The Douglas Visitor’s Center will welcome the art of Mata Ortiz when it hosts a pottery exhibition beginning August 14.

Mata Ortiz pot like those that will be on display in Douglas.

The exhibit will be at the Visitor’s Center, 345 16th Street, through September 4.

Luis Pedroza will provide a history of Mata Ortiz pottery beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday, August 14. The reception is free to the public and refreshments will be served.

What is Mata Ortiz pottery

Mata Ortiz is a small village in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, less than 100 miles (160 km) from the US-Mexico border. The community, population 2,000, is one of the designated localidades (localities) in the municipio libre (municipality) of Casas Grandes, one of several such pueblos in a wide, fertile valley long inhabited by indigenous people. Mata Ortiz is located at the base of a mountain known as El Indio and on the west bank of the Rio Palanganas, a tributary of the Rio Casas Grandes. The ancient ruins of Casas Grandes are located nearby.

Pottery movement

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Mata Ortiz has recently seen a revival of an ancient Mesoamerican pottery tradition. Inspired by pottery from the ancient city of Paquimé, which traded as far north as New Mexico and Arizona and throughout northern Mexico, modern potters are producing work for national and international sale. This new artistic movement is due to the efforts of Juan Quezada, the self-taught originator of modern Mata Ortiz pottery, his extended family and neighbors.

Mata Ortiz Pottery

Mata Ortiz pots are hand built without the use of a potter’s wheel. Shaping, polishing and painting the clay is entirely done by hand, often with brushes made from children’s hair. All materials and tools originate from supplies that are readily available locally. The preferred fuel for the low temperature firing is grass-fed cow manure or split wood. Each of these characteristics derive from the ancient pottery traditions of the region, however Mata Ortiz ware incorporates elements of contemporary design and decoration and each potter or pottery family produces distinctive individualized ware.

Young clay workers from surrounding areas have been attracted to the Mata Ortiz revival and have joined Quezada and his associates. New potting families developed and the art movement continues to expand. A vibrant flow of new ideas, without the restraints of traditional practices or gender constraints, has enabled the pottery of Mata Ortiz to avoid derivative repetition common to folk art movements. This blend of cultural expression, economic need and artistic freedom has produced a unique artistic movement in the community.

In 1976, anthropologist Spencer MacCallum visited Mata Ortiz and met Juan Quezada and his extended family of brothers, sisters, their children and neighbors. This group of artisans are the core of this now thriving pottery movement. Information published after this and later visits quickly promoted the acceptance of Mata Ortiz pottery as a contemporary art form. This simple pottery is accepted and admired as a legitimate folk art, and has become highly collectable.