A version of this article first appeared on the University of Alabama's Capstone International Center and Graduate School websites.
As an artist, anthropologist, and book lover, I have long been fascinated by Mexico’s paper and bookmaking traditions. So when I began the University of Alabama’s Book Arts MFA program last year, I jumped at the opportunity to learn more through a summer research trip to Mexico.
From as early as 800 AD, the Maya, Mexica, and Mixtec peoples had created beautiful screenfold books containing hand-painted text and images. Almost all of these books were destroyed by the Spanish. But today, some artists in Mexico are working to revitalize and modernize their country’s paper and book traditions. Among them are the workshops Taller Leñateros in the city of San Cristobal de las Casas, Taller Santos Rojas in the town of San Pablito, and Taller Papel Oaxaca in San Agustin Etla.
Taller Leñateros papermaking studio
I visited Taller Leñateros in the state of Chiapas in late May 2018. The taller was started in 1975 by the poet Ambar Past with the goal of reviving the Maya art of bookmaking. Today, it employs local artists to make eco-friendly recycled paper and print and bind original artists’ books containing Maya songs, poetry, and stories in multiple languages. I did an intercambio, or knowledge exchange, with the four artists at Taller Leñateros. After I gave them bookbinding lessons, they taught me how to make paper from maguey fiber — the same plant used to produce tequila and mezcal. Before I left, I filled my suitcase with many beautiful (and heavy!) books, paper, and prints.
In early June 2018, I embarked on the second leg of my trip to learn about amate, a prehispanic type of bark paper. Families of papermakers in San Pablito, Puebla have been continuously making amate since before the arrival of Cortes in 1519, first for books commissioned by the Aztecs and later for religious rituals. Contemporary amate makers are experimenting with different types of bark and are creating modern designs for everything from wall hangings to lampshades.
I took a workshop with Juan and Jorge of the Santos Rojas family, who taught me the entire process of making amate. First, we tromped in the woods to harvest mulberry and jonote bark, then headed back to the taller to cook the fibers over a small fire. The next day, I learned how to use a volcanic rock to pound the delicate fibers into thin sheets. The pounding process resulted in a lovely marble-textured paper that I incorporated into my most recent artist book, Tribute.
Sheets of amate drying on the roof of Taller Santos Rojas
My last stop was Oaxaca. Oaxaca has a rich tradition of printmaking, along with a lesser-known papermaking tradition that has sprung up around it. In the city, I briefly stopped by the Instituto de Artes Graficas Oaxaca, which houses an art library and a small press that produces risograph and digitally printed artist books (they are also beginning to experiment with letterpress). I then went to San Agustin Etla, a small town north of the city, home to the beautiful Centro de las Artes and several small papermaking studios originally sponsored by local artist-legend Francisco Toledo.
Valenzuela sorting through maguey fiber
While in San Agustin Etla, I took a papermaking course with Alberto Valenzuela of Taller Papel Oaxaca. Although he began his career making cotton paper for printmakers, his own studio is dedicated to paper that connects more deeply to the land he loves. Valenzuela is a true maestro of Oaxacan papermaking, having experimented with over 30 different native plants, including the native Oaxacan brown cotton, coyuchi. We picked through a large bin of partially-fermented maguey, the by-product of a nearby mezcaleria, or mezcal distillery. After cooking the maguey over an outdoor clay oven, we put it in a hollander beater with pre-beaten cotton and pulled sheets western-style. The result was a lovely text-weight sheet with visible maguey fibers.
When I came back to Alabama in late June, I was struck by how we lead our lives almost entirely indoors — from house, to car, to work, to studio, and back again. In Mexico, I spent almost all of my days outdoors. People were always walking and working outside, exposed to the elements; and despite having limited resources and studio space, the artists I met were able to create high-quality, interesting books and paper. I was sad to leave, but I am also energized to spend more time outdoors here in Alabama, especially experimenting with making paper from local plants!