Living Threads Oaxaca
Margarita Ernestina Vazquez Martin runs a shop that supplies weavers in San Pedro Amuzgos. Oaxaca, Mexico
The images in the Living Threads Oaxaca gallery are the product of two years of field work done across the breadth and width of Oaxaca, Mexico
They tell the story of community fashion, and the people who use it in their day to day lives. To dress and adorn oneself in a way shared in common by the members of one’s village or ethnic group is an ancient and powerful statement of belonging, community and identity.
Once upon a time all humans dressed in a way unique to their village, tribe or place on earth. Their clothing was a reflection of the world around them, made of cotton, wool, silk, linen, yak, hemp, furs or whatever that place had to offer. The clothing also spoke, it was rich with symbols dreamed into being by weavers through the generations. These symbols offered gratitude for the gifts of the land, recognized the powers of the spirits, spoke of the station in life of the wearer and was interwoven with protective elements. And of course, the way of dress was like a flag of community, stating to all who saw it that “I am from This Place…and I am of We”.
In much of the world ways of dressing and adorning unique to the deep stories of specific communities has been lost. It is a rare thing now to know who dreamed our clothing into being or who made it. Most of us have lost any connection to deeper meaning in our dress way. But in places like Oaxaca, the clothing has not been lost, the stories still flicker with life.
This work honors these living, woven stories and the people who give them life by wearing them in their day to day life. These images are also a celebration of the rich mosaic of human diversity, old wisdom and artistic heritage that persists in many Oaxacan villages. Ethnographically, it is the largest visual collection that exists of the diversity of dress ways in Oaxaca. Artistically it is a respectful homage to the people who are the lifeblood of this ancient and fascinating place on earth.
These images, and many more of their sisters and brothers, can be found in the book, Oaxaca Stories in Cloth.