by Susan Page

In the mountains of Guerrero, in a small village so remote that it does not appear on maps of Mexico or on our GPS, a group of families carry on a tradition of ceramic art that is hundreds of years old and that has been passed from father to son and mother to daughter for many generations.

My husband, Mayer Shacter, creator of Galería Atotonilco, and I visited this village, San Agustín Oapan several years ago. A village artist, Javier Santiago, had to meet us in a nearby town and guide us over dirt roads with unlabeled forks and turns, or we'd never have found it. The family compound, a dirt lot surrounded by cement block buildings, all with dirt floors, was filled with women, who warmly greeted us, Javier's wife, sisters, and mother, and countless children, all with bare feet and shy smiles. Their work was neatly laid out on the floor for us to see.

After we selected most of the figures by Javier's family, a neighbor showed up with several pieces of her work. And then another. And another. The word had spread, and neighbors kept arriving, proudly setting their work out for us to see. Mayer kept the mood light with smiling and laughing, and he kept selecting pieces. We were both amazed to see the continuing variety of forms and the fineness of the painting.

At one point I counted twenty-seven people, mostly women, all carrying on lively conversations in their native Nahuatl, and all dressed similarly with a pinafore-like dress with tiny pleats in the skirt and finely embroidered designs on the lapels and waists. Javier told us that no one had ever visited the village to buy work! The artists take their work to neighboring towns, almost exclusively in Guererro, though sometimes as far as Mexico City, to sell it. Our arrival was like a state occasion for these villagers, they were so excited to have us there.

I decided to play Mozart on my iPhone and began putting the ear phones on the children, one by one. Some laughed and giggled, some faces showed a kind of astonishment. They each wanted a longer turn. When the small children tired of the novelty, one 11-year-old boy curled up in a chair and listened for a long time. Most likely, he had never heard Mozart or classical music before.

Mayer always takes a photograph of each artist to display next to the work in the gallery. These photographs became a kind of ritual that the artists relished. When an artist's turn came to stand in the special photo spot holding a figure or vessel she had made, she felt like a star it seemed. Both men and women create this work.

Mexicans don't smile for photos. In the early days, when he was just getting started, Mayer used to say, "sonrisa," smile, until he realized how inappropriate this was. His photos became natural and authentic.

Then there was the packing. Of course, the village was not ready with any packing materials. Neighbors ran all about collecting whatever newspaper, plastic or paper bags, and cardboard boxes they could find. Mayer is a master packer, but this was a challenge, especially knowing what primitive roads with hidden topes we were about to embark upon. But everyone pitched in, there was much merriment and laughter, and every piece was eventually wrapped and packed with dividers keeping the works apart.

After six hours, including a meal of delicious pork soup and hot, homemade tortillas, with many warm handshakes and kisses and our van stuffed with amazing art work, we drove away with the whole neighborhood waving. We had the feeling they would all remember this day for a long time. We had left each family with found money.

We were thrilled to learn that, in the second edition of Banamex's Great Masters of Folk Art series, one family from Oapan was included in the book. Now perhaps the work will be more widely recognized for the superb example of Mexican Folk art that it is. Although only one family was singled out for inclusion in the book, in fact many families in the village have equal skill and imagination.

Entire families are involved in every step of the process of bringing these figures to life, from mining and then preparing the clay, to sculpting the figures, to burnishing and decorating them, and then firing them. For the surface decorations, they use pigments made from different types of clay and minerals from the region, blended together in a special formula, using mesquite honey. The variety of forms, the skilled painting on the pieces, and the stories the paintings recount distinguishes their work. They are perhaps best known for the tall, slender figures they call reinas or queens (though some are also male).

Nowhere else on the planet are people making work that is anything like the large ollas, animals, tall figures, and village scenes created by the families in San Agustín Oapan, Guererro. To own a piece of this work is to own a piece of the history of indigenous Mexico, and to help support hard-working families and a traditional way of life for this village. Galeria Atotonilco has been collecting this work for years now, and maintains an excellent selection.

Galería Atotonilco, located five miles north of town. The gallery is open Monday through Saturday from 11 to 4 with no appointment necessary. It is widely considered to be the finest collection of folk art for sale in all of Mexico. The collection also includes colonial-era tables and trunks, prints by the famous Oaxacan graphic artist Irving Herrera, contemporary ceramics by the world-famous Gustavo Pérez and more. Don't wait. Plan a day in the country soon. We are surrounded by restaurants, hot springs, and the historic Atotonilco church.

Galería Atotonilco
An Unforgettable Experience of Mexico

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Susan Page is the former Director of Women's Programs at UC Berkeley, where she helped to found the Contraception Clinic at the Student Health Service, and to create one of the first university-based Human Sexuality programs in the U.S. She helped establish the first safe house for battered women in Contra Costa County. A best-selling author, Susan has appeared widely on national television and radio, including the Oprah Winfrey Show. She founded and is president of the San Miguel Writers' Conference and Literary Festival and of Gáleria Atotonilco.

www.susanpage.com

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