In December of 2012 the Museo Textil de Oaxaca hosted two
important exhibitions. One
traditional, called Threads of the cloud people, consisted of textiles from all
over the state of Oaxaca dating from the late 19th century to the
present; the other consisted of commissioned work called Nuevo diseño textil
2011. You might think of the
second as an extension of the first.
This post will include photos from Threads of the cloud people. For more photos and a chance to enlarge them to the size of the opening photo, please check out my Picasa photo album. A following post will cover Nuevo
diseño textil 2011. In the words
of Alejandro de Ávila B., curator:
Threads of the cloud people, communal textiles from Oaxaca
The diversity of their materials, styles and designs brings
Oaxacan textiles to the forefront among the visual arts of the Americas. In
this mountainous, ecologically complex region, where the main ethnic groups
call themselves the "cloud people" and "sacred rain's
collectivity," many kinds of plants, animals and minerals have been used
to obtain fibers and dyestuffs, probably in greater variety than in other areas
on this continent. In tandem, woven structures appear to have become more
diversified in Oaxaca than in other regions of Mexico and Central America. Many
of those fibers, colorants and techniques ceased to be used in the last fifty
years. Lost along with them were fine manual skills and a wide repertoire of
designs. The majority of the
weavings and embroideries were not produced for commercial purposes, but to be
used by the people who made them in the indigenous communities, as well as in
Afro-Mexican and Mestizo towns. Intended for the domestic and ritual life of
groups who are culturally distinct, huipiles and other garments preserved
iconographic and stylistic traits that evoke different historic periods.
Maintained alive with those traits was a tradition of narrative that recreates,
in some cases, the meaning of the woven figures.
We have selected for this exhibit some outstanding pieces in
the collection of the Museo Textil de Oaxaca to illustrate the variety of
materials and designs in textiles that were manufactured for peoples' own use
in different areas of the state. As we present everyday and ceremonial garments
that date from the late 19th to the 21st centuries, we aim to put into
perspective a rapid evolution of attire, what we could call the communal
fashions of Oaxaca of the last one hundred years. We do not show here weavings
or embroideries made for the outside market once tourism took hold; we exclude
commercial pieces in order to highlight the sheer diversity and the aesthetic
refinement of textiles created by exceptionally talented individuals to dress
themselves and their families. In choosing the pieces for the show, we have
tried to cover evenly the different ethnic groups in the state, including
people of African and European cultural ancestry.
The exhibit is organized in four chronological sections. The
first shows the earliest pieces in our holdings, woven during the second half
of the 19th century and the early 1900s.
Salient among them is an exceptional rebozo, the only silk weaving that
has been preserved from Coyotepec, dyed with the most important dyestuffs in
Mesoamerica: cochineal, indigo and shellfish purple. The second section of the
show includes pieces that were made in the early decades of the 20th century,
when worsted yarn and other industrial manufactures became widespread in
southern Mexico. A beautiful
wraparound skirt from Tututepec illustrates the early adoption of machine-spun
threads and synthetic dyes, combined with traditional materials. The third section features weavings and
embroideries made in the mid-1900s, a period of drastic change in many
communities. A huipil from Choapan, decorated with two techniques historically
restricted to Oaxaca, bears witness to the loss of the textile arts in various
areas of the state during that period. The fourth section is dedicated to the
late 20th century and the most recent decade, which have seen the
introduction of acrylic wool and other fibers derived from petroleum. A blouse
from Santa Lucía Miahuitlán, embroidered in 2009, attests to the vitality of an
elegant and delicate taste for textiles in some of the poorest communities of
our country. The most important
exhibit mounted so far in this museum thus ends on a note of hope.
Alejandro de Ávila B.
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