Palm weaving is one of the most time consuming crafts practiced in Oaxaca. The weaver must sit for many hours weaving and designing their chosen patterns. The tradition comes from pre-Hispanic times when hats were the only protection available in the fields. This weaving has many utilitarian uses — roofing, the use of the weave to tether animals, sleeping mats, seed preserving surfaces, and wrapping the dead. Specific varieties of palm are cut in the mountains and then transported to the weaver’s workshops on donkeys or mules. The palm leaves are then dried in the sun for three or four days.

Antonia Peralta has been weaving palm for more most of her life. She was taught by her great-grandfather and is the fourth generation to carry on the family tradition. She works daily in the workshop with other members of her family.

First, she chooses the palm leaves and the material for her project according to the dimensions of the final piece. Then she dyes the piece with natural colors such as cochineal (the insect that grows on the cactus and produces a red dye when crushed), bee plant that produces a yellow color, or instead, mixes other colors by combining their natural components.

From the palm, Antonia makes incredible baskets of all shapes and sizes as well as other products. In 2013, Antonia won first place in the Vegetable Weaving category of the Oaxacan Institute of Handicrafts Consurso (ARIPO).

Domicilio conocido

San Luis Amatlán, Miahuatlán de por Rio Díaz, Oaxaca

9512841356

modcyna@hotmail.com