"Cover Me With Your Rebozo" - Museum of Popular Culture

A funny thing happened to this post on its way to publication. I thought I knew what I was writing about. A year ago, I published a post about rebozos. For months, Rebozos in Michoacán and Elsewhere has been among Jenny's Top Five All-Time Most-Viewed Posts.

So when the Museum of Popular Cultures in Coyoacán announced a rebozo exhibit titled "Cover Me With Your Rebozo", I was one of the first in line.

Rebozo from Exhibit "Cover Me With Your Rebozo" at the
National Museum of Popular Culture, Coyoacán (Mexico City)
Photo: Reed (Click to Enlarge)

The rebozo is a typical Mexican garment worn like a shawl. It is described poetically as the cradle that lulls, the jacket that covers, the shade that refreshes, the garment that crowns, the elegance that distinguishes. As an ongoing tradition in all parts of the country, it is regarded as a national symbol.

Gregorio de Gante's poem titled,"Ode to the Rebozo" makes explicit the symbolic value of the rebozo. The introduction to the exhibit quoted two stanzas from the poem. Curiosity piqued, I found the poem on the Internet. And that's where the post fell off the rails of this blogger's best intentions and editorial control. (See my translation, Poem: "Ode to the Rebozo")

Poem's Historical Context

The poem is beautiful; its imagery vivid. References to the rebozo's role in the life cycle of rural Mexicans resonated so strongly with my experiences in Pátzcuaro that I decided to translate the poem into English. But translation brought me up against references so distinctly Mexican that I considered omitting some stanzas. Fortunately, my inner self cautioned, "Not so fast, Jenny." I turned to my good friend and teacher of Spanish for help (CELEP).

The more I learned, the more I came to understand the poem's complexity and relevance. Not for the first time, my attempt to understand a seemingly isolated piece of the complex fabric called "the culture" of Mexico, seems to lead straight into the complexity that is Mexico's multi-layered cultural whole.

A light bulb went on as I read a biography of the poet Gregorio de Gante. Why was I not surprised to learn that Gante was born in 1890, which means he was twenty years old in 1910 when the Mexican Revolution broke out?

The poem's references are not only to the Mexican Revolution, which Gante and his brothers joined, fighting in the Revolutionary Forces under General Antonio Medina, but also to the War for Independence from Spain, which had taken place a hundred years earlier.

Brief History of Mexico | Setting the stage

I recall that Mexico's War for Independence (1810-1821) was begun by criollos (Spanish born in Mexico) rebelling against their lack of political rights and hence their exclusion from political power. Intent on maintaining control, the Spanish Crown permitted only peninsulares (Spanish born in Spain) to hold office. Once gained, however, Independence simply set off a hundred years of civil strife inside Mexico.

Conservatives favored establishment of a monarchy; Liberals favored populist, representative government. These forces struggled to gain control over the fledgling country that lacked practical experience in self-governance, including basic notions of compromise and rule of law.

The election of Porfirio Díaz in 1876 brought some stability to the country, but at a steep price. Once in office, Díaz held onto the presidency for thirty-four years (1876-1911), a period of dictatorship known as the Porfiriato. Primarily by encouraging foreign investment, Díaz not only achieved internal stability, but fostered modernization and economic growth. Economic progress, however, was achieved through violent repression and exclusion of most Mexicans from economic opportunity and power—injustices that triggered the Mexican Revolution, which broke out in 1910.

The Mexican Revolution (1910-1917) was not a coherent political movement under a unified leadership. Rather, it was another bitter fight between the landed elites and the masses in an ongoing political dynamic that continued to pit Conservatives (landed elites in favor of strong central government) against Liberals (populists in favor of representative government).

Nurturing Mexican Nationalism | Enter the rebozo

When the fighting wound down in 1917 and the dust finally settled in 1920 with the election of Álvaro Obregón as president, the landed elites had more or less prevailed over the populist forces. But if the government was intentional about subduing popular revolutionary leaders like Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa, it was equally intentional about fostering a sense of Mexican nationalism to support the nation's newly approved Constitution (1917).

To support its nationalist goal, the government drew on the traditional values of Mexico's indigenous peoples and actively supported the arts and artists. Literature, poetry, music, dance, photography and painting—all received government support. The common denominator in the theme of this cultural work was the Mexican Revolution, whose anniversary is celebrated annually on November 20.

Government support fostered the internationally recognized Mexican Mural Movement. The "Great Three" Mexican Muralists—Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Siqueiros—embraced the twin themes of indigenous values and the Mexican Revolution. In doing so, they created a mythology around the Mexican Revolution and Mexico's indigenous people. It is a mythology that remains strong in the imagination of Mexico's people to this day.

Silent films made from 1917-1920—years recognized as being a significant precursor to the famed Golden Age of Mexican Film (1935-1959)—provided valuable documentaries of key events in the Mexican Revolution. When 'talkies' arrived, the key themes were explored in various ways, often by means of tragic love stories pairing los de abajo (those from below, indigenous peoples) with los de arriba (those from above, the ruling elite).

Mariano Azuela, a physician during the Mexican Revolution, wrote a collection of short stories titled Los de abajo (Those from Below), that have become classics...as have the short stories of Juan Rulfo titled El llano en llamas (The Plains in Flames).

