The World Crafts Council (WCC) was formed in 1964, according to its website, "to provide services to artists and craftsmen around the world [that will include] stimulating of public interest in and appreciation for the work of artists and craftsmen, providing a clearing house for creative, technical, economic and social assistance and a focus of cooperation among artists and craftsmen." In 1976, the Latin America Region of the WCC hosted the seventh biennial general assembly meeting of the global organization in Oaxtepec, Morelos, Mexico. Mexican president Luis Echeverr & iacute;a & Aacute;lvarez inaugurated the June event. The general assembly, under the theme "The Living Crafts: Tradition and Quality," brought together artists and scholars from fifty-four nations around the globe to convene for five days of meetings, seminars, and workshops. International cooperation was the aim of the assembly and the mission of the WCC. Using the backdrop of the 1976 meeting in Oaxtepec, the author offers reflections on how the fifty-first annual conference of the Art Libraries Society of North America, held in Mexico City in 2023, mirrored the WCC's international convening of craft artists, as well as the challenges encountered when conducting archival research across borders.
