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THE RUG WEAVER OF TEOTITLAN DEL VALLE
by Bob Brooke
I'm a compulsive collector.
Ceramics, boxes, stamps, you name it. One of my recent passions has been
collecting rugs, especially rugs from Mexico. I don't simply buy these rugs,
I select them. Beauty alone won't do. Each of my rugs must be a masterpiece
of design, a work of art.
Upon the recommendation of a Mexican friend, I traveled to the village of
Teotitlan del Valle southeast of Oaxaca. Here, weavers have been making
finely woven rugs for hundreds of years. It took some effort to find a
particular weaver, named Graciela, one of a hundred weavers in this village
known for its weaving.
When I finally found her, I told her that I wanted to see some of her best
samples. Graciela, or Chela, as she liked to be called, was a scant Zapotec
Indian woman with dark bronze skin and dark piercing eyes. The darkness of
her skin made her white teeth seem even whiter when she smiled. She wore a
gaily colored huipil, a white overblouse with delicate embroidery around the
neck and bottom. She brought out piles of her rugs and spread them before me
in the sun in the courtyard of her house. I wasn't disappointed.
As I looked over the rugs, I couldn't help noticing the house. The air was
filled with the aromatic smell of burning wood. The house was laid out
within a walled compound separating it from the street. Everything seemed to
be outside. Chela used the small courtyard to hang out her rugs, but she
wove them on a large hand loom under the protection of a semi-roofed patio.
It's the custom in Mexico not to rush into business. You're expected to
socialize first. Before one trades, one talks, about anything--the weather,
the family, the many weeks it takes to weave just one rug. Finally, I got
down to inspecting the dozen or so she had laid for me to see.
A sea of color, beautiful designs, different sizes, all magnificent. I
touched and felt. Something seemed wrong. Each rug that I inspected seemed
to have a little flaw, small, to be sure, but nevertheless a flaw. I thought
to myself, How could this master rug weaver make such simple mistakes? The
errors disturbed me. Really they weren't much, tiny misweaves or maybe a
slight mismatch in pattern.
I didn't want to hurt Chela's feelings by inquiring. "Do you have any others
I could look at?" I asked, hoping to find some without any flaws.
"Not now," she said. "But perhaps pronto."
What she meant to say was maybe in a month or two, after she had woven more.
"But, senor," she pleaded. "Can't you find anything you like among these?
"I'm afraid not, but I will be coming back this way in a couple of months. I
definitely will buy from you next time. I'd really like to see some more
patterns before buying."
"Please, senor, you must have some warm tortillas. I just made them. And to
wash them down, some pulque."
I couldn't refuse. After all, the tortillas did smell good, but I was a
little hesitant about the milky pulque. This slightly alcoholic drink, made
from the maguey plant, is not the greatest refreshment if your taste buds
aren't accustomed to it. After eating a tortilla or two and downing the
pulque, and after more conversation, I left and headed back to Oaxaca.
About two months later, I returned. Chela was all smiles. As she promised,
she had a new collection of rugs, as magnificent as the first batch. These
had different patterns, some calm, some dramatic. She spread them out as
before and invited my inspection.
I couldn't see how they could have been made any better. How could this
handweaver have brought any more inspiration to fashioning them. I wanted to
purchase them all. It was hard to make up my mind. But, once more, I noticed
little faults similar to those in the first group. They were fine specimens,
but the flaws still bothered me.
I didn't' want to offend Chela, and after considerable hemming and hawing, I
had to ask, "Why do all these rugs have little flaws? Surely, you're an
expert weaver?"
Chela laughed heartily. A good long hearty laugh. "Those little flaws," she
explained, "were done with a purpose. I put one misweave into every one of
my rugs—human beings are weak and full of error.
To create perfect rugs might be an offense in the eyes of God, for only God
is perfect and He might not like mere humans to emulate Him in that respect.
So as not to displease God, I make sure that none of my rugs is absolutely
perfect.
"But they are nearly so," she added, crossing herself.
With that explanation, I gave up. I bought four of her finest, first
bargaining to get the price down, for to do otherwise would have labeled her
a novice.
After the required tortillas and pulque, I left, but not before asking, "Do
all the weavers in Teotitlan del Valle do what you do?"
Chela crossed herself again and replied, " Quien sabe? Who knows? But
I devoutly hope so. |
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