Regional bands playing traditional Mexican songs and traditional dances are an integral part of this national project; the world-famous Ballet Foklórico of Mexico, for example, was founded in 1952.

This, then, sets the stage for Gante's poem and for the rebozo exhibit. My translation and notes are available on Jenny's Page "Ode to the Rebozo".

"Cover Me With Your Rebozo"

The title of the exhibit at the Museum of Popular Cultures speaks to the rebozo as a transcendent national symbol that 'covers' all Mexicans: certainly, los de abajo (those from below) but los de arriba (those from above) as well.

The rebozos in the exhibit (shown below) are winners of a national competition.

Exhibit Photographs: Reed.
Click to Enlarge.

Regional Rebozos

Crafting a rebozo is a time-consuming, fifteen-step process that moves from spinning, winding, twisting and dyeing the thread, to weaving and pressing the finished product.

Given all these steps, each rebozo takes from 30-90 days to complete, depending on the complexity of the design. Both men and women weave rebozos, but the rapacejo or tejido en las puntas ['knitting on the stitches' to create the fringes], is an art practiced only by women who, with their fine finger dexterity and skill, create figures ranging from 'grecas' [traditional geometric patterns] to stars and legendary figures.

Rebozos may be of cotton, wool, silk, raw silk, or artisela. Artisela is a synthetic silk whose cellulose is made from wood fiber. Artisela, or Chardonnay silk, was invented in 1886 in France by Count Hilario of Chardonnay. Artisela was shown for the first time in Paris in 1889. Less expensive and easier to obtain than silk, artisela is often substituted for silk, which is an increasingly expensive raw material. Because of the cost, traditional silk rebozos are today generally made to order and affordable only by the wealthy few.

Rebozos are made in several states of Mexico. Each state's rebozos are identifiable by style, form and colors. The most highly recognizable rebozos come from:

• Tenancingo, State of Mexico;
• Silk rebozos, Santa María del Río, San Luis Potosí [see videos, below];
• Los palomos, Uriangato, Guanajuato [see video, below];
• Raw silk rebozos from the Cajonos region of Oaxaca [The opening 15-second segment of this UTube video is delivered in an indigenous language, but the excellent images of manual processes speak for themselves];
• Gasa (chiffon or crepe) rebozos from the Sierra Norte of Puebla; 
• Rebozos from Piedad and Aranza in Michoacán [see video, below].

Still Curious?

"Tápame con el rebozo": Recent Exhibit at Museo de Culturas Populares in Coyocán (Mexico City); also article from Milenio newspaper (in Spanish).

Piropos al Rebozo de Gregorio de Gante (Spanish original).

Casa de las Artesanías, Santa María del Río, San Luis Potosí:

• Rebozo Designs and Colors;
• Six Remarkable Ways to Wear a Rebozo.

Elsa Castillo Gallery, seda (silk) and artisela (synthetic silk made from wood fibers) rebozos from Santa María del Río, San Luis Potosí.

History of the Rebozo (Uriangato, Guanajuato): UTube video features old photographs and segments that show the spinning of thread and weavers at looms weaving rebozos.

Sociedad Cooperativa de Piedad, Michoacán (English); web site provides useful description of the process for making rebozos, including definition of key terms.

Related Jenny's posts:

• Poem: "Ode to the Rebozo" (my translation);
• Rebozos in Michoacán and Elsewhere;
• A Short History of Mexico;
• Diego Rivera: Artist for Mexico's People.

Mexico | Embroidering for Peace and Citizen Education

This piece came to me in Facebook via the Fuentes Rojas (Red Fountains) web page. Written by a Professor of Education, it is a beautiful description of the goals and motivations associated with the citizen movement Bordando por la Paz (Embroidering for Peace) now underway in Mexico and around the world. The translation is mine.

Embroidering for Peace: One Victim-One Handkerchief
Among the cities are Pátzcuaro and Zirahuén, Michoacán;
along with many U.S. and International Cities
(Click to enlarge)

"Robert Antelme's axiom:
'Do not strip anyone of their humanity'
is an ethical first principle..."

(Edgar Morin, 2006:115)

Educación personalizante: Martín López Calva*, originally published in e-consulta
Translated by Jane K. Brundage

Daniela is eleven years old and on Sundays, she has been Embroidering for Peace. She and other boys and girls often accompany their mom or dad to this activity that is as simple as it is profound. It is simply about going to the Plaza of Democracy in central Puebla between noon and 3:00 p.m., to sit together with other young people and adults from different parts of the city—people with different occupations, ideologies and beliefs—to embroider white handkerchiefs with the names and stories of the thousands of people who have died in recent years in the so-called "war on drugs" and in other events related to criminal acts, whether a product or not, of organized crime.

"A man died peppered with bullets in front of his house
after receiving warnings from an armed group to abandon the city.
Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, August 31"

Sometimes Daniela goes to the Plaza instead of watching television or going to the mall. Perhaps without realizing it, she is learning more about citizenship than she might throughout an entire school year of civics and ethics classes.

