our drive down this year, we turned on our hotel's TV for a bit of news and were shocked to hear about about a nation-wide attack that took place the night before in several cities, including Morelia where we were headed. We knew the targets of the narcos' very organized attack were federal police-- not us-- but still we were a bit freaked. After discussing our options for a few moments, we decided to continue on with caution.
What we found when we arrived was a different scene from the very familiar Avenida Madero we were used to walking: dozens of military personnel carriers with young guys holding M16s driving down the street. Did it make us pause? Absolutely. But other than that, there was no time when we felt concerned about our safety, or for the safety of our tourists for whom we were responsible.
We all had a wonderful time exploring Morelia, Patzcuaro and surrounding villages, such as Cuanajo where we all had a great time with our favorite weaver, Natividad and her family. (see right)
This post is not intended to be a comprehensive report on the Mexican drug wars, its causes and the solutions, but merely a perspective to counteract the exaggerations we are seeing in the U.S. media around the dangers of traveling in Mexico. If someone were to ask me if it is safe to travel in California, I would have to say that depends...where and when? Same goes for traveling in Mexico. One must always be aware, exercise caution, and use common sense. Does it look like the folks below are in danger? Mexico By Hand Art and Culture Tour group #1 had a great time this July cooking up a meal of chiles en nogada in the beautiful kitchen at the Meson de San Antonio in Patzcuaro. Sharry Hickey (seated below on the right--check out her cooking blog) was head chef and Doug and Holly Barrett (current elem. art teacher and former culinary student) were her sous chefs.













The artisans are hurting as a result of the reports, because tourism is definitely down. We felt good about being there, doing what we can to let people know that we are with them, and feel solidarity with the overwhelmingly good people of Mexico who are living with uncertainty about what the recent events (including the swine flu outbreak) will do to their future ability to make a living. We bought beautiful art from talented indigenous artisans who are greatful for the opportunity to sell it to anyone who comes by. Unfortunately, they are not coming by. Except for a few "brave" souls like the intrepid, Daulton Bush who came on our second tour this summer. Here's what she had to say:

"At age 67, I have traveled extensively on numerous trips throughout the United States, Europe and Mexico. I feel more safe strolling the streets of Mexico, day or night, than I do in the US and Europe. NOT ONCE on my recent Mexico By Hand tour to Michoacan did I experience even the slightest tinge of fear. Several days were spent in Morelia, a fairly large city, and I found, without exception, the people I met to be warm, friendly and accommodating. I was equally "at home" in Patzcuaro, a charismatic village with a charming populace. I think fear can be our worst enemy, and if one allows it to overtake the desire to experience other cultures, then there is a great loss of adventure and sharing with humanity. Life is what we make it!!!"

If you'd like to read more of Daulton's comments on the Mexico By Hand Art and Culture Tour, go to our website: www.mexicobyhand.com and see her testimonial. And if you would like to help Michoacán's artisans and their families and enrich your own life at the same time, you can purchase their art by going to our e-store at: www.mexicobyhand.com.

Santa Fe International Folk Art Market

It is a unique event...an amazing collection of some of the best folk art and crafts in the world. And we were there, exhibiting for the third time, and even with the sluggish economy, the crowds were huge! Teofila Servin (see photo) who embroiders scenes of life around Lake Patzcuaro and demonstrated in our booth, was thrilled with the entire event. Not only did she sell a lot of her work and that of the cooperative of women she represents, but she had the opportunity to meet and make friends with fellow artists from all over the planet.


The hammered copper by Roberto Castro Hernandez from Santa Clara del Cobre (below) was a big hit as well...we were sold out before noon on the second day. But we are buying more, which will be available for sale on our e-store at www.mexicobyhand.com.
For more photos and info. about the Folk Art Market, check out www.folkartmarket.org





Above, artist Teofila Servin signs her exhibition rebozo-- definitely the star of the collection.
For more info. on Teo and her work, see blog post of July 5th below. To purchase Teo's embroideries, check out www.mexicobyhand.com or write us at info@mexicobyhand.com

Rebozos!

