The Life of a Weaver
Marcos Bautista's story embodies a beautiful combination of ancient Zapotec traditions and contemporary life. He learned to weave at age nine from his father and mother. As a child, he enjoyed making toys from objects he found and later transferred that creative skill to playing with yarn: weaving, unravelling, then weaving again until the yarn was transformed into a beautiful rug. He developed as a weaver over many years while completing his primary and secondary education in the village schools, then later commuting by bus to Oaxaca City to attend high school. Bautista has an engineering degree from the Technical University in Oaxaca City, made possible by selling the rugs and bags he created on his loom. He continues to weave along with his mother and father, who also maintain a subsistence farm. Bautista maintains his Zapotec customs and lifestyle and travels to share his work as weaver.