It is educational because "Embroidering for Peace" (https://www.facebook.com/BordadosPazPuebla) is an act of peaceful and organized protest that silently cries "Enough Is Enough!" to the spiral of violence that the country is experiencing. It is an educational activity not only for those involved in it but for the people who accompany those who embroider, and even for people just passing through the Plaza who stop to see. For all these people, we who embroider are witnesses of this symbolic act that aims to make visible what until now has been hidden from view.

Each white handkerchief embroidered with red thread gives voice to the name of a Mexican who has been twice removed from humanity: first because he was deprived of his life in a violent, unjust, and absurd way; and, secondly, because in impunity and oblivion, his murder has remained anonymous.

On each embroidered cloth an invisible story becomes visible. Each story acquires names and faces of those who before this symbolic act were just a number, a figure in the statistics of impunity, in a country where everything happens but everyone, beginning with the authorities, pretends that nothing is happening.

Some of the people who embroider describe it clearly:

"Embroidering one of these stories sensitizes me and makes me more aware of how terrible the situation is that we are experiencing; it makes me realize that each of the sixty-thousand dead was a person with a name, a history, a family and aspirations."

Among those who have been sitting to stitch in a timely and permanent way are relatives who tell part of their own history: siblings who lost a brother because he refused to pay "dues" back in a northern state, so the family had to flee, cutting their roots to come live here in Puebla; uncles who ask that the history of a niece murdered one night in the street be embroidered.

And so Sunday after Sunday a community of Embroiderers for Peace is being built of thoughtful, committed citizens who want to provide symbols that make visible what we all hide. A solidarity is being created that extends via the social networks across the miles, holding together other groups of the same movement in distant cities: http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/estados/87029.html.

The goal is to embroider all the possible stories that make up this sea of ​​stories cut short by death in a culture increasingly used to exclude "the others", for whatever reason; a culture that suppresses the humanity of "the others", either by killing them or by tolerating and accustoming themselves to death, to the "death toll" that is a segment of any television news program.

The goal is to upholster the Zócalo [Mexico City's main plaza] with white handkerchiefs embroidered with the names of all the victims, to shout with a symbol of peace. It is the rebellion of those who do not believe in violence and who do not want violence as the backdrop of our times, of those who do not want our children to inherit a country at war but, instead, want for them a harmonious and fair country where everyone fits in, and which does not suppress anyone's humanity.

Like Daniela, many children should train themselves to be citizens beyond the school walls. It would be enough for all of us—those of us who sent them to school to be "trained in values"—to waken from the lethargy in which this system has us...that defines us as consumers and denies us citizen status. Instead, we might come to practice citizenship with passion and responsibility. Spanish original

*Martín López Calva holds the Ph.D. in Education; his areas of focus are Human Philosophy and Education, Professional Ethics and "Educational Subjects and Processes."

Still Curious?

I just finished translating this interview with Colombian General Óscar Naranjo, who will be Peña Nieto's outside counsel for security issues. I was skeptical, but Naranjo's enthusiastic embrace of an enlightened concept of law enforcement [in essence, neighborhood policing] working shoulder with a responsible citizenry as the key ingredients for blocking organized crime—well, it makes this article a natural follow-on to citizenship themes enunciated by López Calva in Bordando por la Paz.

Here's the link: Mexico and Colombia General Óscar Naranjo, Peña Nieto's Drug War Adviser.

El arte del círculo de bordado de Zirahuén, Michoacán

English version: The Art of the Ladies Sewing Circle of Zirahuén, Michoacán

Introducción

Cuando dos personas que provienen de dos culturas distintas una a otra se unen para lograr un objetivo compartido, el resultado pueda ser sorprendente y muy bueno. Hace dos años, regresó después de pasar algunos años en Houston, Tejas, un joven que se llama Franco que proviene de la comunidad de Zirahuén, Michoacán.

Por pura coincidencia Houston es la ciudad natal de la artista Debby Breckeen que ya es habitante de la misma comunidad de Zirahuén. Cuando Debby tenía más o menos un año de vivir en Zirahuén, Franco la abordó con el propósito de que ella fuera maestra de una clase de bordado crewel. Estaba de acuerdo Debby.

En el Día de la Madre de 2010, hubo en la tenencia de la comunidad un cine con botanas para las madres y sus hijos. Antes del cine, se la presentó Franco a Debby a las madres y mostró su bordado crewel la artista. También anunció Franco que la primera clase iniciará el martes siguiente en la misma tenencia de Zirahuén.

Círculo de bordado de Zirahuén, Michoacán Frente: Ana Lilia, Devi, Chelo Detrás: Lupe, Carmela, Cuca, Mireya

Dice Debby que el dicho martes llegaron cuarenta y tres señoras para inscribirse y que en el momento decidió ella tener dos clases en dos días por semana—cuatro clases de una hora cada una.

La tradición artesanal de los purhépecha

Cabe mencionar que la gente purhépecha, una gente digna, nunca fueron conquistada por los aztecas, aunque regularmente llegaban los guerreros aztecas buscando prisioneros agarrar para ser esclavos y víctimas de sus sacrificios.

También son una gente pragmática los purhépecha. Por ejemplo, cuando el rey purhépecha aprendió de la derrota de los aztecas por los españoles, le mandó una delegación a Cortés con el mensaje: “No deseamos pelearse en contra de usted. Aceptamos a su dios y a su rey”.

