New York Times: For the Women of One Oaxacan Village, Pottery Is a Way of Life
10/12/2018
For the Women of One Oaxacan Village, Pottery Is a Way of Life
There are some traditions that are universal. Here, we highlight a single craft — and how it’s being adapted, rethought and remade for the 21st century.
Bowls by Alberta Mateo
"The act of turning earth into clay and transforming its properties with fire — is one of humankind’s earliest inventions. ...In the Mexican state of Oaxaca City, there are around 70 villages in which the majority of people make and sell pottery. Apart from Santa María de Atzompa, which uses a green glaze, and San Bartolo, where the clay is fired to black, the pottery in this region is simple, drab brown and mostly unadorned: not the kind of thing outsiders get worked up about."