Cooking Class in Pátzcuaro with Chef Diego Carabez Andrade
Eight of us signed up for this class during our Michoacán Butterflies and Folk Art Tour. We are here now. Enjoy the photos. We are considering offering this tour in 2026. Please contact us to get on the interested list. The menu includes tacos de charoles (the little fish from Lake Patzcuaro), guacamole, ceviche, grilled […]
First Mexico City on Our Way to the Monarch Butterflies
We spent our first full day in Mexico City with an art history immersion, exploring the murals of the three greats of Mexican Muralism — José Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, and David Alfaro Siqueiros. First, we meandered through the Abelardo Rodriguez Market to find the murals painted by Rivera’s acolytes, including the Greenwood sisters and Pablo […]
2025 Oaxaca Coast Textile Study Tour
Arrive on Saturday, January 11 and depart on Sunday, January 19, 2025 — 8 nights, 9 days in textile heaven! This tour will not be offered in 2026! We go deep, and not wide. We give you an intimate, connecting experience. We spend time to know the culture. You will meet artisans in their homes […]
Oaxaca Day of the Dead Photo Workshop
Three Days — October 27, 28, 29, 2024, 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Arrive just before Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, to explore the Zapotec village of Teotitlan del Valle as preparations begin for this grand celebration to honor the ancestors. We take you inside people’s homes and workshops where you might […]
2025 Women’s Creative Writing Workshop Retreat: Inspirations for a New Year
January 2-8, 2025, seven days, six nights in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico. It’s the start of 2025, a new year, and we are inspired to revisit the years passed and the one that now begins. What are our hopes, dreams, wishes, aspirations. What are our regrets. What memories come up that bring us gratitude, […]
Textil Zacoalpan, Native Mexican Cotton Becomes Glorious Cloth
On our first tour day, we make our way to Ometepec, Guerrero, where we spend the first night on the road after traveling north on MEX 200, the coastal highway to Acapulco and beyond. Early the next morning, after breakfast, we travel about a hour northeast to the tiny village of Zacoalpan where we meet […]
Pinotepa de Don Luis Weaver Dazzles Us on the Oaxaca Coast
Our first stop in Pinotepa de Don Luis is at the small home and workshop of weaver Sebastiana Guzman. Her work is always very fine — she uses the finest cotton from the best mill in Puebla state, as well as hand-spun coyuchi brown, white and green cotton. The village is known for its work […]
Las Sanjuaneras Cooperative, on the Oaxaca Coast, San Juan Colorado
At the end of a winding road about an hour-and-a-half up the mountain from MEX 200, the coastal highway leading north to Acapulco and beyond, is the Mixtec village of San Juan Colorado. Here, almost all the women weave and there are over thirty registered cooperatives. One of our favorites is Las Sanjuaneras. Why? They […]
Tixinda. Purple Snail Dye. Caracol Púrpura. On the Oaxaca Coast.
Tixinda is the Mixtec word for the purple snail, also known as caracol púrpura in Spanish. It produces a rich purple dye used for ceremonial clothing in the Oaxaca coast village of Pinotepa de Don Luis. The weavers here make beautiful garments on the back strap loom using touches of this rare dye in the […]
Hot, Humid on the Oaxaca Coast. Heading North on the Costa Chica. Day One.
Last night was amazing. The bioluminescence in the Manialtepec Lagoon was the most spectacular I’ve ever seen in the eight or so years we having been coming to Puerto Escondido for the start of the Oaxaca Coast Textile Study Tour. (We are scheduling this again for 2025, so please tell us if you want to […]
Back to the Oaxaca Villages: Teotitlan del Valle and Mitla
My friend Chris returned to Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Guadalajara, yesterday morning, so it’s been a day of quietude, plus packing to get ready to leave for the Oaxaca Coast early Saturday morning. We have a 14-person tour going to discover handmade textiles on the Costa Chica. My family wonders when I rest. In bits and […]
Tootling Around the Villages in Oaxaca
We weren’t exactly going off on a tangent, getting sidetracked, or wandering aimlessly. We had a plan. I spent Thursday and Friday last week taking friends to visit artisans down MEX 190 — the Panamerican Highway — to visit makers I have known for years. Oh, and did I say it’s 80 degrees Fahrenheit here […]
Belated Happy New Year From Oaxaca + Eating
Welcome 2024. On New Year’s Eve, I traveled from Albuquerque to Oaxaca, arriving just in time for a birthday dinner at Quince Letras with my friend Carol. We sat on the rooftop terrace and enjoyed a delicious tomato salad and tlayuda with chapulines (yes, grasshoppers). Left to right: Santi the Snowman, sculpture in front of […]
Christmas Eve from Taos Pueblo, Oaxaca Connection, and Happy Holidays
We know that New Mexico, in fact the entirety of the southwestern United States, was part of New Spain, and then after Independence in 1821, part of Mexico. The Spanish conquered, enslaved, and imposed Catholicism into all parts of the empire. Christmas celebrations in Oaxaca are an amalgam of pre-Hispanic and Catholic rituals. They are […]
Day of the Dead Magic in Mitla
Our path along the Pan-America Highway leads us to some of the most iconic villages in Oaxaca. The artisans we visit in San Pablo Villa de Mitla not only talk about and demonstrate their craft, they will discuss their personal experiences and traditions growing up and honoring their ancestors during Day of the Dead. When you participate […]
