Clay is Alive

Our story

We serve artisan communities by developing conditions for their well-being, agency and autonomy. We transform dominant narratives through contact with the earth. We generate care of our human, social and natural environment. We create bridges between the wisdom of the handmade and the world. We are and operate as a community. We learn and are transformed together. We maintain spaces for individual and collective creativity. We are proud of what we do. We are all clay.

 

Clay is Alive 2021

We are deeply grateful to be able to keep the conversation going here with you after the challenges of 2020. In spite of the pandemic (or maybe thanks to it), 2020 was a year of achievements and growth for Innovando la Tradicion and Cooperative 1050°. It was a year full of challenges and discoveries.  We are privileged to be close to the potters, to serve them and learn from their knowledge that has become more and more relevant and urgent day by day. We feel proud to be alive and kicking.

For this coming decade, we recognize the value of community and the necessity of creating alliances; what has maintained us alive and gave us inspiration during difficult times has been dedicating so many years to create solid bonds with people and different communities with whom we work for a better future. The coming decade will allow us to feel and understand interdependence more clear than ever. Interdependence not only between people, but between communities, between nations, and between human beings and nature.

That is why we want to invite you to be part of a resilient project that, far from taking on water or floundering in the storm, became stronger, maintained the voyage and it is growing. 

Help us achieve our 2021 campaign, CLAY IS ALIVE, and build the long term vision of Innovando la Tradición for the potters of Mexico that is concretely materialized in these Four Movements:

1. The House of Clay

A network of spaces in Oaxaca dedicated to clay and the local hand-made with an international scope along with the creation of workshops, sales and exhibitions. Meetings are generated, collaboration is promoted and potters, designers, investigators, artisans, educators and amateurs experiment.

In alliance with Khadi Oaxaca, this year we will start construction of our Oaxaca city center and first satellite in Tonaltepec village!

 

2. The Learning Community of Potters

A training space where potters share the know-how developed for many decades and expand their abilities to other fields of knowledge or interest.

This year the fourth chapter of our knowledge community will take place during 6 sessions, along with the continuation of the Youth knowledge Community with a group of fifteen young potters. Also the artisans will guide a group of artisans in Hidalgo and Puebla who want to follow their example. This guidance is through a collaboration with Barro Aprobado.

 

3. The Knowledge is Handmade

We document how we do what we do—our tools, processes and principles—to encourage more collaborative projects and ventures based on solidarity and to influence public policy.

This year we will finally shared with the world the results of the last Learning Communities: the first manuals of kiln construtcion and cost calculation will be design by the artisans and printed for publication, we will produce a series of videos about the last potters in 3 different villages to make an archive of those Living Treasures of clay making tradition. We will aslo start working on a documentary about the construction of the House of Clay in Oaxaca because we believe this is going to be a breakthrough in the history of Oaxacan pottery.

 

4. Collective 1050°

As a socially committed venture, we bring pottery to all corners of the world, forging new paths so that more people can experience its deep wisdom and beauty. With a social and economic solidarity we achieve lasting transformation in the families of potters though a fair, stable and decent economy. 

This year the social consolidation of the artisan owned cooperative will continue through enhancing active understanding and participation of all the artisans in the decision making and governance of the company. Besides that, on the financial side, we will have a brand new webpage to track sales conversion and apply the marketing advice that CIRCUS. Provided last year on marketing to make sure we continue to break our sales record throgh strategic marketing. We will open new channels on digital sales by participating on virtual marketplaces to keep our pioneering space in the market as the first artisan owned company in this new era.

 

Our global campaign for this year is $ 230K USD

This site was built to make it easy for our community of friends in United States to make tax deductible gifts in their country where we are seeking to raise $ 175K USD of the global goal.

 

Why is it important to support us?

The coming year is a crucial year for setting the conditions of claymaking tradition in the new decade.  

 

The lights that we see on the horizon and that inspire us, like women's potters consciousness raising and their empowerment to take on leadership roles, the renewed interest in young generations to work with clay and support their parents, the incredible sales of 1050° that surpassed previous years, and the new and unexpected alliances with kindred projects are all signs that the long term vision of Innovando la Tradición is happening. And it is happening now. This boat has departed!

Join us! We are building together this amazing future for all!

 

About  Innovando la Tradición A.C.

We are an organization that accompanies artisan communities from Oaxaca though a non profit civil association, Innovando la Tradición, (IT) and a productive cooperative, Somos Barro 1050º. We make the wisdom of the potters visible, create networks for mutual support and diversify commercial opportunities with a systematic vision that integrates participatory design, solidarity economy, cultural roots, community and respect for the environment.

 

The Huaje Valley Network

The generosity and trust of the Red Valle de Huajes has given us the flexibility we need to work in the best way possible, adapting to changes and taking advantage of opportunities. Our Chairs Mónica Calderon and Patricia Ortiz Monasterio are happy to invite you to keep building with us.

The contributions of this community were the main income for Innovando la Tradicion in 2020 because our exhibition could not travel around due to the pandemic of Covid-19. Last year we faced several challenges to overcome in Red Valle de Huajes! Some members didn’t renew their membership, others reduced their yearly donations, others manifested interest in joining the community and in the end, didn’t. Nonetheless, interest for the project prevailed and the Red has more new members, solid bonds with each one of the members and a sense of community that didn’t exist before.

In Innovando la Tradicion we don’t rest on our laurels and we constantly seek support from organizations with whom we share values or the inkind support in strategic investments to ensure the funding of the projects we develop.

Members of the Huaje Valley Network participate by:

• Becoming a Jaguar, Eagle, Deer or Rabbit Connecting others and strengthening the network
• Attending one of our launch events or our yearly trip to Oaxaca designed to help you learn more about what your support makes possible.
• Opening doors to potential partners and foundations in the US and Mexico
• Bringing to life our Four movements
• Attend our events and help us communicate to the world.

Join our Huajes Valley Network as one of the four dwellers of the Valley:

• Jaguar – $25,000 USD
• Eagle – $10,000 USD
• Deer – $5,000 USD
• Rabbit – $1,000 USD

We hope to count on you to keep building!

“Clay... a gift that we carry in our blood and we have to transmit it to the new generations”.

– Amalia Cruz