Juana Cano Sebastian is the leader of a group of women in the remote Indigenous village of Turicuaro, Michoacan where they weave fine beautiful cotton rebozos, (shawls), napkins, and bedspreads on a backstrap loom. The photo on the left was taken when Juana delivered about three dozen rebozos to me that were ordered by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. She traveled about an hour by combi (micro-bus) to meet us at our hotel, Meson de San Antonio in Patzcuaro, barefoot as usual, greeting me with her usual warm embrace. We placed our order with Juana and her daughters, who are also skilled weavers, a month before on our first visit to her village, which is located in a remote Michoacan valley that looked to us like our version of Paradise. Several friendly townspeople assisted us in our search for her house, and because it was the rainy season, the women were weaving inside. Normally the backstrap looms are tied to a tree in the patio. One of Juana's daughters is weaving below while two of Juana's grandchildren were running around outside.










Juana learned how to weave from her husband’s aunt, and then taught her daughter-in-law, Aurelia Martinez Vargas, and her daughters, Ana Luisa, Isidora, and Socorro. The women of Turicuaro, which has about 1,800 inhabitants, have been weaving fine rebozos similar to these for hundreds of year. The women soak the cotton yarn in a large tub of water mixed with “almidon” which is a corn starch. They rinse and dry it, and then form the yarn into balls. The Turicuaro weavers make rebozos with stripes, or solid color rebozos that are sometimes of the deshilado style, which means literally "un-threaded" but what we might call lacy or see-through. The intricate designs of flowers, bread, and chickens that are tied and created in the ends of the rebozos reflect the natural surroundings and daily life of the village. The work is delicate and beautiful ... it's mind boggling to me how they remember the pattern of the ancient designs.
I will be exhibiting a large selection of beautiful Turicuaro rebozos at the 2009 Santa Fe International Folk Art Market on July 11 & 12. For more info. on purchasing them, take a look at the TEXTILE pages of www.mexicobyhand.com.

Paper Mache Pirate Skeletons from Patzcuaro, Mexico

This pirate guy on your left is a recent creation of one of our favorite artisans in Mexico who makes calaca or skeleton figures-- Jose Andres Chavez of Patzcuaro, Michoacán. He makes chefs, punk rockers, doctors, all kinds of sports figures (basketball, soccer, baseball, golf, and football), brides and grooms, and of course beautiful Catrinas.
He is the guy who made the amazing life-size figures (like the one on the right) that are the prominent decoration at the peña Colibri, the great folk music club in Morelia's Centro Historico. There you can hear quality musicians perform Cuban and Mexican music every night of the week, and see a fine performance of Michoacán's Dance of the Viejitos (dance of the little old men) around midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.

But that's not my point here. This creative artist, Señor Chavez, is always trying out new ideas. So he made the pirate last year when Pirates of the Caribbean starring Johnny Depp was so popular, but then right after that, we had some real modern day pirates who started to commit some horrible violent acts...so pirates didn't look all that much fun anymore. But now I find out that there's an annual Pirate Festival that takes place in June, right here in the S.F. Bay Area, about a half hour from where I live! Thousands of people go every year, and appear to be nuts for all things pirate. I assume that most of them believe that "the only good pirate is a dead pirate". Well, the guy above...is definitely dead. Should be a popular item for these folks' Day of the Dead celebrations, don't you think?

Mr. Chavez also made us some San Francisco Giants figures, player #25 to be exact. Barry Bonds skeleton figures--plus a lot more--are also available at www.mexicobyhand.com.

Embroidered Blouses

It's a common sight in Michoacán. Women and girls sitting on small chairs,while they embroider beautiful blouses, called guanengos here in the Meseta Purepecha. They sit next to the burnished pots that are made in their village of Cocucho...hoping to sell them to tourists who flock to Uruapan during the Palm Sunday crafts fair (see post of April 12 for more) or to Patzcuaro for Day of the Dead.It's always a good time to go if you want to see a large selection of fine guanengos, and here are some samples.


The first one pictured below won a prize at the concurso, but the others are also quite beautiful.



The blouses below were made by women from Erongaricuaro and Tocuaro, two villages on the shores of Lake Patzcuaro. The women also embroider rebozos and beautiful shirts for men. Please contact me if you'd like to see more and if you're interested in making a purchase-- check out www. mexicobyhand.com to see our current selection available for sale.

