Autor: Khadi Oaxaca

Selvedge Magazine. July / August 2020.

The khadi movement is thriving in the Sierra Sur Mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico. In the remote Zapotec village of San Sebastian Rio Hondo, women spin organic cotton on the Charkha, the wooden spinning wheel that was the embodiment of Gandhi’s vision for a new India. Khadi, the fabric of freedom is woven on backstrap and pedal looms with white or pre-Hispanic brown cotton grown on the Pacific Coast.  Truly honouring the dignity of labour, this dynamic community project is creatively uniting two rich textile traditions under the banner of Khadi. The nonprofit organisation started in 2010 with a spinning course on the charkha for 30 women and is now involved with over 300 people. The cofounders Marcos Cafe and his wife Kalindi share a strong connection with India and have both embraced conscious living.

Read Threads of Life. Khadi in Oaxaca here.

 

Esperanza Project/June 18, 2020.

High up in the southern sierra of Mexico’s state of Oaxaca, an innovative nonprofit business inspired by Mohandas Gandhi is helping Indigenous Zapotec families to weather the economic storm that COVID-19 has brought to the Mexican countryside

“What we’ve found is that it is possible to care for each aspect of the supply chain, be ecologically mindful, empower local communities and create unbelievably beautiful textiles,” Attar said. “COVID is painfully helping us globally to wake up to the fact that our Earth is indeed suffering; we are all interdependent. Our goal is to be a model and live the change we want to see in the world. May we look toward great souls like Mahatma Gandhi for guidance.”

Read this article in English and Spanish here.

Esperanza Project/ June 15, 2020.

The Khadi Oaxaca project tackles some of the most difficult issues of our times, including “fast fashion” and its devastating impacts on its workers and the planet; migration; indigenous self-determination; and the scars of colonialism and neoliberalism on the social fabric of Latin America.

Read this article in English and Spanish here.