Isaac Vásquez and Jeronimo Vásquez on their family’s weaving traditions
J. Isaac Vásquez García and Jeronimo Vásquez on their family’s weaving traditions. Bonus video from the BORDERS episode. PBS premiere September 29, 2017.
J. Isaac Vásquez García, master weaver and dyer, the eldest living member of the one of the oldest weaving families in Teotitlán del Valle, México, pioneered the renaissance of using pre-Hispanic natural dyes on pure wool. Isaac’s three sons, five daughters and their families take great pride in keeping this tradition alive, despite the more time consuming and expensive nature of this methods when compared with the more modern use of chemical dyes and acrylic fiber. They perform all steps by hand, taking the raw material wool to finished rug carding, spinning, dyeing and weaving. Their design are drawn from both modern and ancient Zapotec sources.