Morelia's Cultural Attractions

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Anyone who has visited Mexico City for any period of time is struck by the amazing number of quality museums available. Though "chilangos" (slang term used to refer to people from Mexico City, which is called D.F. for short) look down their noses at the "provincias", meaning anywhere outside of the Mexican capital, other large cities often have wonderful museums to visit. And unlike here in the U.S. it won't cost you much, in fact many are free! I highly recommend you check them out.
In addition to the permanent regional museums that have collections about Michoacán history (unfortunately minus English translations), every time I am in Morelia, I try to visit two cultural attractions that often have wonderful temporary exhibits. The first is the Palacio Clavijero, an important historical building which has recently been renovated. In the summer of 2008 we saw a fantastic exhibit that included numerous pieces from the extensive 60,000 piece Pre-Columbian art collection of Diego Rivera, that inspired him and often appears in some of his paintings and murals. I learned from that exhibit that there was a very strong connection between Michoacan's traditional folk art and Rivera's paintings. Of course his wife, Frida Kahlo also collected pieces from Michoacan for her kitchen. In April this year I saw an interesting exhibit at the Palacio Clavijero about the Indians of the Amazon, plus a large exhibit by Mexico City surrealist painter, Arturo Rivera. The Palacio was a former Jesuit college built in 1660 and is located on Nigromante near Ocampo, between the Jardin de las Rosas (one of my favorite spots in Morelia) and the biblioteca, the old library, which you should also check out.
My other favorite museum is the modern art museum, Museum de Arte Contemporaneo Alfredo Zalce (MACAZ). Zalce was a well-loved artist from Michoacan and you can see his extraordinary murals at the Palacio de Gobierno. I saw two beautiful exhibits this past April at this small museum located in the bosque across from the aqueduct and Plaza Morelos, or "el caballito" as the locals call the large statue of Morelos on horseback. On the first floor there was a show featuring a collection all by women artists, held over from Women's History month. There I discovered Fanny Rabel, a student of Frida Kahlo's who also worked with Diego Rivera and David Siquieros, another of Mexico's most recognized muralists. She was part of the group of artists known as "Los Fridos". Rabel, originally Rabinovich, was a Polish Jew who immigrated too Mexico in 1938. She died in 2008. I found a couple of images like this lithograph and the painting above on the internet, but really there is very little information on her.
On the second floor of the museum was a color photography exhibit called "Cuatro Rumbos", which refers to the four indigenous groups in the state of Michoacán. The collection won an award from UNESCO, will be going to France's Mornay Arts Center, and later will be published as a book. There are a large number of photos of Otomi and Masawa people living in the eastern part of the state, and who are less familiar to me. Some of the Masawa women (photos below) who live in the sierra-- where the Monarch butterfly sanctuary is -- weave beautiful pine needle baskets sold by Mexico By Hand. www.mexicobyhand.com






















The Museo de Arte Contemporaneo Alfredo Zalce is open Tues.- Fri. 10-8, Sat/Sun 10-6.
Admission is free.
You can see a slide show of Ivan Holguin Sarabia's photos on the link below.
http://www.agenciainfomania.com/galerias/Cuatro%20rumbos,%20Atlas%20Etnografico%20de%20Michoacan%20de%20Ivan%20Holguin%20Sarabia/slides/IMG_8193.html

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

FELIZ DIA DE LA MADRE!

Mother's Day in Mexico is always
May 10th.
Mothers and their children in both Mexico and the United States enjoy being together. In indigenous communities in Mexico, mothers teach their daughters how to weave, make clay pots, and of course to make tortillas. Grandmothers, mothers, and children spend a great deal of time working together.



Three generations of women from the village of Cocucho are pictured above, embroidering blouses called "guanengos", while they sell their clay pots at the Palm Sunday market.

(above) Juano Cano Sebastian with one of her daughters and two grandchildren-- from the weaving village of Turícuaro.
The rebozos of Turícuaro and guanengos from Cocucha can be seen and purchased on www.mexicobyhand.com.