CANADIANS IN OAXACA

On January 2] 1999, a motley crew de-
aceméed upon Vancouver International Abr-
port. We searched out Denys James, our
fewrless leader, and flew to Mexico City.
Gur night was spent in the Hotel Monte
Carlo whieh was full of charm and reput-
edly the favourite of D.H. Lawrence, The
arrival of “IT Papa”, the Pope, the follow.
ing morning meant an early departure for
the airpert to avord the inevitable traffic
jams and before we knew if we were off to
Oaxaca.

Oaxaca is a city of approximately 30,000,
The “zokolo” square in the centre of town
is the hub of the city, In the centre of the
zokolo are benches and large trees and
surrounding that several cafes. The
cappucino was the best anywhere, only to
be outdone by the cerveza, Mexican beer
of choice. The highly salted, roasted nuts
wilh gare and hot peppers top the delight
and are a consistent partner,

Denys worked very closely with the [nsti-
tuto Cultural Qaxaca im arranging accom-
modation, tours and Spanish classes while
visiting Oaxaca, Armingerments were made
for all of us to have a homestay with a
Mexican family and to attend the Instituto
for one week, mornings only to study
Spanish, Gur range of ability was taken
into account with small classes al viarrous
levels of difficulty. The classes were fun
and initiated communication and a greater
feeling of belonging. Verb tenses seemed
extremely difficult from the point-of-view
of one with extremely limited experience.
For example, one chilly night [ proceeded
to tell Carmen my hostess, “I am a cold,”
The family had a good laugh and | got
another blanket.

In the afternoons we toured the country:
side and visited various sites. These in-
cluded a pottery purchaser's collection at
Guaddupe de Ela, We also visited Soledad
Etra, a pretty town with a large
papermaking studio, Later we saw Dona
Rosa's studio, in San Bartolo Coyotopec,
Mexico's most famous studio for black
pottery. From there we were whisked off
to Alzompa, where green pottery ts made.
The green glaze contains lead and much
debate revolved around its dangers, since
many a restaurant served their fare on the
very same pottery. Other sites visited in-

Pf. fa cece 1

OUT OF PROVINCE

cluded the Zapotec ruins at Monte Alban,
as well as Cuilapan, the site of a fifteenth
century Dominican convent. [ts structure
wis fascinating because it wos built ico
accommodate the needs ofthe Indian popu-
lation. Since they were used to being out-
doors it was built without a roof. In San
Marun, Tileapete and Arrazola we toured
several studios seeing all stages of won-
derful, whimsical wood carvings: their
intricacies were inspiring. The conditions
under which many of these people work is
a far cry From the North American life-
style, The most oulstanding example of
this came when we visited San Marcos
Tlapazola. We arrived in the evening. Af-
ler watching the pots being made under the
most primitive of conditions, we witnessed
the uncovering of a beautiful wood firing
with the wood piled over the pots without
any sort of formal kiln surrcancting it. The
women making the pots turn them upside
down to avoid any flashing marks inside.
They were delighted and amused at our
interest in these marks.

The second week of the tip was, for me,
the highlight. Monday morning we all left
for Huaylapan to Catherine's home and
studio. Denys had organized our adobe
kilnbuiiding workshop on her property.
Catherine is from 5 witeerland but has mace
Huaylapan her permanent home. There
were several locals who joined in the ac-
tivity. A large part of the first day was
spent mixing the local clay with sand and
straw, Several methods included rolling
up the pantlegs and stomping the mixture,
Others wedged, shovelled and soipped
straw, Clay was formed into brick shapes
and stacked while the base for the kiln was
covered in sand and levelled. Over the
next three days we watched the kiln grow.
Ricardo Garcia, from San Miguel de
Allende, invited by Denys a5 his assistant,
focused much of his energy on the oven
built up the side of the kiln. The major
factor of concern was draft; how to have
the heat from the firebox travel through the
oven before entering the kiln. We wanted
no chemicals passing through the food in
the oven, It was the first time Denys had
added the oven and technical problems
were discussed at length.

One of the outstanding elements of the trip
was the complete lack of stress. Everyone
was able to participale as much or as line

Tintinee Plat Af Deisteh MM lawmkhin

as they wished, While building the kiln
many of us made small pieces to fire and
planned for a feast in our incredible oven.
Friday, our final day. the Huaylapan brass
band came out to the kiln site. Music and
dancing accompanied the kiln firing, In
the evening we had guests. those on the
trip who did not participate in the kiln
building, townsfolk and friends. The oven
Worked wonderfully ond we ended our
week ina very special way,

After a couple more days in Oaxaca some
of us moved on to other sites in Mexiea
and several of us flew back for a couple of
days in Mexico City. We all agreed that
Denys had done a wonderful job organiz-
ing and was a sweel, casy-going guy, We
hated to leave but took with us our won-
derful memories. Like so many who travel
there, I fell in love with Mexico.

Shirley Rimer

Shirley Rimer runs. acemmics stucin and is the
curator of Old Coun House Art Gallery in Red
Deer, Alberta,

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