Desafortunadamente, la cooperación de los purhépecha no los protegió de la crueldad de los españoles, sino afortunadamente, el sacerdote Vasco de Quiroga llegó a la zona para convertirse en el primer obispo de la región. El Tata Vasco era un hombre progresista con una visión de la paz y por eso luchaba para proteger a la gente de los soldados españoles. Ya es amado el Tata Vasco, aún venerado como santo, por mucha de la gente purhépecha.

Les explicó el Tata Vasco a los líderes de la gente purhépecha de la necesidad que ellos aprendieran como volverse con autosuficientes bajo el dominio español. Para lograr este objetivo, asignó el obispo una actividad artesanal a cada pueblo en las orillas del lago de Pátzcuaro. Actualmente, los artesanos purhépecha dicen que solo formalizó el Tata Vasco las especialidades artesanas que existían en esa época. Por ejemple, el pueblo de Santa Clara del Cobre, había haciendo el cobre mucho antes de la llegada de los españoles.

La artesanía de Michoacán tiene una reputación a nivel internacional. En Morelia, la Casa de las Artesanías sirve no solo de escaparate para estos objetos artesanales sino también para venderlos.

La creación de algo distintivo....

Pues esta es la tradición artesanal de las señoras de Zirahuén. Dice Debby, “Mucho del bordado de esta región es del estilo deshilado”.

Detalle: Deshilado

“También aparece punta de cruz bordado”.

Detalle: Punta de cruz bordado

“La mayoría de las mujeres purhépecha son maestras de estos tipos de bordado, incluyendo que hacen las servilletas para los bautismos y fiestas de cumpleaños y que mucha gente las usa para cobrar las tortillas”.

Mientras estábamos de plática reciente, mencionó Debby que fue su intento mediante las clases les ofrecer a las bordadoras de Zirahuén una manera de diferenciar su bordado de lo que hacen en otras comunidades. Entonces añadió Debby:

"Aunque les enseño yo las puntadas crewel, no enredo con sus ideas creativas. Me encanta su creatividad y por eso me aparto y miro mientras florece su propia creatividad."  

Inician las clases el junio de 2011

Bajo la enseñanza de Debby, aprendieron las señoras como trazar un estampado para pegarlo con cinta adhesiva a una ventana con luz y poner la tela encima del estampado para trazarlo. Cada semana aprendieron más o menos cuatro puntadas de bordado crewel.

Había tantas bordadoras en cada grupo que primero les enseñaba Debby a tres señoras las puntadas más complicadas y después ellas mismas regresaron al grupo para enseñarlas a otras tres bordadoras. En esa manera todas las señoras se vuelven también estudiantes y maestras.

Aprender por hacer...y al mismo tiempo aprendiendo de una a otra

Recuerda Debby que algunas de las señoras no continuaron y actualmente hay un grupo de quince bordadoras—tienen ellas de vente hasta los ochenta años—se reúnen cada semana por dos horas más o menos.

A medida que pasa el tiempo la llamada clase se volvía al círculo de bordadoras amigas. Mantiene Ana Lilia el pequeño almacén de los estampados y tela en su casa. Cada señora puede elegir como usar su tiempo de bordado y también escoger sus propias provisiones de los que estén disponibles en el almacén. Cuando necesita una bordadora nuevas cosas, llama a la puerta de la casa de Ana para entrar el almacén.

Dice Debby:

“Cuando tenían las bordadoras un dechado de más o menos veinte puntadas diferentes, empezamos a bordar un estampado sencillo de una sola flor. Cada señora eligió los colores de hilo y puntada que deseaba usar en su propio estampado”.

Primer estampado sencillo: Demuestra la creatividad

Dice Debby:

“Más tarde bordamos estampados más complicados, incluso empezaban las señoras a unir estampados e inventar sus propios imágenes. La destreza y habilidad de ellas son increíbles, impresionantes, y cada semana que pasa se vuelve más personal el bordado de cada bordadora”. 

El mantel de Cuca

Detalle: Ha rodeada Cuca el campo de frutas y vegetales con un marco verde de la palabra...Refugio. En su bordado, ha creado la bordadora un santuario aparte de las tareas e inquietudes de la vida cotidiana.  

Dice Debby: 

“Cada semana se reúnen las señoras de Zirahuén en la tenencia para bordar juntas”.

Justo a retirado Berta su bordado desde el aro de bordado. 

Esmeralda: Platicando mientras borda...una pausa muy agradable de los quehaceres domésticos

Dice Debby:

“Cuando teníamos seis meses de bordar juntas, arreglé veintidós piezas de su bordado crewel y las traje a la Feria Alternativa en Erongarícuaro”. 

Detalle: El pescado de Esmeralda

¡Tan diferentes son los dos pescados! Cada uno demuestra la creatividad e imaginación distintiva de su propia bordadora. Detalle: El pescado de Ana Dice Debby: “¡Casí todos los bordados vendemos! Con este dinero no solo podemos recuperar los gastos del hilo más caro y de la manta sino también establecer el propósito del grupo como un círculo de señoras en el que cada persona pueda bordar lo que desea y hacerlo a su propia velocidad con la posibilidad de hacer un pequeño beneficio para comprar más hilo”. La cruz: Bordado crewel de Ires Otra visión realizada con imaginación y creatividad

“Lo que me atrae sobre el bordado crewel es que es un estilo de bordado más relajado. Una vez que está elegido el estampado por la bordadora, está cumplido usando su propia imaginación en la elección de colores y puntadas…tal vez construyendo una textura relieve encima de la tela…como lo hacen las bordadoras con sus pescados”.

