The competitive crafts industry in Oaxaca, Mexico, has a new art form to compete with barro negro and alebrijes, and perhaps more significantly the handcrafted colorfully painted clay sculptures of the Aguilar sisters of Ocotlán.  Las hermanas Aguilar have a longstanding tradition of fashioning figures representing women in Oaxacan regional garb.  But add the image of famed Mexican artist Frida Kahlo to the mix, and make dolls out of cloth rather than clay, and you have Friduskas.  

La Casita Azul Grupo Friduskas Casa Taller de Tradiciones (Friduskas) is a small scale craft enterprise owned and operated by transplanted Veracruzana designer – artisan Dolores Leycegui.  In her workshop just outside of the town of Arrazola, near the city of Oaxaca, Leycegui creates, hand embroiders and paints cloth dolls in a variety of sizes, each with the uni-brow facial feature of Frida Kahla.  And when she makes male figures, they of course have a likeness to Diego Rivera.  In both cases dress is true to local custom, thus wholly representative of the region (and era) which Leycegui seeks to portray in her artistry. The authenticity is remarkable.

The multi-talented Leycegui began sewing at ten years of age. She explains:

“I knew from an early age that I’d end up with a career using my hands, especially sewing and embroidering.  For about 30 years I’ve been making embrooidered cloth dolls, and for the past 18 years I’ve have had my own business; initially in Veracruz, subsequently in Chiapas and Michoacan, and now here in Oaxaca. I plan to stay in Oaxaca for the rest of my life.  The state is so stimulating for me; at least sixteen distinct indigenous cultures, each with different dress; and there have been so many changes over the generations and the centuries in the clothing styles of both native groups and the Spanish.”

Indeed, with only two years of residence in Oaxaca under her sash, Leycegui has already begun to further tap her creative energies. Her first collection of dolls epitomized the dress of the eight regions of the state. It’s her initial, and naturally still best – selling series.  However she’s more recently begun working on a compilation of outfits customarily worn by the women of African – Mexican culture living in the Costa Chica of Oaxaca, near its border with Guerrero; and on a collection from the Porfiriato (1867 – 1911), the era of Mexican president Porfirio Díaz. “For decades to come I’ll have the inspiration all around me,” she explains, “to produce dolls based on the different designs of dress of this one state alone.  I travel around the different cultural, climatic and physical regions, and meet with and learn from the people; and of course I also read and look at photographs and drawings of how people of both indigenous and immigrant roots used to dress.  Just like we’ve changed the way we dress over the years, so have many of the peoples whose ancestors arrived in Mexico thousands of years ago.”

In addition to her doll collections, Leycegui also makes wood and fabric marionettes, often with the images of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, some in regional dress, and others with different imagery such as Día de los Muertos (day of the dead).  Her talent extends even further.  Just as a hobby, the collector of vintage sewing machines makes her own machines from clay, papier maché , fabric, and even by using recycled materials, exemplified by the miniature made using a plastic bottle cap as its base. “The bodies for this pair of dolls are made from plastic soda bottles,” she divulges with pride while revealing their hollow undersides.”  

Virutally all of her ideas emerge from the deepest recesses of her soul, at the outset as dream revelations.  She believes that hers is a pre-ordained mission.  She thanks god on a daily basis for setting her on a particular path of continual creativity.

But the founder of Friduskas fulfills yet a further calling, one advanced through secular not spiritual assistance.  Leycegui’s workshop is federally sponsored by FONAES (Fondo Nacional de Apoyo par las Empresas en Solidaridad), a branch of Mexico’s Secretary of the Economy.  One of its missions is to aid small rural businesses in their efforts to assist specified sectors of the populace in self – determination.

In her own workshop Leycegui conducts classes for the local population and for urban Oaxacans, as well as for tourists to the region, in both making dolls and as an integral part of embroidering.  She has coined the phrase “bordaterapia,” (embroider – therapy) which she explains as relaxation and development through the creative art of embroidering.

Through the auspices of downtown Oaxaca’s Casa de la Cultura (house of culture) she instructs a course known as Bordando Jugando y Rescatando (embroidering, playing and rescuing).  The thrust of the project is to preserve the art of making traditional, regionally based hand – embroidered products including, of course, dolls. But just as importantly, she teaches Oaxacans of extremely modest means, those with special needs, and single mothers, segments of society often forgotten or allowed to wallow in predicaments often resulting from circumstances beyond their control.  

