Oaxaca’s Weavers and Dyers Join Forces to Protect Living Heritage and Build Opportunity

Following the first session, the artisans carried out a comprehensive assessment of the technical processes and ceremonial value of biocultural practices linked to the pansa purple snail.

For the women textile artisans and men dyers of Pinotepa de Don Luis, protecting heritage means caring for the knowledge, practices and relationships that give their work meaning. The community has begun a project with UNESCO, Fundación Banorte and Oaxaca's Ministry of Economic Development, known as SEDECO, to safeguard its living and biocultural heritage and explore opportunities for social and economic development rooted in its own identity and territory.

More than 30 artisans gathered at the Casa del Pueblo, the community hall, for the opening activities, bringing their experiences into discussions about the value of their work and the responsibilities shared by dyers and weavers. The session examined how the community relates to institutions and the different people and organisations involved in the cultural and creative sector's value chains, placing those connections alongside the knowledge that artisans contribute.

Recognising the people who keep heritage alive

The opening discussions gave participants space to consider their cultural and collective rights, using practical tools to help them recognise and exercise those rights within their working and community lives. Artisans explored concepts of intangible cultural heritage and the UNESCO Convention on the subject, connecting these ideas with the practices and knowledge they maintain.

Shared responsibility within families and the wider community formed part of the work, reflecting the relationships behind textile production and dyeing. The project's approach recognises that safeguarding heritage depends on the people who practise it, making their participation central to decisions about how knowledge is documented, protected and connected to future opportunities.

Understanding the purple snail's place in community life

Following the first session, the artisans carried out a comprehensive assessment of the technical processes and ceremonial value of biocultural practices linked to the pansa purple snail. Their assessment considered both how these practices are carried out and what they mean within community life, providing a foundation for the next stages of the project.

With support from Fundación Banorte, the planned work will continue over the long term through a census of the people and other participants involved in these practices, the recording of techniques and knowledge, and documentation of their connections to community processes and biocultural cycles. This information will help build a fuller understanding of the heritage being safeguarded, including the relationships between cultural practices, community life and the natural cycles associated with them.

Building economic opportunities from local identity

The information gathered will guide the development of a roadmap for safeguarding Pinotepa de Don Luis's living and biocultural heritage and help identify proposals that support the community's own economic development. These next steps connect the protection of knowledge with a practical concern for the well-being of the people who keep it alive, allowing local experience to shape the opportunities under consideration.

The effort builds on the vision of Primavera Oaxaqueña, or Oaxacan Spring, which promotes development rooted in identity and recognises communities as sources of knowledge and opportunity within their own territories. Through SEDECO, the Oaxaca State Government supports this community-centred process, recognising the value of local expertise and backing economic possibilities grounded in the identity and territory of the people taking part.