Eric and Rachel on tue 24 aug 04
Dear Potters,
Some time ago I filled up Clayart mailboxes with tales of=20
wandering in Mexico on the trail of indigenous pottery. After a=20
considerable sabbatical from tale writing it=92s time to fire things up=20
again, so here goes.
In just a few days I=92m off to the state of Michoacan, land of the=
Purepecha=20
Indians, towns with names like Erongaricuaro and Tzintzuntzan (means Place=
=20
of the Hummingbirds in Purepecha) and a volcano named Paricutin that was=20
born back in =9243 and then commenced to bury a nearby town with lava. But=
=20
the old church steeples still rise above the ragged ground making for great=
=20
photo ops.
But I=92m not going there to hunt volcanoes or take Purepecha=
=20
pronunciation classes. I will be, as ever, on the trail of potters, of=20
which there are as many or more than there are syllables in Purepechan town=
=20
names. In fact, with the exception of Oaxaca, I=92d venture to say that=20
Michoacan is the Mexican state with the greatest density of pottery=20
villages. I once sat across a table from a man named Victor who knew the=20
back roads and potters of Michoacan very well, almost as well as I knew the=
=20
back roads and potters of Oaxaca. We engaged in a sort of verbal arm=20
wrestling in which we tried to out do each other in the number of pottery=20
villages we could name for each respective state.
=93Patamaban!=94 He said.
=93Atzompa!=94 I shot back.
=93Ocumicho!=94
=93Tlapazola!=94
=93San Jose la Gracia!=94
=93Yojuela!=94
And so on and so forth. There was some beer involved too I=20
seem to recall. Anyway, he faded somewhere in the late teens and was=20
completely done by the early twenties while yours truly kept spouting out=20
Oaxacan village names until the lofty number of 31, and then with the=20
caveat that I could only offer that many because there were still large=20
tracts of the state I had yet to venture into. I walked away the victor of=
=20
that duel with Victor, but also with my curiosity peeked about this other=20
region of so many potters.
Since then I=92ve spent some time there and have liked what=
I=92ve=20
seen. It is indeed a potters land. The main difference between Oaxaca and=20
Michoac=E1n is that in Oaxaca the Spanish influence in the pottery is little=
=20
or none whereas in Michoacan the Spanish influence is considerable and much=
=20
of the pottery shows its Spanish colonial roots. That and the fact that=20
Michoacan has more volcanoes.
One of the legacies of those old Spanish pottery masters are=20
the lovely low fire glazes that are so pervasive and popular in Michoacan=20
and Mexico. Unfortunately one of their chief ingredients is that heavy=20
little metal called lead that doesn=92t seem to want to leave your body once=
=20
it gets in. The good news is that there is a project, now going on almost a=
=20
decade, to come up with substitute glazes and convince the potters to use=20
them and convince the potters=92 rural customers to buy the pots made with=
=20
the new glazes (tradition sticks hard). The project, centered in=20
Michoacan, had been moving along at a snail=92s pace for some time, but late=
=20
last year it picked up some serious steam when Aid to Artisans got a large=
=20
grant and set a crew to work on the substitution process full time.
So I=92ll be spending about 10 days out there in the sticks of=
=20
Michoacan tailgating the Aid to Artisans field technicians, Barbara and=20
Victor as they make their rounds of the potters who are making the switch=20
to unleaded. My goals are to see how the unleaded project is going and put=
=20
together a hands-on workshop and tour for potters among these Purepechan=20
potters.
Also, I=92ll have to give Victor (yes, he=92s the same one) a=
=20
chance for a re-match. He=92s had a few more years in the field since our=20
last Name-All-the-Pottery-Villages-in-Your-State duel.
So, my friends and potters, when I make it into town from the=
=20
multisyllable, volcano studded out back of Michoacan I=92ll be stopping by=
=20
the little internet caf=E9 on the corner to send you notes from the field of=
=20
Michoacan so as to let those of you who aren=92t traveling with me know what=
=20
is happening out there.
Sincerely,
Eric Mindling
Please note our new address- traditionsmexico@yahoo.com
Rachel Werling, Botanist
Eric Mindling, Tourist
Oaxaca, Mexico
Traditions Mexico Hands-On Tours
www.manos-de-oaxaca.com
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