Immersive Day of the Dead Experience: Altars, Studios, Workshop + More! 2024
On October 30, 2024, we immerse ourselves in all the senses that Day of the Dead offers. You experience the rich cultural and social history of Teotitlan del Valle. No where is Day of the Dead celebrated with more authenticity than in the villages. Our one-day tour starts at 9:00 a.m. We pick you up […]
Itzel Rodriguez Tolis Receives OCN Scholarship at Oaxaca Learning Center
Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC established a named scholarship at the Oaxaca Learning Center a few months ago to give back to the community we love and respect. The scholarship fund is supporting deserving students and mentors from indigenous communities who are either enrolled in or plan to enroll in university. Education is our driving force. […]
Diego Rivera, Mexican Muralism, Art and FDR’s New Deal
I was fascinated to read Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American December 8, 2023, essay on the power of art to restore the economy and economic confidence. She takes us back to Roosevelt’s New Deal as a way to infuse vitality into the economy after the 1929 stock market crash by investing in public […]
12 Cozy Warm, Shawls + Scarves Added to Shop
Just in time for winter bluster, order soon to receive before the holidays, these scarves and shawls are from Chiapas and Oaxaca, handwoven on either the back-strap or flying shuttle pedal loom. Materials are wool, cotton, and cashmere. The colors are extraordinary. We hope you see for yourself. When you order from the shop, you […]
New Etsy Shop: SouthwestRoadTrip
Aside from living in Oaxaca, most of you know that I live part of the year in Taos, New Mexico, where I am in love with all things Southwest. Apart from Oaxaca Cultural Navigator and Shop.Oaxacaculture.Com where we feature clothing, home goods, jewelry, gifts and more, I’ve decided to open a shop that focuses on […]
Chiapas in Pictures
Spaces open in Chiapas Textile Study Tour, February 2024. Click here for more! We will not be offering this tour in 2025. Come with us for an extraordinary textile adventure! Included: embroidery workshop with master Francesca, from Aguacatenango. We go deep into Maya culture, visiting remote villages in the Chiapas Highlands. Click here. Chiapas is […]
Last Day Sale—20% Off — Shop Oaxaca Culture
Our 20% off sale ends tonight at midnight. Use the discount code take20 on the shop website at checkout. shop.oaxacaculture.com
take20 on the Shop — 20% Off Today and Tomorrow ONLY
We are sweetening the deal with a deeper discount of 20% off on shop.oaxacaculture.com Offer is good only today and tomorrow, November 30 and December 1. Discount applies to everything: rugs, clothing, jewelry, home goods, and more. Use Discount Code take 20 When you buy on the shop, you can use your credit card or […]
SALE. Shop Fancy APRONS. Shop Artisan Made
We are continuing to offer our shop.oaxacaculture.com artisan made goods through Friday, December 1. Use Discount Code thankful2023 for savings. Today, we feature handmade, machine washable and dryable aprons from Oaxaca. We buy these from an artisan family in San Miguel del Valle, Oaxaca. They use a free-form embroidery sewing machine, which means there is […]
SALE Shop Rugs. Shop Artisan Made.
We’ve just added these five rugs to the Shop. Rugs are hand woven on a traditional 2-harness pedal loom in Teotitlan Del Valle, Oaxaca, by Eric Chavez Santiago. They are made with hand-spun churro sheep wool and dyed using all natural sources — cochineal, indigo, wild marigold and more! These are sturdy enough to walk […]
SALE Shop Small. Shoulder Bags Just Added.
Our sale continues through December 1. Use Discount Code thankful2023. Everything on our shop is handmade and sourced from outstanding artisans we know personally in Oaxaca and Chiapas. Today, we are featuring four beautifully embroidered cotton shoulder bags with a floral motif. Each is a different color. These are perfect for around town or for […]
One-of-a-Kind. Artisan Made. Discount Code thankful2023
Jump on the post-Thanksgiving and pre-Small Business Saturday Sale. Take at look at shop.oaxacaculture.com for spectacular handmade clothing, jewelry, natural dyed rugs, handbags, boots — perfect for gifting or for your special holiday dressing. We rarely discount. Use the code thankful2023 for extra savings. Code expires December 1.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING. Gobble. Gobble.
Back on the Taos Mesa. Cooking extravaganza food fest for Thanksgiving Day. We are a family crowd of 13 people. Grateful. Thankful. Appreciate all friends and blog readers. Enjoy the day. We have much to appreciate. Wishing you a day filled with good food, good friends, good family and abundance. Sending abrazos fuertes. Don’t forget […]
At Original, Textiles from Chiapas Tell Stories
A group of us spent five days at Original this past week. This is a textile extravaganza in Mexico City that honors indigenous weavers and designers from throughout Mexico. With over 1,000 artisans showing and selling what they make, to say the event was mind-boggling is an understatement. The show also featured pottery, lacquerware, copper, […]
ORIGINAL 2023 Textile Extravaganza: 400+ Mexican Artisans
Coming up in Mexico City from November 15-19, is ORIGINAL. This is a major textile and folk art event that will attract visitors from all over the world. We have organized a long weekend tour to Mexico City that will take us to ORIGINAL every day where we will meet and have private conversations with […]
