Oaxaca

March 7, 2009

Ciudad Oaxaca sits on the Pacific slopes of the Mexican Sierra Madre. The landscape is a transition from the tropics of central and eastern Mexico and the classic Mexico of Hollywood movies. Far from colonial, the people of Oaxaca farm corn, maguay and squash with little strong interest in beef. Goats, chickens pigs and some sheep are the livestock of choice here. Donkeys and a few oxen are the beasts of burden. These seem to be being rapidly replaced by tractors.

The city itself is driven by state government, universities and tourism. The tourists use Oaxaca as the hub to many villages famous for their handicrafts. Oaxaca is a great city for walking around downtown. Benito Juarez was born, raised, educated, and married here. His influence is everywhere in murals and statuary. Three colonial style churches are down town. All are worth a visit in their own right.

A block south of the zocalo lies the Benito Juarez Market. In seemingly no rhyme or reason, shops and stands are packed into small open buildings, alleyways, sidewalks and streets. The fare at the market includes everything necessary for life. Bananas to bluejeans, furniture to fried crickets. It's all here, and many of the vendors just want you to sample their wares. Oaxacan string cheese wound into balls looking much like yarn, and many many varieties of chocolate are unique to the market. The bustle and crowds are amazing. European and American tourists are a comical sight standing like storks among a population that averages under five feet tall.

The zocalo is full of mature laurel and jacaranda trees. A bandstand dominates the center of the plaza and is filled with soft light and music at night. The trees all have their trunks and lower limbs wrapped with lights and the park fairly glows when the sun sets. Young men and women circle the park in two's and three's strolling in opposite directions enjoying the “scenery” of the on-coming traffic. Apparently the glances and smiles grow into conversations and eventually romance. Park benches are filled by couples who sit, talk and steal an occasional kiss. A second, adjacent park is filled with families and children. Both parks are surrounded by sidewalk restaurants where people enjoy the scene, the music of the bandstand or strolling groups, and the relief from the day's heat

Monte Albán
Like most ancient Mesoamerican ruins the stories the archaeologists discover develop in layers. Monte Albán is no exception. Toltecs were the early developers of the city on a hill. Their plan took more than the reign of the Toltecs to produce. With no apparent lost steps the Zapoteks took over, inherited the plan and much technology and completed the work. A fascinating city was the result.

The layout of the city uses buildings as analogues for the surrounding mountains. Monte Albán's analog is the main temple in the center of town – much the same as the mountain's position in the Valley of Oaxaca.

Stilae found in one of the buildings – now considered to be a university or a library – are illustrations for the practice of medicine. Such things as congenital deformity, broken and misshapen limbs, internal organs and even a breech birth are all illustrated.

Not only are the sciences of astronomy illustrated in the ancient observatory, but alignment between the axes of buildings and the relative positions of buildings demonstrate exactly the variation between true north and magnetic north at the time of the city's heyday. Rainwater was managed by gathering it in aqueducts from the entire inner city and collecting it in a ceremonial cistern. Overflow from the ceremonial cistern left by underground aqueduct to a reservoir just outside the inner city. Most of the buildings were connected by underground passageways presumably for dignitaries and priests.

While Monte Albán was one of the few Mesoamerican cities designed as a fortress they too became vulnerable. Speculation runs high and no answers were recorded, but Monte Albán's lofty perch meant that it's supply lines were tenuous. Disagreements with those who would normally support the aristocracy through tributes could've cost them their reign. There are also theories that the close family ties of the aristocracy led to an unhealthy level of inbreeding.
So, all good things come to an end – as did our afternoon in Monte Albán. We left to wonder over their demise, and savor our next slice of amazing cultures.

San Bartolo Coyotepec
More than fifty years ago Doña Rosa Real worked to improve her art. She discovered a process of burnishing the surface of pots before firing to produce a high polish finish like glazed wares. Combined with a unique local clay that fires into a jet-black pot, Doña Rosa was the first to produce a whole new line of wares. The technique has been duplicated in New Mexico in a successful line of American craft, but some of the finest black ware is from Dońa Rosa's family shop in San Bartolo Coyotepec.

Today Doña Rosa's son, Dón Valente Real carries on the tradition and art form in his mother's name.

Dón Valente demonstrated the art of throwing a pot in a very traditional and effective way; Two shallow round-bottomed plates are placed, one on the floor and another on top of it so the convex sides meet. Dón Valente took about a two to three pound piece of clay and created a pinch pot with one open hand and a fist. He placed the pinch pot in the top plate. The plates rotate on each other's center such that Dón Valente was quickly able to true up and balance the work while shaping it into an open bowl slightly shorter than its width.

He explained that for strength this work would normally be allowed to rest and dry slowly for a day or so, however he demonstrated the next step straight away.

Another half pound of clay was quickly turned into a “rope” and added by the coil technique. The coil technique was used to close the top of the pot and add a shallow funnel shaped rim to form a vase. With a flick of the thumb and a couple of fingers a spout made the work into a pitcher.

He showed how berry-sized pieces of clay can add dots, leaves and flower petals. Bamboo sections make wonderful scribes and stamp impressions, and his only steel tool, a mini paring knife incises lacy openings in a piece.

All the while, a second story developed as a cat (Dón Valente says it is a stray) walked in, drank deeply from the water bucket next to the “wheel”. He checked out the guests, selected Marty (one of our caravan group) curled up in his lap and went to sleep. A few great questions and thorough answers and we all went to the show room area. With our new knowledge we appreciated anew the lovely work that surrounded us.

Arrazola
Magic flights of fantasy guide the hands of woodcarvers and decorators in the village of Arrazola. They're making “alebrijes”. Pieces of what many would see as little more than firewood inspire Arrazola's carvers to take pencil in hand, tracing rough figures onto the wood, setting a machete in motion. Flying steel and flying chips may produce something as bizarre as a flying armadillo. The figures may be as docile as a humming bird or breathe fire in flames of yellow, green and blue.

I'm not sure when the exact form comes into a mature image for the carvers, but a lot of the magic happens after carving, drying, sanding and filling. This is when the carvers (men) turn the work over to the painters (women). Dogs become pink and yellow, covered with scales, stripes or dots. Pigs go paisley, birds get covered with flowers. The forms of dragons look like they wear slips and pinafores. Life in a wooden world goes topsy-turvey.

We wander through the workshop watching carving and painting. We move on the sales tables and into images that challenge our reality. The images are at first disturbing; never off-putting, and slowly the whimsy wins us over. Pretty soon plaid chickens are pretty cool.

Pricey as things were, no one really went overboard, but just about everyone picked up a little trinket that they'll never be able to explain to a relative. You just had to have been there.

Teotitlán del Valle
Isaac Vasques Garcia lives and works in Teotitlán. His spacious home serves as living quarters, a studio and a sales area. He, with a son and a daughter demonstrated the arts of preparing wool by carding, spinning and dying. Then tightly and evenly weaving original designs and carefully selected colors into pieces of fine art. The designs range from traditional works through new art and commissioned pieces.

Mr. Garcia has decided (years ago) that his art would be most durable, most colorful and truest to its heritage if he were to use only original natural dyes. He uses only mosses and marigolds for his yellows, only indigo for the blues, and the reds come only from the cochineal (a scaly bug in a “little shell” hence the name) The bug grows solely on the nopal cactus. We call them prickly pears in the north.

The resulting works of art range from reverent to whimsical. Sizes range from place-mats to rugs about 9' by 12'. They all share a fine-textured heaviness and an evenness that testify to the skill and care of these artisans. We fell in love with one of course. We are glad to be bringing home a piece to remind us of a few hours spent with this gracious and generous family.