EL Mago and Talking Cloth

1610 Lena Street,Santa Fe NM 87505

24 September, 2022

Description

Our Clothing is like a newspaper. - El Mago, Valle Nacional, Oaxaca. This talk is a journey into the world of traditional Oaxaca and the living world of indigenous community fashion. Eric Mindling spent two years photographing the ancestral dressways of the splendidly diverse villages of this Mexican state. During this journey he searched for an understanding of the different meanings this clothing carried, what it communicated, how it spoke. While much of the symbolic meaning woven into traditional clothing has been lost, in a far corner of Oaxaca Eric met a man called El Mago, The Magician, who still carried the knowledge of the symbolism embroidered into the clothing of that region. What El Mago spoke of is a fascinating insight into the richness culture and the depth of meaning that once prevailed in the clothing throughout indigenous America. Eric will share these stories and explore other ways that traditional clothing communicates in this visually stunning talk. Fine art documentary photographer, author and entrepreneur, Eric founded a cultural a tourism company called Traditions Mexico, has written two books that share insights into traditional knowledge; Fire and Clay, The Art of Oaxacan Pottery, and the award-winning Oaxaca Stories in Cloth, co-created the first ever traveling exhibition focused on the potters of indigenous Mexico and helped raise two daughters. Eric currently lives in Santa Fe and is the co-owner of Living Threads Studio.