Oaxaca - Day 1

Oaxaca is synonymous with artisania. The state, as a whole, accounts for over 4 million artisans and the city draws artisans from every corner to display their work in an array of venues, from high-end galleries, to cooperative owned stores and street vendors.

Today, a lot of our work has been identifying what items and what artists fit well with Mariza & Company's vision. For us, it's essential to develop an ongoing partnership with the artists to enable economic stability and preservation of the artistic form. This, lead us to two major findings.

First, we met with Juan Manuel Garcia, a jeweler, designer and master raddish sculptor (yes, I'm refering to the vegetable). Mr. Garcia has lived an very successful artistic life. He's well known for creating huge paper mache sculptures for local festivals, he was the winner 18 years running of the Noche de Rabana competition, an event where artists create sculptures out of raddishes and display them for the city to view, and most noteably, he's a world famous filigree artist, creating jewelry and sculptures that have been on display around the world. For us, his jewelry is a dream. His work is meticulous and his craft has been a symbol of Oaxaca and Oaxacan culture for generations.

After meeting with Mr. Garcia, we strolled to the "20 de noviembre" market where we enjoyed lunch and spied our first baskets of chapulines (chile fried grasshoppers) available for purchase. Around the corner from the market we met with a group of weavers who have developed a contemporary take on the traditional "palapa" weavings. Using their weaving techniques, this group has used plastic ribbon to develop a new bag style. A style, we think you are going to love. 

                             

Tomorrow, we're venturing outside the city to meet more artists. 

Hasta mañana!