Leycegui’s work with these less fortunate members of Mexican society began several years ago, prior to the birth of her own special needs child.  Sebastián is the youngest of her four children.  He has Downs Syndrome.  “He’s the most beautiful person I know,” she gleams, then continues.  “Yes, it was a turn of fate that I gave birth to a child with a condition I had already dedicated my life to helping through providing these classes. This workshop in now for Sebastián, and through it I’m training him to be an artisan, to be self – sufficient.” 

Sebastián is symbolic of but one category of beneficiary of Leycegui’s artistry. Others include tourists to Oaxaca wanting to take home a colorful, 100% handcrafted memento of Mexican indigenous cultures; collectors of ethnic dolls of the world; and visitors to Oaxaca interested in commissioning a custom piece of Mexican folk art, with the face of Frida, Diego, or perhaps based on their own self – image.

Alvin and Arlene Starkman operate Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast (http://www.casamachaya.com). Alvin has written over 250 articles about culture and life in Oaxaca.  He assists visitors to Oaxaca to plan their excursions through the state’s central by helping them to plan tours, including for a visit to Friduskas.

The reclusive US based Sociedad de Mezcaleros began and ended its insatiable exploration in the city of Oaxaca de Juárez, as should any tour focused on an in depth education of the manufacture of mezcal (aka mescal), its use as a cooking ingredient, and of course flavor nuances and tasting notes – based on varietal of agave, means of production, terra firma, altitude, water source and aging.  After all, the world’s finest mezcales are distilled in and around the central valleys of the southern Mexico state of Oaxaca.

After well over a year of planning, the truly comprehensive mezcal tour of Oaxaca proceeded with flawless precision in March / April 2012; even through random heavy downpours and the occasional earth tremor. Every hour of the itinerary was scheduled with visiting palenques to expand mind and palate; sampling, eating and imbibing to often bacchanalian proportion; and visiting both off-the-beaten-track sights as well as a selection of Oaxaca’s not-to-be-missed traditional cultural attractions.

The Sociedad presidente had virtually demanded that his man-on-the-ground in Oaxaca maintain the grueling schedule for the group. “Leave it the way it is; I know these guys and they can handle it,” he exclaimed. “With each assembly of agave aficionados we bring down we have to look at their personalities and primary motivation; these particular people want to learn as much about mezcal in the shortest period of time possible, and most of them simply don’t have the luxury of touring at a leisurely pace.”

Indeed most of the charter members of the Sociedad spent only four full days in Oaxaca.  But a few did stay on longer to take in what less than a week of intensive day and night activity could simply not accomplish.

In the end, most of the newly inducted members of the mezcal order:

• met with eight or more palenqueros ranging from producers using modern innovative roasting and fermenting techniques, to those employing more traditional methods, to purists distilling and storing utilizing only clay pots, known as cántaros;
• participated in the ceremonial filling of an in-ground oven with agave piñas;
• had the opportunity to ask their every question of palenqueros ranging from the most rural campesino to the most exacting and detail oriented chemical engineer;
• sampled from not only production facilities in Oaxaca’s central valleys, but also from downtown Oaxaca mezcalerias and tasting rooms, and restaurants noted for their diversities of mezcales using a cornucopia of agave types  –  arrequeño, cuish, tobalá, jabalí, mexicano, tobasiche, espadín, san martin, and the list goes on (pulque was also featured in selected rural and urban venues);
• ate in the most quaint comedores imaginable where they were invited into rural roadside kitchens, as well as dined in Oaxaca city’s upscale eateries oft reserved for politicians, literati and others in Oaxacan haute society;
• participated in the almost lost technique of making hot chocolate from scratch with a rural Zapotec family beginning with grinding toasted cacao beans on a stone metate over fire, and at the other end of the continuum learned from  internationally acclaimed urban chef Pilar Cabrera Arroyo the art of preparing modern Oaxacan cuisine incorporating mezcal into recipes – marinated skewered shrimp, fruit and veggies al mezcal flambé, and requesón cheese pie with Oaxacan chocolate and mezcal;
• were the special invited guests at the inauguration of a photo exhibit entitled Mezcaleros de Oaxaca, by renowned Mexican – American photographer Spike Mafford;
• at their option participated in private guided tours of a smattering of Oaxaca’s UNESCO recognized sights, and in demonstrations by some of the most talented craftspeople in the state, the latter with either agave or mezcal thematically connected.

