1/20/2024 0 Comments Leclerc mayan backstrap loom![]() ![]() Huipiles are traditional, loose-fitting women’s blouses, handwoven by panel and sewn together flat. Their most striking textiles are the huipiles woven as ceremonial garments and women’s attire. Working on backstrap looms, these weavers are utilizing methods passed down through generations to combine old-world symbolism with new colors and designs. I hope that in a small but significant way, that we may continue to foster empowerment of the Mayan community.Empowering Threads: Textiles of Jolom MayaetikĪ unique and dedicated community of Mayan artisans are weaving brilliantly colored textiles in Los Altos de Chiapas, Mexico. ![]() Yet their pride is intact in their rich cultural heritage. Poverty and illiteracy along with inadequate access to health care still plague the indigenous people. Women may still wear their traditional huipiles and cortes, but the significance of the symbolism in the weaving is being lost. In all of the villages where I have worked, it is evident that many of the craft traditions and cultural traditions are slowly disappearing. We are members of the Fair Trade Federation and seek to promote a more socially and economically just trading system. Since textiles are my passion, I feel very privileged to work with such fine artisans and I hope, that by allowing them to earn a fair wage for their work, that they will be encouraged to continue the ancient tradition of back-strap weaving and treadle-loom weaving. We started small, working with some of the cooperatives that didn't have other outlets for sales.Since 1997 we have taken on a number of new cooperatives - mostly groups of Mayan women weavers. I had worked with them for 3 1/2 years and had come to know and love many of the artisans and their families and thus, decided to carry on the mission. Due to a combination of factors, they ceased to exist in 1997. Pueblo to People had started in 1979 as a non-profit organization to assist Latin American artisans to find a market for their finely made crafts. I began Colores del Pueblo in 1997 from the ashes of Pueblo to People. It typically takes about 8 hours to weave one yard of corte fabric due to it's complex designs.Īn Interview you might find interesting, too. Output - The most typical fabric produced on the foot loom is the corte, or skirt material worn by Mayan women. Use - As was the Spanish tradition, mostly men weave on the treadle loom although some women do as well. Origins - The treadle (or foot) loom was introduced to Mayan weavers by the Spanish shortly after the Conquest. One huipil may take several months to weave depending on the complexity of the design. The design of the huipil is a testament of cultural identity and artistic expression as each weaver weaves her own history and philosophy of the universe into the garment. ![]() The corte and the huipil are part of the traje or traditional dress of every Mayan woman. Output - All types of fabric are woven on a back-strap loom but, most specifically, the huipil or traditional blouse of the Mayan woman. Use - Women almost exclusively use the back-strap loom which can be used by women at home or while in the field tending sheep. Today, women in the highlands weave the finest textiles in exactly the same way. She is weaving with the shuttle in her left hand. She was depicted sitting in profile, with one end of her loom tied to a tree and the other around her waist. Origins - According to Maya Quiche mythology, Ixchel, the Moon Goddess and consort of Itzaman the Sun God, was the patron of weaving. THE BASICS OF MAYAN WEAVING Back-strap Loom ![]()
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