Taller Leñateros Promotional Materials
Collection
Identifier: PICT-2019-004
Scope and Content
The collection consists of announcements, postcards and enveloped cards on handmade paper. The pieces bear woodblock prints, line drawings and text describing the Taller and promoting some of its publications and book launch events.
Dates
- 1994-1998
Language of Materials
Spanish
Access Restrictions
The collection is open for research.
Copy Restrictions
Duplication of print and photographic material is allowed for research purposes. User is responsible for copyright compliance. For more information see the Photographs and Images Research Guide and contact the Pictorial Archivist.
History
Taller Leñateros (The Woodlanders' Workshop) in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, is a cooperative Maya artisan workshop that produces handmade paper, artist books, silkscreen and wood block prints, natural dyes and, by their own admission, magic spells. Founded in 1975 by the Mexican poet Ambar Past, Taller Leñateros is dedicated to promoting the continuation of ancient native traditions of dyeing and papermaking techniques, as well as preserving, supporting and disseminating Mayan and related popular culture and oral traditions.
Initially, the workshop focused on rescuing endangered traditions of natural dyes, passed down for centuries among the Maya, and almost completely replaced by synthetic aniline dyes. In 1980 one of the first publications of Taller Leñateros was Bon Tintes Naturales, an 80-page bilingual (Spanish/Tzotzil) instruction manual for creating natural dyes. Inexpensively offset-printed on newsprint, the book contained recipes, plant illustrations, poetry, charts and a fold-out map for locating supplies in San Cristóbal. This led to the creation of the Natural Dye School, a cooperative that has trained a new generation of teachers that led to the invention of many new dyes and spawned a resurgence of these traditions for ceremonial and commercial purposes. Other key publications include La Jícara (The Gourd ), a literary, artistic and historical journal in the form of a rustic codex that includes translations from Mayan languages, testimonies and journals; and Conjuros y Ebriedades: Cantos de Mujeres Mayas, a book of spells including recipes and incantations to live a long life and as well as hexes for the unfaithful man. (Description by the Latin American Library, Tulane University)
Several books and journal issues produced by the Taller Leñateros are held in the Center for Southwest Research as part of our collection of Mexican small press publications.
Initially, the workshop focused on rescuing endangered traditions of natural dyes, passed down for centuries among the Maya, and almost completely replaced by synthetic aniline dyes. In 1980 one of the first publications of Taller Leñateros was Bon Tintes Naturales, an 80-page bilingual (Spanish/Tzotzil) instruction manual for creating natural dyes. Inexpensively offset-printed on newsprint, the book contained recipes, plant illustrations, poetry, charts and a fold-out map for locating supplies in San Cristóbal. This led to the creation of the Natural Dye School, a cooperative that has trained a new generation of teachers that led to the invention of many new dyes and spawned a resurgence of these traditions for ceremonial and commercial purposes. Other key publications include La Jícara (The Gourd ), a literary, artistic and historical journal in the form of a rustic codex that includes translations from Mayan languages, testimonies and journals; and Conjuros y Ebriedades: Cantos de Mujeres Mayas, a book of spells including recipes and incantations to live a long life and as well as hexes for the unfaithful man. (Description by the Latin American Library, Tulane University)
Several books and journal issues produced by the Taller Leñateros are held in the Center for Southwest Research as part of our collection of Mexican small press publications.
Extent
15 items (1 folder) : 15 printed pieces
Physical Location
B2. Small Collections box 11. Filed by Pictorial Number.
- Title
- Finding Aid of the Taller Lenateros Promotional Materials, 1994-1998
- Status
- Edited Full Draft
- Author
- CSWR staff
- Date
- © 2019
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid is in English
Revision Statements
- Monday, 20210524: Attribute normal is missing or blank.
Repository Details
Part of the UNM Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections Repository
Contact:
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451
cswrref@unm.edu
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451
cswrref@unm.edu