Organizers kept many details of the tour under wraps and unknown to participants until the hour dictated disclosure.  “When it comes to mezcal and agave in Oaxaca, there’s just so much more we can do,” beamed el presidente, leaning over a fine oak bar one earlier morning towards the tour’s end.  No doubt other surprises are in store for new initiates into the Sociedad de Mezcaleros.

 Alvin Starkman operates Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast (http://www.oaxacadream.com) with wife Arlene.  Alvin’s interests lie in all things mezcal, pulque & agave; helping tourists to the region to get the most out of their Oaxacan vacation; and writing to promote Oaxacan travel and tourism.

Almost any type of clothing is acceptable when attending a church service in Mexico, be it for a wedding, funeral, baptism, quince años, or any other mass.  One key, however, is knowing the tradition of the city, town or village in the interior of the country, and being sensitive to the cultural class of the Mexican individual or family extending the invitation.

The Tourist or Expatriot as Invited Guest to a Mexican Mass in a Church

Tourists vacationing in Mexico, and to a lesser extent expat residents in the country, can generally “get away with” wearing what they like.  The issue is whether you want to be considered a gringo who doesn’t know any better, or respected as someone who is making a conscious effort to fit in and be sensitive the particular cultural norms.

In most cases anything goes, even for foreigners.  However, shorts for both sexes and sandals for men should be shunned.  Otherwise, just know the location where the church is, and something about the family asking you to attend mass.

Class of the Family Extending the Church Invitation in Mexico

In first world countries generally class is a combination of culture and financial resources.  The middle class in Canada, for example, has middle class values and lifestyle, and income.  On the other hand, at least in certain parts of a developing nation such as Mexico, the state of Oaxaca as an example, one’s material wealth does not necessarily mean that one lives a middle class lifestyle. A family can be monetarily upwardly mobile and thus be deemed by Canadian and American standards middle or upper class or somewhere in between, but culturally it may be what we might (ethnocentrically) consider working or within the lower classes.  Be cognizant of the difference, if there is one, before dressing for a church mass.

For the upper classes in Mexico, culture more so than material wealth will dictate their dress and what they expect of invitees at urban and rural church services.  For men, trousers and a cotton collared shirt is the minimum, and completely acceptable without a jacket and tie.  Many Oaxacan men, for example, wear either a guayabera, or a shirt, usually without a tie, with a windbreaker.  A jacket and tie is rarely if ever required or expected at a mass. For women, pants, a dress or a skirt are all acceptable, and tops can be strapless or sleeveless, with or without a shawl.

For Mexican church services sponsored by families who have significant financial resources but are not seemingly middle or upper class by Western cultural standards, dress is the same for both urban and rural functions, as for attending mass in small cities, towns and villages regardless of the culture of the family.

The Small Mexican City, Town and Village Church Environment as a Determinant of Dress

Let’s start with the exception.  In some cases, culturally and financially upper middle and upper class families celebrate rites of passage in semi-urban and rural locales.  In such instances the minimum dress for men is trousers or finer blue jeans.  A suit and tie is still not required.  For women there is no difference between attending mass here, and in an urban setting at a function held by the culturally upwardly mobile classes.

In most cases, however, when attending church in a small city, town or village, regardless of monetary or cultural class, the most important piece of advice which can be provided is to not overdress.  Since there will usually be attendees of modest financial means and of campesino culture, in reality anything goes for the locals, including regular jeans and t – shirts for men and skirt, dress or jeans for women.  Younger women frequently attend church services in jeans, while women in their twenties and older tend to shed their jeans in favor of a dress or skirt. Regional clothing is often worn by women of all ages.

For foreigners, no ties for men and more muted attire for women is a good rule to follow.  While regular blue jeans for both sexes is certainly acceptable, it is suggested that non – Mexicans attending this type of church service will themselves feel more comfortable not wearing “jeans and a t – shirt.” 

While the foregoing is intended to provide guidance for foreigners attending church services in Mexico, the best advice is to simply ask your Mexican hosts what’s appropriate to wear.  And in all cases, if your invitation includes being honored with being a godparent, dress up two notches, for men meaning consider that tie or a guayabera, and a dress or skirt for women.

Alvin Starkman and his wife Arlene operate Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast (http://www.casamachaya.com). The Starkmans have been attending church services in both urban and rural Oaxaca on a regular basis for in excess of 20 years.  Alvin writes articles about life and cultural traditions in Oaxaca, and helps visitors to plan their vacations in the state.