The work of the women, along with presentations on their lives by collective president Pastora Gutierrez, will be the subject of a two-day exhibit, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., on Saturday, Sept. 13, and Sunday, Sept. 14, at Tu Pueblo in Half Moon Bay.
The collective, called “La Vida Nueva” (“A New Life”), is made up of 14 women age 17 to 78, many of whom are single mothers, widows or abandoned wives — but all virtually independent.
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“They are ostracized in their own community,” she said. “That they stepped out of the normal experience of women, without a man, as single mothers or widowed, and organiz as women, is a radical fact.
“They are not expected to go outside the house, especially to meet with other women.”
These women in the 12-year-old collective do their weaving in the afternoons after the daily work of going to market, cooking and cleaning is done. They pursue their art in traditional ways: washing the wool in a nearby river, weaving on looms made in their community, and decorating their rugs with natural dyes made with materials collected in surrounding mountains.
The patterns in the weavings are traditional Xapotec designs, and the weaving technologies are also traditional Xapotec.
The women found challenges in bucking tradition to gather and weave together, but also found that as their work began to spread, they gained respect.
But they also gained an extended family in their weaving companions. The eldest member of the collective, who lives alone, has been adopted by the group.
Accompanied by a translator, Gutierrez will appear with the exhibit, giving presentations on the women, their lives, their weaving, and what it is like to live as an indigenous woman in this culture.
Gutierrez finds surprises and contrasts in areas where the work is exhibited, said Rodriguez.
“She sees our lifestyles as very foreign,” she said. “It surprises her that our houses are left empty when people go to work, because there, there is always someone in the house.”
After Half Moon Bay, the exhibit will go on to schools in Redwood City, Novato, an arts center in Mendocino and an arts cooperative in Eureka, Rodriguez said.
Proceeds from sales of the rugs and weavings go to the weavers, and in a domino effect, trickles down to support their community, said Rodriguez.
While she is here, she will also give educational talks to groups, and involve herself in outreach to Latino communities by visiting farms and labor camps, to “remind them of the richness and the beauty of their roots.”
Tu Pueblo is located at 421 Main St. in Half Moon Bay and can be reached at 726-7743.
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