“Aquí estamos ahorita. ¡Ojalá que podamos regresar juntas a la Feria Alternativa para pasar un día alegre con la música, la buena comida y algunos beneficios también!” 

Las reflexiones personales de Debby....

Como extranjera, no me permite ganar dinero en México, pero el compromiso con este grupo me da estructura en la vida y me siento más parte de la comunidad. Cuando manejo por el pueblo, la gente me saluda con, 'Buenos días' y me siento acogida por la comunidad.

Y los hijos…¡ay, me encantan los niños!...por lo menos dos hijos acompañan cada señora al grupo. Juegan uno con otro mientras bordamos nosotras compañeras.

Cumple Antonio un año en junio—¡lo mismo que el grupo!

Ana dice que Nancy—con galfas—y su hermana, Daniela, siempre saltan encima de la cama insistiendo,

“Soy Devi!" - "No…Yo soy Devi!"

¡Qué felicidad! Ya tengo la confianza de relajarme, quitando todas las expectativas de cualquier otro motivo.

Los niños del círculo de bordado de Zirahuén: Daniela y su amiga; Nancy está molestando a su primo Daniel y Carlitos...poquito aturdido.

Me da mucho placer de sentarme y abordar con este círculo de señoras de Zirahuén. A veces estamos bordando y relata alguna señora una anécdota que recibe todo tipo de reacción, incluso los resoplidos y chiflados.

A veces hay preguntas y revistas. Parecemos normales…un grupo de abuelas, madres, hermanas, primas, bordadoras..sobre todo, amigas quienes estamos a veces cansadas, a veces nerviosas, a veces agitadas por el comportamiento de los niños.

Pero lo importante es que al fin del día, estamos juntas…bordando juntas…tratando de hacer algo lo cual es al mismo tiempo personal y bello.

Multicultural, Multidisciplinary Art Show: Artists and Indigenous Bordadoras Join Aesthetics

This morning in my Inbox appeared two announcements of a multicultural and multidisciplinary Art Show opening on August 23, 2012, at the Spanish Cultural Center in Mexico City. This post shamelessly combines the best of each article. See slide show: Artistas y bordadoras unen estéticas [page not available].

Detail: Bordado in process

For two months, seven artists from Mexico, Spain and Latin America lived and worked side by side with fifteen bordadoras (embroiderers) from the community of Jaltocán in the Huasteca Region of the State of Hidalgo. Not only did the experience influence their work, but it gave them an opportunity to exchange life experiences and cultivate a friendship that goes deeper than just their art.

Titled Hasta Mostla, Until Tomorrow [Mostla is Nahua for 'tomorrow'] the show is a multidisciplinary project that brings together drawing, photography and video around traditional indigenous embroidery in a way that shows the interactions within this group of women from very different backgrounds who nonetheless share the same need to communicate their surroundings through their art.

The project began two years ago when artist Roxy Love began working with a family in that community and contacted curator Clarisa Moura for help to exhibit her project. Months later, Moura sought Roxy’s agreement to develop this work, but with additional artists.

The resulting exhibit of fifty pieces opened on August 23, 2012, at the Cultural Center of Spain (Guatemala No. 18, Col. Centro, Mexico City).

To prepare the exhibition, the artists involved — Dulce Chacón (Mexico), Carmen Segovia (Spain), Rita Ponce de León (Peru), Mariela Sancari (Argentina), Sol Marinucci (Argentina), Roxy Love (Mexico) and Laura Aldrete (Argentina) — traveled to Jaltocán.

"In addition to a seven-hour trip by car, five of which are on a twisty road, the experience made us face an unknown reality, especially for the foreign artists who had never been to Mexico," says Clarisa Moura.

In a recent interview, Moura said that the area is quite poor; there is no tourism and no outside buyers of folk art (artesanía). The women sell their embroidery pieces [bordados] in the market on Thursdays to people who live in the community. For some it is an alternative to the hard work involved in the fields.

In particular, the women who participated in the project also mentioned the director of the Vértigo Galería, who pays them one or two pesos per bordado. They cannot get by on this and have to do other work, like making bread.

Among the pieces on display is Carmen Segovia’s drawing in embroidery of a house containing the family stories of the women who embroider. The piece also includes both the silhouette of another palapa (open-air shelter with palm leaf roof) in the Huasteca Region and Carmen's house in Spain.

Rita Ponce de León developed a book by asking the fifteen women bordadoras to describe the dreams they have at night. Laura Aldrete developed a video montage of the gestures made by the women in one-minute segments.

"The experience of the work has been so pleasant that regardless of the exhibit, we are left with the warmth of the women of Jaltocán. When we said goodbye, they gave us a coronation ceremony typical of the region; and they gave us flowers and mangoes, something much more important than the material," [said the artists.]

