Bordado con amor

If you know me (and I'm guessing you do because approximately 7 people know about this blog), you know I love embroidered clothing, especially from Mexico. I mean, I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this love. You also know I love color. LOVE COLOR. This is not a love shared by everyone and certainly not one I've had my whole life (had to do the wear all black all the time because sophisticated!) or at least not one I've expressed all my life. But certainly for quite some time (have you seen my hair?!). Both these loves are synthesized in Oaxaca, and actually create a love that is more than the sum of its two love parts. Not sure that made any sense. I guess it's that love is not additive but non-linear in some fashion or other.

As we were deciding on where in Mexico to live, we quickly became enamored of Oaxaca, in part because of the rich and incredible diversity of its arts & crafts or artisanal traditions. Relevant for this post are the textile/clothing artesanías (artisanal handicrafts) of Oaxaca. As I learned a little bit more about them, the more I realized that every single embroidered ("bordados" in the vernacular here) piece of clothing I had gotten de una manera or otra (one way or another) was actually from somewhere in Oaxaca even if when I bought it, they just said it was "Mexican." I took this as kind of a sign that Oaxaca was where we were meant to go.

dress from San Antonino

Now, even saying that an embroidered piece of clothing is from Oaxaca is not enough detail. Because the traditions are so varied, and depend on what indigenous group/tradition is doing the embroidery but ALSO-- what pueblo/village/area the artist is from. It's incredibly specific. And I'm only just barely learning all the different traditions and artistry and how to identify them.

There are some traditions that for whatever reason I've been able to zero in on-- like the blusas (blouses) from San Antonino Castillo Velasco which are intricate and often use silver or gold or otherwise shiny thread to do the embroidery (see photo; not mine, I haven't bought one of these yet). These are easy for me to identify, possibly because I grew up wearing dresses with a similar approach (only not nearly so dense and intricate designs). Also the Tehuana shirts and dresses (made most famous by Frida Kahlo and now hopefully by the photographer David Huerta; see also this world exists blog for some outstanding example of Huerta's work in Oaxaca), usually from the area around Juchitan de Zaragoza, embroidered by the Zapotec women there, are easy for me to identify, at least to the Istmo de

dancers wearing traditional hand-bordado Tehuana clothing

Tehuantapec (see foto this one is mine, from the Guelaguetza!).  But little by little I am learning what the various traditions are and at least I am often able to identify which of the indigenous groups a particular style is associated with. Well, 50% of the time, anyway. I have much learning to do! I'm so excited.

One of the benefits of living in Oaxaca de Juárez is that there are frequently ferias or expos in the city of artesanías. We will get out to as many of the pueblos as we can but going to the ferias here in town is a good way to get a sense of what's out there and to get completely overwhelmed by the diversity and the utter beauty of the traditions, ja! And also overwhelmed by a desire to buy one of everything! Fortunately, my natural shyness leads me to be quite restrained-- it's hard for me to go up and start chatting with the artists (who are often working away in their stand) and inquiring about prices and details about whether anything will fit me (their answer is always yes, regardless of the size, lol), giant guerita that I am! This last weekend was the Expo de los Pueblos Indigenas. And I managed to zero in on a few things that I really really loved and couldn't quite live without. Pictured below (and up a the top of the blog post) is a foto of me wearing one of these purchases*. This blusa was made by the Ndixtjo Grupo Cultural "Pequeños que Brotan" from the community of Huautla de Jimenez. This a Mazatec territory and town (and in fact is known as Tejao in the Mazatec language; Huautla is the Nahuatl name and Jimenez is for the first governor of Oaxaca to visit Mazatec land) located in the Cañada region-- northern part of the state. The history of this community reaches back at least as far as the Azteca empire (who they paid tribute to). I fell in love with the pavos (turkeys) done in so many colors! The woman tending the stand and I had a good joke about how much I love all the colors together. Also, turkeys are an often depicted creature in the bordados of Mazatec people (as well as in that of other indigeneous groups in Oaxaca) as it is a central animal in their culture, used for both food and in spiritual/religious/cultural ceremonies (more on this as I learn more! but we did see turkeys included in the dances from the Mazatec communities at the Guelaguetza). I am so deeply in awe and grateful for their artistry and for sharing that with me. I only hope that I can wear this blusa, knowing a little more of their history, their traditions, represent the Mazatec women artists of Tejao/Huautla de Jimenez faithfully and with humility, and without cultural appropriation.

Nina xi tajbechili** (thank you) for reading! Nina xi tajbechili to the artist of Pequeños que Brotan who made my beautifully embroidered shirt.

*A brief aside: I do not haggle or bargain while buying artesanías. Depending on who you talk to, haggling and bargaining is a native and expected custom to Mexico, or a practice that has gotten way out of control when used by extranjeros and is exploitative of the artists/artisans. After a good bit of soul-searching, I've decided that I am not going to bargain or haggle. These pieces? They are ridiculously cheap to begin with, for a privileged American. And they are most often HAND-EMBROIDERED, not even with a sewing machine. It take a lot of work and a lot of artistry and talent and practice. I would like to honor that and pay them a fraction of the worth. I just can't sleep at night otherwise. If that makes me a "fool" in the eyes of some, or an object of mirth by the sellers who can't believe they just made such a great sale-- I don't really care. Maybe they get to tell the story of the shirt they sold to a crazy blue/purple/green-haired guerita who speaks like a Chilanga, that's okay with me!

**I don't know how to pronounce this. Yet. If we make it to a Mazatec town, I will try to learn some basic phrases before we go so I can express myself in their native language.