Making things by hand is slow compared to machine production. Craft has value in itself, though. It connects us to the past and provides an alternative to an on-demand consumer culture.
These values lie at the heart of textile artist Porfirio Gutiérrez’s work. He seeks to preserve the traditions of the Zapotec people of Southern Mexico in ways that speak to modern life. The title of his series Ofrenda means “offering,” a tribute to the binding together of past, present, and future.
Scholar and designer Elisa Palomino is also adapting traditional techniques in indigo dyeing, pattern making, and material use to meet modern needs. She has worked to bring fish skin into the fashion industry, collaborating with anthropologists at the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center and indigenous makers in Alaska and Japan. Their collaboration aims to transform ocean waste into high-value products.
This section contains the following objects:
Fish Skin Pouch
Elisa Palomino, Fish Skin and Clutch
Porfirio Gutierrez, Ofrenda No. 1
Dye Materials
Fish Skin Pouch
Yup’ik, Yukon-Kuskokwim Region, Alaska
ca. 1921
Embroidered dressed skin
Description: The fish skin pouch is light brown. Pieces are patched together to make a symmetrical and teardrop-shaped design. Upon close inspection, the fish scale texture of the pouch is visible. It is about the size of a sheet of letter paper.
Credit: Smithsonian Institution, Department of Anthropology, Catalog #E316658-0
Indigo Katazome Dyed Fish Skin
2019
Description: A long stretch of fish skin with dyed flowers and plants on it. The dyed plants are black, the fish skin is brown.
Indigo Katazome Dyed Clutch
2020
Description: A pouch or clutch with flowers and plant imagery on it. The pouch is tan fish skin with dark blue inked flowers and plants. Upon close inspection, the pouch is made up of scales. The pouch has a zipper closure on top with a round, carved wood fish zipper pull.
Credit: Elisa Palomino. This work was done in collaboration with Stephen Loring, National Museum of Natural History Arctic Studies Center and Takayuki Ishii, Indigo Master, Fujino, Japan.
The Future of Tradition
Ofrenda No. 1
Wool, agave fiber, silk, cotton
Yarn, mixed plants used to make dyes,
Bowls of red dye–cochineal, yellow–pericón, and blue–indigo
Description: A colorful woven blanket hangs vertically. The main colors are reds, blues, and browns. The design is a traditional Oaxacan pattern. The center has a diamond shape that connects to symmetric rigid swirls. It has many stripes with various geometric designs, such as a pattern of diamonds and small circles.
Credit: Porfirio Gutiérrez, California-based Zapotec textile artist
Description: The details of a robe. The robe is black with gold stencil designs. The designs are symmetrical on both sides. There is one design on the top center. It is an intricate design that resembles a “T” shape. The middle part of the “T” has a box shape. On the bottom is another design that is round and comes to a point. The pattern underneath these designs include a dome shape and connecting rectangles with lines.