The work done for Hasta Mostla allowed the women to earn money to buy a puesto (stall) in the market and thus avoid the fee charged by City Hall for them to sell their bordados on the street. It also helped to repay some debts and to save for school supplies for their children, emphasized Moura.

Spanish original-Milenio [Page no longer available] has the slide show and gives excellent background.

Spanish original-Marvin revista [Page no longer available]: Excellent description of the exhibit.

Still Curious?

Related Jenny's posts:

• Debra Breckeen's Embroidery Art and the Art of Seeing reflects on and reviews the exhibit of Debby's art from April 4 to May 4, 2014, at the Culture Center in the Former Jesuit School of Pátzcuaro, Michoacán; 
• Art and Friendship in Zirahuén, Michoacán describes the artist's home and introduces the 'subversive' crewel-embroidery art of Debra Breckeen, who moved to the community of Zirahuén in 2008; 
• The Art of the Zirahuén Ladies Sewing Circle in Michoacán, México tells the story of the group's first year and includes photos of some of the ladies' work. Background: In June 2011, Debra began offering a class in crewel embroidery to the ladies of Zirahuén. Although proficient in the embroidery techniques of deshilado ('Pulled-Thread') and punta cruz ('Cross-Stitch'), the ladies weren't familiar with the crewel embroidery stitches that are Debra's art form. 
• Jenny's Neighborhood: Making Friends Mexico City-style includes a description of Debra's recommended method for framing embroidery pieces (bordados) for optimal effect. 

From the international citizen's blog Global Voices comes this post:

• English: Embroidering for Peace: Threads, needles and fabrics have become warriors for peace in Mexico. In cities like Monterrey, Guadalajara and Mexico City, men and women of all ages have decided to speak out and share their thoughts and experiences on violence by participating in a collective relief effort through embroidery.
• Español: México: Bordando por la paz: Hilos, agujas y telas se han convertido en guerreros de la paz en México. En ciudades como Monterrey, Guadalajara y Ciudad de México, hombres y mujeres de todas las edades han decidido hablar y compartir sus ideas y experiencias sobre la violencia participando en un esfuerzo colectivo de labor humanitaria a través del bordado.

The Art of the Zirahuen Ladies Sewing Circle in Michoacán, México

It's amazing what can happen when two people, from very different cultures, come together in a shared purpose. It happened a couple of years ago when a young man named Franco from the P'urépecha community of Zirahuen, Michoacán, returned home after spending time in Houston, Texas, which just happens to be the hometown of artist Debby Breckeen.

They met after Debby had been living in Zirahuen for about a year. As Debby tells it,

"Franco seemed as anxious as I was to 'energize' his time in Zirahuen. He was learning how to work with the government of Michoacán. He had developed a government project to add bedrooms to houses where people were sleeping in smoky kitchens. Since most cooking is done on wood stoves, bedrooms reduce health risks associated with inhaling wood smoke."

After a couple of years, Franco approached Debby. He wanted to let her know that he had interested the Michoacán government in funding a project to develop a collective embroidery piece depicting scenic Lake Zirahuen. The finished piece would hang in the tenencia, government office.

Franco asked Debby to teach a class of crewel embroidery to a group of women and manage the collective project. The government would pay for the supplies.  

On Mother's Day a year ago, Debby joined a large group of women and children for a movie and snacks. Before the movie began, she showed her crewel embroidery, and Franco announced that Debby would teach a class at the tenencia beginning the following Tuesday.    

'Temporary', Crewel Embroidery, Debby Breckeen

Here's Debby's account of what happened next:

"The next Tuesday, 43 women signed up! 

"I asked that there be four, one-hour classes twice a week—two classes per day.   

"Then I noticed that the young woman who was organizing the ladies into groups was taking great care to assure that no one would be in a group with anyone she and her family had 'issues' with. Seeing her distress, I realized that collaboration on a common project was not likely.  

"The government support never materialized. But the ladies came!"

P'urhépecha Artisan Tradition

It bears mentioning that the P'urhépecha people, a proud and linguistically distinct people, were never conquered by the Aztecs, who were given to regular military forays onto P'urhépecha lands in search of slaves and victims for sacrifice.

The Purhépecha are also a pragmatic people. When the P'urhépecha king learned that the Spanish had defeated the Aztecs, he sent a delegation with a message for Cortés, "We do not want to fight you. We accept your god and your king." 

Their cooperation, alas, did not inoculate the P'urhépecha people from the worst excesses of the Spanish military. Fortunately, Vasco de Quiroga arrived to become the region's first bishop. 'Tata Vasco' ['Father Vasco' in P'urhépecha] was a humane man who sought to protect the indigenous people from the Spanish soldiers. He is beloved, even venerated, to this day.

To leaders of the P'urhépecha community, Bishop Quiroga explained that it was essential for them to learn how to become self-sufficient under Spanish rule. To accomplish this goal, he assigned a craft to each pueblo in the Lake Pátzcuaro area. Present-day P'urhépecha artisans say that Bishop Quiroga merely formalized pre-existing craft specialties—the pueblo of Santa Clara del Cobre, for example, had been working with copper long before arrival of the Spanish. 

The artesanía [folk art] of Michoacán enjoys an international reputation. In Morelia, the state capital, the Casa de las Artesanías showcases and sells the work of the state's artisans. 

