From May 11 to June 7, 2017, our exhibition touching the earth materialized in the Vacant Land Gallery in Mexico City.
We were happy to share with the world something of what we have harvested in 12 years of work and love for clay. This exhibition unfolded the roots of the tradition, showing the processes that have prevailed for centuries in the pottery communities of Oaxaca, as well as the innovations of the now Cooperativa 1050° to build community and reassess how we relate to traditional wisdom in our country.
On the afternoon of the inauguration we organized guided tours to improve the experience of the attendees, we also had the presence of Francisca Ocampo, Alberta Mateo and Macrina Mateo, master potters, who told us their story within the trade out loud.
The gallery was packed with over 400 people that day, thank you so much for joining us!
In this exhibition we exhibited traditional pieces from our collection Fire and Clay, the Atzompa Time Line and an exhibition of the burning of Los Reyes Metzontla comales (affectionately called Quetzalcóatl), in addition to setting up a 1050° ephemeral store that was active throughout the month in the gallery facilities.
A story: Francisca Ocampo
Francisca is a comalera teacher, daughter of another comalera teacher and mother of three girls. For years Francisca has concentrated on honing her craft, creating beautiful, oversized griddles with deceptive ease. From the workshops with the Atzompa Time Line, Francisca has ventured into other designs, exploring jugs, glasses and vases that she had never made before. His expert hands have quickly adapted to these new forms, creating beautiful objects.
For the Tocando la Tierra exhibition, Francisca produced a series of “unfinished” griddles that show the different stages of griddle creation.
Each comal is different, each comal is a story.
—Francisca Ocampo