Here, I am sharing four short videos from our recent 2020 Chiapas Textile Study Tour. They each explain the symbols that women weave into their cloth.
The first two videos introduce you to Albert Lopez Gomez and his reason for starting a cooperative to help his family and village of Magdalena Aldama. He wants to bring international recognition that weavers deserve for maintaining textile traditions.
Read Weaving Men in Chiapas/Casa Kuxtal about men who weave in Mexico and the effort to redefine gender stereotypes.
The last video features Alberto Gomez Gomez from neighboring San Andres Larrainzar. Here, he explains the meaning of a small textile with 160 warp threads. It took his mother Antonia Gomez Santis two weeks to weave working five to six hours a day on the back-strap loom.
We will revisit these remote villages on our 2021 Chiapas Textile Study Tour: Deep into the Maya World. Registrations are coming in and space is limited. Don’t delay if you are interested in participating.
My dream is to support the people of my village, to open doors, to sell directly, and to provide better education and opportunity for our children, and to make higher standard of living.
This huipil is a traditional motif from Magdalena Aldama. You see the red and yellow colors of the brocade weaving on the saints dressed in in these huipils at our village church.
Here is the head of the man, total body and feet, and on the other side is the head of the woman and her body. It’s repeated on the total width of the cloth.
