Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán
I’ll confess to a fraught relationship with colonial architecture. On the one hand, there are plenty of breathtaking, soaring monuments to… the other hand. Early in our time together, Dorothy and I thought it would…
Making Alebrijes
After our mostly successful foray into making woodcuts, we thought we’d try our hand at making another of the classic Oaxacan arts, alebrijes. We chose a class at Tlayudona, a local business that specializes in…
Traditional Pottery With A Modern Twist
Oaxaca is known for its pottery. There’s the classic black clay pottery produced in San Bartolo Coyotepec, and the iconic green glazed pottery of Santa María Atzompa, among others. But like every other art form…
The Water Boils
Imagine that a cave full of stalactites, stalagmites, and bizarre stone formations had been uprooted by the gods and turned inside out, exposing its guts to the air. Or just visit Hierve el Agua (the…
El Castillo de Los Duendes
This is going to be a text-light, picture-heavy post. For two reasons. First, there is shockingly little factual information about El Castillo available. How a castle built on a major street in a town just…
I See Dead People
I know you come here for the incisive cultural commentary and the biting wit, but sometimes we’ve just seen something cool that warrants sharing. Case in point, the Panteón General, which seems to be Oaxaca’s…
Oaxaca Tattoo
Shopping for souvenirs is tough on this trip. An object has to be either a) useful enough and light enough to warrant stuffing in a suitcase and bringing along on our journeys, or b) valuable…
Noche (o Tarde) de Rábanos
That’s Night of the Radishes to you. Or, as it happened, Afternoon of the Radishes, for us. Noche de Rábanos is easier to explain than describe. Maybe. Going back to Colonial times, Oaxaca has had…
Oaxaca Street Art
One of the reasons Oaxaca is so thoroughly identified with the arts is that the city abhors a blank wall. You’re immersed in art in Oaxaca not just through the shops and the surrounding artisan’s…
The Preservation Of Fire
One of the true beauties of Oaxaca is not the city itself, but the ring of villages that surround it. Many of these villages are focal points for specific art forms. In San Bartolo Coyotepec…