The Spanish also introduced European materials, tools and techniques to indigenous artisans. Guitars and other stringed instruments of international quality, for example, are now made in Paracho located up on the P'urhépecha Meseta, or Highlands.

Creating Something Different....

This is the artisan tradition that Debby was entering, but as she writes:

"Most of the embroidery in this area is deshilado (Pulled-Thread) in which fabric threads are pulled or bundled together by embroidery stitches, creating an open, lace-like effect."

Detail: Deshilado,
'Pulled-Thread' embroidery

"And also punta cruz bordado (Cross-Stitch or Cross-Point) in which the stitcher makes a pattern by carefully counting the threads of fabric in each direction so the stitches are of uniform size and appearance."

Detail: Punta de cruz bordado,
'Cross-Stitch'

Detail: Cross-Stitch

"Most P'urhépecha women are skilled at these two methods of embroidery. They make serviettes, napkins, for christenings and birthdays that are usually cross-point done with synthetic thread on synthetic fabric with a bright crochet border. Many people use them to cover tortillas served from a special pot. But most of the women had never tried to invent anything from fabric and thread."

During a recent chat, Debby mentioned that her intent in teaching the classes was to offer the ladies of Zirahuen a way to distinguish their bordado, embroidery, from the bordado produced in other pueblos.  Then she added, 

"I teach crewel stitches, but I don't mess with their kick-ass aesthetic. I love their creativity so I just stand aside and watch it flower."

Classes Began Last June (2011)

Debby supplied patterns and fabric, the local muslin called manta. The ladies bought their own hoops, needles and thread. Debby made only two strong 'suggestions', that the women, please:

• Use cotton thread and material—no synthetics; and
• Avoid Disney characters in their patterns—Mexico's pop culture is fascinated by Disney.

Under Debby's direction, the ladies learned how to trace a pattern by taping the pattern to a sunny window and placing the fabric over it. They learned about four crewel embroidery stitches per class.

Since the groups were large, Debby taught three women the more complicated stitches. They would then go back to the circle and teach another three. Everyone became a teacher.

Learning by doing...and learning from each other

Debby recalls,

"Many women dropped out. Four groups became two….then one two-hour class each week. Today a core group of fifteen women, aged from 20-something to 83, meet weekly for two hours.  

"The class became a circle. Ana Lilia keeps the library of patterns and fabric at her house. Each person chooses how to use her time and the available materials. If she needs new supplies, she knocks on Ana’s door to get to the library.  

"After we had a sampler of about twenty different stitches, we began sewing a simple pattern of a single flower. Each person could choose whatever color and stitch she wanted."

First Simple Pattern already shows the inherent creativity.

"Then we worked on larger, more complicated patterns. The ladies began to join patterns together and invent some of their own imagery. Their skill was incredible and becoming more personal."

Cuca's Tablecloth
Fishing in Lake Zirahuén is an important part of
Zirahuén culture, so it isnt surprising that many women are
embroidering fish. For Cuca, a field of fruits and vegetables
is surrounded by water...and fish.

Detail: Cuca has surrounded her field of fruits and
vegetables with a verdant border labeled Refugio, refuge.
In this work, Cuca has created a sanctuary—a quiet
place set aside from life's daily chores and cares.

"But every Tuesday we gather in the tenencia and sew together. I come at 4:00 PM and leave at 6:00 PM. If no one is there at 4:30, I go home. So usually one or two women come before 4:30 and report who will be coming later to 'hold the class'!"

Berta has just removed her bordado from the embroidery hoop.

"When we had been sewing together for six months, I took twenty-two pieces of their work to The Alternative Fair in Erongarícuaro."

Esmeralda: Stitching'n ... chatting...a
welcome break from daily chores

Detail from Esmeralda's Fish
The colors are knock-your-socks off alive!

Prices ranged from 80 pesos [about US$6.00] for their first small design to 350 pesos [about US$26] for larger, more personal pieces. 

Detail from Ana's fish
So different from Esmeralda's fish,
more introspective, reflective....

Ires's Cross
The creative and cultural complexity of this piece is stunning.
The basic shape is that of a quincunx—the form traditionally used to
represent the Mesoamerican cosmovision. The top point of the vertical represents
east (rising sun); the bottom point represents west (setting sun). The
horizontal line represents the earthly plane, where daily lives are lived.
The point where all lines intersect at the center represents the
axis mundi, world axis, center of the world. According to traditional
beliefs, priests in altered states of consciousness pass along the axis mundi
between the three planes of existence: Earthly plane; the Heaven (above), and the Underworld (below).
Ires has even stitched the three concentric circles that represent the 'center' in the
Mesoamerican tradition. It fascinates me that inside the circle—as if it were being
viewed through a magnifying glass—the horizontal band is slightly elevated.

"We sold almost all the pieces! This money would recoup the cost of the more expensive thread and fabric. And it would do more than that….  

"The circle now has a purpose. It is not a cooperative that wholesales and sews collaboratively designs made by others...where one woman does the clouds, another the water, another the fish, etc. It is a chance for each stitcher to sew what she likes at her own speed with the possibility of making a small profit to buy more thread. 

