El Primer Dia de mi Proyecto

This morning I started my project with a one hour drive at 7 am to a tiny town called San Magdalena Jaltepec. Cuahtemoc met Natalie and me at the bus station and drove us through the mountains to this tiny puebla which houses a very small community museum. We met with some of the local museum workers over a nice breakfast of hot chocolate and eggs and discussed the future of the museum community.

We are still in the very early planning stages for our own research. But we had a long conversation about palmas (palms), which are an important material source of income for many of the artisans in the community. The people in this town use palm leaves to construct ornate religious ornaments for festivals and celebrations, patetes (which are kind of like straw sleeping mats) and various other useful items that are sold to local citizens.

Currently, due to the lack of tourism and the increasing number of individuals who are immigrating to the U.S., the artisanry of many local towns is slowly beginning to decline. I have been reading a book about immigration trends in Mexico, specifically Oaxaca, that explains that a number of artisans are having to find work elsewhere to supplement their crafts because they are unable to attain a sustainable income through basket weaving or similar sorts of work simply because there is no longer a need in the community for such goods.

Part of my responsibility for our exhibition in Santo Domingo will be to research the history behind this tradition and the impact natural materials have had on shaping the cultural and economic identity of local communities here. It is not uncommon to visit a puebla and find that many artisans specialize in one specific sort of craft, such as alebrijes (see previous entry about Arrazola). The picture above was taken at the community museum this morning. You can see an ornately woven crucifix that has been constructed from palm leaves.