Semana Santa

Semana Santa, Holy Week, the week before Easter, is a time of amazement and passion in Latin America. I’ve had the good fortune to be in Chiapas for this special time once, and in Guatemala twice. The memories are vivid and indelible. Nebaj, Quiche, Guatemala It’s early morning before dawn, and a throng of people […]

In the Twinkling of an Eye

In the Twinkling of an Eye

Almost 36 years ago, National Geographic magazine published an issue with Steve McCurry’s photo of a young Afghan woman on the cover. Her intense green eyes were so unexpected, and her expression so loaded with hard-to-read emotion, that the photograph has become iconic. Just google “afghan girl” and there she is, after all this time. […]

CELEBRATE COLOR

Cochineal Dyed Yarn on Blue Pickup

Walk down any street in Oaxaca City, and you’ll be dazzled by color: color so intense it seems to make your eyes vibrate. There’s such uninhibited joy! Turquoise and cerise and lime and sunshine yellow…these colors don’t necessarily come from nature, but they frame the nature of that place. Drive a few miles out of […]

Fiber Communities in Peril

EDITOR’S NOTE: The transition of Thrums Books to Schiffer Publications is complete, but my passion for books and the shared experiences they invite us into has not waned. I’ll continue to write as my internal thrummings compel me. Thanks for reading. THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE When I was eight years old my family moved […]

Weaving the Universe in Chiapas

Chiapas is a mystery and a land of contradictions. Geographically, it ranges from the deep, sweaty Lacandon rainforest to the high, cold, encircling Sierra Madres. Spiritually, it’s traditional Roman Catholicism with holy mass one day, and chicken sacrifices in the corner of the church the next. It’s European saints’ effigies dressed in layers of handwoven […]

And The Dead Start Jumping for Joy

Sometimes a scary story is just the thing. Sometimes doubling down on a messy reality with more of the same throws things into perspective. Know what I mean? The Maya were masters of the horrible. Not for them those sylph-like goddesses arising from seashells or descending from rainbows. Nope, their deities were more likely to […]

The Lives of Women and of Nature

el mago

Author and photographer Eric Mindling has spent nearly three decades traveling the back roads of Oaxaca, Mexico. His 2016 book Oaxaca Stories in Cloth: A Book about People, Belonging, Identity, and Adornment shows not only his love, but his respect for the dramatic geography of Oaxaca and the people who have made it their home. […]

The Isthmus Look

Thrums author and photographer Eric Mindling took a break from his busy days as “Head Honcho” of Traditions Mexico in Oaxaca to share this story with us. Thanks, Eric! In 2014 when I first began the photography for my book, Oaxaca Stories in Cloth, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec was on the shortlist of regions I […]

The Velveteen Rabbit of Books

Highlands of Chiapas

Getting books across international borders can be tricky. Sometimes it’s a language problem, sometimes it’s a massive red-tape problem, sometimes just a spiteful government official having a bad day. When we published A Textile Guide to the Highlands of Chiapas I committed to sending several hundred copies to the author, Chip Morris, in San Cristóbal, […]

When a Woman Rises

I first met Christine Eber at the Weave A Real Peace (WARP) annual meeting in 2016. Her moving keynote address about her work with the Maya Women in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico, made me an instant admirer. As an anthropologist, Christine began eighteen months of field work in Chenalhó, Chiapas, in 1987, work that […]

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