Team
Head & founders
Kythzia Barrera
Founder and Director of Innovando la Tradición.
My work creates bridges between design, art and craft to promote social change.
Honesty and the decentered and unprivileged position of conventional designers are an essential part of my way of working.
Diego Mier y Teran
Founder and Director of Innovando la Tradición.
Together with Kythzia, I take care of the general course of the ship and the strategies for navigating the seas, looking into the distance in time and space. I coordinate the team, design the Learning Community programs, define the graphic identity, draw letters, write texts, take photos and ask many questions. I throw ideas and look for allies to carry them out.
Like the bat, I enjoy flying, seeing things upside down, and identifying patterns. I am moved by the infinite creative possibilities of the human mind and the certainty that the world can be kinder and fairer, through consciousness and beauty. On Sundays I enjoy cooking. In another life I would like to learn to play the drums and speak Japanese.
eric mindling
Founder of Innovando la Tradición and author of the book Fire and Clay. The Art of Pottery in Oaxaca.
I am a documentary photographer. All the work I do is motivated by a deep yearning to explore, learn, and celebrate what is wise, ancient, and rooted in our human world.
I have spent long and rich hours in the ancient communities of Oaxaca, Mexico, which was my home for 25 years. In these places I have found my mentors; indigenous potters, weavers and people of ancient trades, peasants, herds of goats and rural cooks. They teach by being, not by saying, and the requirements to learn are curiosity, patience and humble respect.
equipment
fanel reyes
Communication and graphic design coordinator
Oaxacan. I move between photography, dissemination in social networks, illustration and graphic design of the projects of Innovating Tradition and Cooperativa 1050°.
I love clay in all its forms, origins and colors. Among my favorite things is learning from the potters and eating yolk bread with water chocolate.
I am a fan of everything we have achieved and the paths we have opened. Long live the counterculture!
sindy cheluja
Administrative and operational coordination
Born in the Yucatecan peninsula, I am the bee that always contemplates the possibilities, challenges and benefits of collective work in our honeycomb.
I feel very happy with all the possibilities that are generated every day in our workspace, I feel proud to be part of the team and the dialogues that continually arise. The possibility of learning, changing, starting over or starting something from scratch seems like a wonderful gift to me.
I live with my cat Loto and among other things, I would love to learn how to sow and embroider.
MEGAN MARTIN
COMALA coordination
Inside of the universe Innovating tradition, I take care of the project of the Pottery Learning Community (COMAL). I am from the roots Chicagoan and collector of powerful questions that uncover surprising conversations.
I am also a fan of using physical and playful techniques to unlock the collective intelligence of groups to do my best work with joy.
When I'm not working, you can find me climbing a mountain on my bike, eating a memela with fresh cheese and tomato sauce, or hanging around the neighborhood with my three furry dogs.
Susana Sanchez
Production
I am in charge of coordinating the production of parts of the Cooperativa 1050° (so that everything is of the best quality) and my priority is to generate bonds of trust and mutual work with the potters, in addition to achieving clear and respectful communication with them.
My roots are divided between the Central Valleys, Ocotlán and the Sierra Sur of Oaxaca.
On Sundays I really like to go out in the morning to walk through the center of Oaxaca, read, watch movies or documentaries and sleep. And lastly: I am a fan of clay, pottery, and raccoons!
Pablo Gomez
Sales
I like to consider that I take care of the door that connects the mud with the world.
I could define myself in three words: joy, beach and party!
I am Oaxacan with isthmian roots, in my spare time I love to walk and disconnect from routine. I like tlayudas and I would like to learn to cook.
I admire the enigmatic nature of octopuses, my favorite animal.
URIEL RAMIREZ
Accounting
I am an accountant originally from Suchixtepec, a small town with a cold climate located in Miahuatlán, in the Sierra Sur of Oaxaca.
I identify with the nature of the gorillas because they live as a family, their strength and because they seek the welfare and protection of their community.
In my free time I like to play soccer with my friends and spend time with my parents, wife and children. Definitely the most beautiful gift I have received was being a father.
Juan Carlos Garcia
Logistics and shipping
I am from Valles Centrales and I am in charge of coordinating the shipments of the pieces of the Cooperativa 1050.
I like to learn new things and meet people (and interact with them in the best way), my passions are music and everything related to the universe. Oh, and I'm always up for some good taquitos.
For me, everything is learning: live the experiences that life gives you, fall and of course, get up again!
JULY SAAVEDRA
Video and video editing
Proud to be Oaxacan, I inhabit the interzones of the Mixteco-Zapotec territory.
I am an audiovisual producer, I am in charge of the video editing and documentary recording area.
I enjoy working alone (also in a team), walking around the city and being in nature. I identify with the hummingbird for being a collector of fine substances and a pollinator.
My favorite territory is the semi-desert zone and the sea. I admire the knowledge of the I Ching. I would like to learn to climb and I could eat tacos al pastor all my life. On Sundays I like to listen to music, organize my space and watch a movie with my family.
GETSE ZATO
COMALA coordination
I take care of enjoyment, rituals, hugs, the importance of returning to the body, listening and sensitivity.
I like the exquisite, the color red, the movement in all senses, I love the questions that bloom, the smile of my daughters and my body that dances. Accompanying and accompanying me has become my smile and dignity today.
I am half from Mexico City and half from Oaxaca. I identify with the turtle and the elephant because I connect with their smooth rhythm, with observation and the ways they relate to the environment, the wisdom of their gaze catches me.
The potters and the clay have taught me that you have to go deep no matter how many attempts you need, magic always happens, return to the earth, feel your hands to continue sowing.