NEW CHALLENGES, NEW SOLUTIONS

FOFA’s Remote Sales Workshop Travels to

Textile Weavers on Oaxaca’s Coast

From "Las Afroditas" workshop, Santa María Huazolotitlán, Jamiltepec, Oaxaca

From "Las Pociteñas" workshop, Los Pocitos, Santiago Pinotepa Nacional, Oaxaca

With limitless energy and a hearty spirit of adventure, the dynamic duo who are the instructors of FOFA’s remote sales workshops -- Lorena de la Piedra Ordaz and Diego Morales Toledo -- recently voyaged to Oaxaca’s coast to offer in-person workshops in online marketing to textile artists there. In charge of FOFA’s online training sessions since July, 2020, Lorena and Diego had been unable to complete their customary training in this region because of its technological limits. Undaunted, Lorena and Diego generously proposed to carry out the training in person, which entailed a six-hour ride to the coast and four days of meetings. Thanks to generous support by FOFA board member William Scanlan, Jr., FOFA was thrilled to underwrite the costs of expanding the participants’ experience.

Lorena and Diego with textile artist Mónica Nambo Torres of Santa María Huazolotitlán receiving her certificate of completion of FOFA’s course

The selection of individual artesanos and groups to which this training was offered was guided by Marta Turok, a renowned anthropologist with an exhaustive knowledge of Oaxacan folk art, and of textiles in particular. Marta is an esteemed member of FOFA’s Advisory Board who has played a major judging role in all five of our contests for young folk artists carried out in collaboration with Oaxaca’s State Museum of Popular Art (Museo Estatal de Arte Popular Oaxaca, MEAPO).

Lorena and Diego consider the artists Marta recommended to be the “rock stars” of this artistic modality. The textiles they produce include huipiles (traditional blouses for women), cotones (shirts for men), posahuancos (wrap-around skirts distinctive to women in the region), tablecloths, table runners, and scarves. These are created on unique backstrap looms using handspun cotton variously dyed with the endangered púrpura sea-snail, indigo, white or coyuche (brown); many are also embroidered. The challenges Lorena and Diego encountered were often daunting. Cell phone and internet connectivity were extremely unreliable and sometimes altogether absent; few artesanas/os had smartphones, and the cameras on the aging phones they had were not always functional; added to this, the older age of many textile weavers meant they were not savvy or confident in using their devices.

María López, Pinotepa de Don Luis, Jamiltepec, Oaxaca

Dalila Quiroz, San Juan Colorado, Jamiltepec, Oaxaca

Sofía Hernández Avedaño, Pinotepa de Don Luis, Jamiltepec, Oaxaca

Drawing upon their considerable experience as developers and instructors of FOFA’s three prior comprehensive workshops for artesanos in the crafts pueblos surrounding Oaxaca city, Lorena and Diego had to address the formidable obstacles they encountered. One creative innovation they suggested was a “community manager” concept, in which a more technologically knowledgeable member of the community agreed to be the point person to manage social media and other forms of communication for all members of the group.

We share the stories of two remarkable women greatly impacted by Lorena and Diego’s efforts:

SOFÍA HERNÁNDEZ AVEDAÑO, a young nurse and part-time weaver from Pinotepa de Don Luis, generously offered to take responsibility for the social media of her aunt´s textile group of more than 30 women. Most of them are challenged technologically, being older, speaking only Mixtec, and not having smartphones. While Lorena and Diego were present, Sofía searched for the best local internet connection in order to attend the additional sessions they teach on how to establish and maintain an effective Instagram account. Having learned how to weave when she was very little, she has seen her mother and grandmother struggle to sell their textiles, a situation exacerbated by the pandemic; this motivated her to assist them, their friends and their neighbors to find new ways of selling their products. She is going to create an email address for members of their textile group, as well as posting for them and answering comments from interested parties.

MÓNICA NAMBO TORRES, a textile artist from Santa María Huazolotitlán, represents Las Afroditas, a group of 20 women who are perpetually trying to improve their textiles and to innovate. She has a store selling textiles, but it has no electricity. She accesses the internet by paying to use a neighbor’s connection. At the same time, she does her best to have her two children attend online classes – the only option for continuing their education during the pandemic.

Lorena and Diego report that, despite her already very full plate, Mónica has taken full advantage of what they have to offer. She had demonstrated a strong desire to learn and to expand her client base before Lorena and Diego’s visit to her community. She attended every online session they gave before the in-person training was organized, and took notes on every single word in a notebook, even though she could not put their instructions and suggestions into practice with her phone. When Lorena and Diego arrived on the coast and showed her the phone settings she could use to enhance her images, she became extremely enthusiastic about taking pictures. She has become effective in using Instagram. Amazed by the results she achieved on her smartphone, Mónica is now posting a new picture each day as well as Instagram stories about how she and others in the community live and produce their products. This is the beginning of a successful brand via Instagram:

https://instagram.com/dehuazolo

Mónica was already knowledgeable about shipping textiles to clients in other Mexican states prior to FOFA’s workshop. Diego, a specialist in effective and attractive packaging of folk art, shared suggestions on how to enhance the beauty of her products with the materials she uses to create a special experience for clients opening her package. He also conveyed the importance of creating an enclosure -- a printed autobiographical artist’s statement -- to add to clients’ appreciation of the process. Mónica is now promoting these techniques and suggestions to the women in her group.

Mónica Nambo de Santa María Huazolotitlán, Jamiltepec, Oaxaca

By travelling to the coast, Lorena and Diego directly experienced and came to fully appreciate the challenges faced by local artesanas/os. It is our hope, should tourism pick up again and the pandemic stabilize, that online sales will supplement direct sales and work with existing commercial outlets in the city. Regardless of the pandemic’s unfolding, FOFA will continue to be in conversation with Diego and Lorena about the unique needs of various communities and ways to meet them.

Alan Goldberg, a long time aficionado of Oaxaca and supporter of FOFA, launched a wonderful COVID response project in 2020, which evolved into a book. "Oaxacan Folk Art: Response to COVID-19" grew out of a fundraising drive and competition to help Oaxaca's beleaguered folk artists. The book focuses on COVID-inspired creations by 26 folk artists from six villages surrounding the City of Oaxaca. Part One of the book explores the world of the indigenous Oaxacan people—their heritage, and culture, and the villages where their families have lived for generations. Part Two features the entries from the competition and interviews with the artists that open a window into the artists’ imagination and the sorrow and humor they express as they cope with the coronavirus. This richly illustrated and inspiring book reveals the experimental and innovative body of work as the search for solutions to today’s challenges and the effects of the pandemic continue.

The book is available at www.mexicanfolkartbook.com/ The English edition sells for $29.95, and the Spanish edition for $24.95. Virtually all profits from sales go to the artists. Hats off to Alan and his team for this creative and important endeavor!

Please consider supporting FOFA's ongoing efforts to enable talented young Oaxacan folk artists to achieve their dreams and maintain sustainable livelihoods.

For a comprehensive look at FOFA's programs, visit our website at: www.fofa.us

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www.fofa.us 718-859-1515 info@fofa.us

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