Filigri Earrings & Tehuana Culture Part 1

            

Remember these? We had them at our trunk shows in Phoenix & Taos but have yet to introduce them online. Thanks, however, to our dear friend Lauri we're working with artist, Lilia Hernandez, and her family to bring these beautiful earrings back and to premier them on our site.

Lauri, who is retired art teacher from Albuquerque, is currently traveling through Oaxaca and helping us coordinate the shippment of these beautiful earrings. Thoughout this process, Lauri has been sharing her experiences with us about working with Lilia, her family, and her learnings about thier Tehuana culture. Below is a letter from Lauri that we just had to share.

Hola,

Lilia is a gentle woman, 46 years old, and is from the Isthmus of Mexico, Tehuantepec.  Her husband, Jaime, is from a nearby village, Juchitan.  They go back and forth between their villages and the city of Oaxaca.  Lilia's sister, Maria Elena, also works in the city, at their "puesto" or stall, where they sell their jewelry and hand emboidered tapestries.

Lilia's booth is inside the main entrance of the Mercado de Juarez. Here you'll find, adorned with hot pink crepe paper, displays the gold jewelry and fabulously detailed and colorful embroidery from the Tehuanas - the women from the Isthmus, Lilia's heritage.

I was asking Lilia about the culture there - it is decidedly different from most other parts of Mexico- some consider it matriarchal.  For Lilia, it means that she controls the purse-strings.  Her husband, who makes the "filigrino" jewelry together with her, gives Lilia all the money, as do many in that area.  She says it is because the Tehuanas are very smart - muy inteligente.  Women also tend to control the government there.  She says the women are passionate, fiery and strong - calinoso.  She is proud of that.

Lilia also says that the filigrino work is dying out - that it is so time consuming, that the younger people are not doing it any more.

The embroidery is one of the most expensive textile work in the state.

Thanks to Lauri & Lilia, we're working to bring these beautiful earrings to you and to continue our mission of supporting artisans and their communities from around Mexico. 

We'll let you know when the earrings premier online and in the mean time, we're working to bring you a lot more interesting facts about the Women of the Isthmus! 

Besos! Mariza & Co.