"What attracts me about crewel work is that it is a freer type of embroidery. Once the pattern is chosen, the piece is completed by drawing on the stitcher's imagination in choosing colors and stitches...perhaps even building a texture relief on top of the fabric...like what the ladies have done with their fishes.

"That’s where we are now. Hopefully, we will all return to The Fair together for a fun day of music, food and profit."

Debby Reflects Back....

"As an immigrant, I am not allowed to make money in Mexico. But the commitment to this group has given me the structure and responsibility I had been craving since I retired in 2007. I now feel more embedded in the community. When I drive through town, people wave and call out, 'Buenos días'. 

"I have to think in Spanish in order to communicate (awkwardly, but surely) with this group of ladies. I ask them to correct me when I err (often), and they do! At least once a month, I am asked to relate yet again the tale of why and how I am here without children or a husband.... 

"And the children…at least two accompany each lady to the group. They play with each other while we sew. When the group began, Claudia sewed while nursing Antonio, her six-week-old baby. He will walk soon."

Antonio is almost the same age as the group...
One Year in June!

Ana says Nancy (sporting sunglasses and a broken cellphone) and her sister, Daniela, are always jumping on the bed saying…"I’m Devi!" - "No…I’m Devi!"  

Jenny's Note: As Debby and I were putting finishing touches on this post, I almost had to write to her calling, "Uncle"! What on earth is 'Devi'—then it came to me: Devi is Debby spelled in phonetic Spanish. "B" and "v" are pronounced exactly the same way in Spanish, so when Mexican schoolkids are learning how to spell, they quickly learn to ask, " 'b' as in burro, or 'v' as in vaca (cow)"?

Then Debby wrote to tell me that the group had written on her birthday cake, Felicidades, Devi—'Happy Birthday, Debby'.  Is anyone else getting the idea that Debby is a beloved figure in this group?

Children of Zirahuen: Daniela and her friend,
Nancy pestering her cousin Daniel, and
Carlos, looking a bit stunned.

Guapo, 'handsome', Daniel...is forever bringing
Debby 'stuff' he finds in the street...an
abandoned dinosaur sticker or lost gold star.

 Augustine is so small the kids all make fun of him calling him bebesota, little baby. 

Elia has four daughters, Juliana, Andrea, Iris and Claudia. They all have children who sometimes come. Elia’s grandchildren are very quiet just like their mothers.   

So today, after many spent ink cartridges, hours spent on the internet searching for new patterns, failed negotiations for exhibition venues, and letting go of all kinds of expectations, I now relax and let the group be itself. 

Sometimes we’ll be quietly sewing and someone tells a story that gets all sorts of snorts and whistles. Sometimes there are questions and reviews. Everyone seems normal….sometimes tired, sometimes nervous, sometimes agitated with their children.

But we are together...trying to make something personal and beautiful.

Ladies Sewing Circle of Zirahuen, Michoacán
First Row (left to right): Ana Lilia, Debby, Chelo
Back Row (left to right): Lupe, Carmela, Cuca, Mireya

Still Curious?

Related Jenny's posts:

• Art and Friendship in Zirahuén, Michoacán introduces the crewel-embroidery art of Debby Breckeen.
• Debra Breckeen's Embroidery Art and the Art of Seeing is a review of the exhibition at the Cultural Center at the Former Jusuit College held April 4 to May 4, 2014, in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán. 
• Teotihuacán II: The Shape of Space and Time explains the role of the form of the quincunx in Mesoamerican culture.
• Jenny's Neighborhood: Making Friends Mexico City-style has a short description of Debby's recommended method for framing embroidery pieces (bordados) for optimal effect.
• Alternative and Organic Fair in Arocutín describes the fair—since moved to nearby Erongarícuaro—where Debby and the ladies found eager buyers for their bordados. 
• Multicultural, Multidisciplinary Art Show: Artists and Indigenous Bordadoras (Embroiderers) Join Aesthetics describes the exhibit titled Hasta Mostla, Until Mostla, scheduled to open August 23, 2012, at the Spanish Cultural Center in Mexico City. The exhibit is a multidisciplinary project that gathers together the drawing, photography and video contributions of seven artists from Mexico, Spain and Latin America, who lived for two months in the traditional community of Joltocán in the Huasteca Region, State of Hidalgo. The focus was on traditional indigenous embroidery; the artists focused their artistic creations on the interactions within this group of women from very different backgrounds who nonetheless share the same need to communicate their surroundings through their art.

For more about Debby Breckeen's life in Michoacán, including videos of parades in Pátzcuaro, Google this—d.breckeen@Flickr—then take your pick...and Enjoy!

From the international citizen's blog Global Voices comes this post:

• English: Embroidering for Peace: Threads, needles and fabrics have become warriors for peace in Mexico. In cities like Monterrey, Guadalajara and Mexico City, men and women of all ages have decided to speak out and share their thoughts and experiences on violence by participating in a collective relief effort through embroidery.
• Español: México: Bordando por la paz: Hilos, agujas y telas se han convertido en guerreros de la paz en México. En ciudades como Monterrey, Guadalajara y Ciudad de México, hombres y mujeres de todas las edades han decidido hablar y compartir sus ideas y experiencias sobre la violencia participando en un esfuerzo colectivo de labor humanitaria a través del bordado.