art and opportunity in guatemala - ellistextiles.com · baja verapaz, had no history of dyeing...

30 Surface Design Journal

Art and Opportunity in

Guatemalab y D e b o r a h C h a n d l e r

When the world was being created, the Goddess Ixchel taught the first Mayanwomen the art of weaving on a backstrap loom. They have been passing thatknowledge on to their daughters and granddaughters ever since. For thousands ofyears, Mayan women have been weaving for their homes, for barter, and for sale.Coming from a society steeped in tradition, the similarities in today’s cloth and cloth-ing can lead many to think little has changed in all that time. Not true. Mayan womenare as interested in fashion as women anywhere, and as artists they are acutely awareof innovation in color and design. While ancient, the world of the Maya is not static.

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A history of Guatemalacould begin with the arrival ofthe Spaniards, various declara-tions of independence, a merg-ing of cultures, and too manywars. The most recent conflictlasted 36 years, killed 200,000people (especially but not exclu-sively Mayan), and ended withthe signing of the Peace Accordsin 1996. It was a scary time foreveryone. For many, it was a timeof hiding their identities, andoften themselves, in order to stayalive. Many traditions were shat-tered and people who had livedin the same villages for genera-tions were suddenly catapultedinto a new world. The future came, ready or not.

The story of Mayan Hands, a fair trade organization, begins at the height ofthe war in the late 1980s, when Guatemalan anthropologist Brenda Rosenbaum wasdoing field work with Mayan women. Touched by their warmth, distressed by theirpoverty, and in admiration of their strength—all the while being dazzled by theirweaving—Brenda and her husband Fredy dared to believe that they could help byproviding these accomplished weavers with a market in the United States. Since1989, Mayan Hands has helped hundreds of women working in cooperative groupswith “a hand up instead of a handout” by providing work, and therefore income, ona steady and fair trade basis.

As anyone who sells knows, the key to continued success is new markets,new products, or both. One way to make new products is to develop new designsusing new materials, techniques, and skills. The best way to introduce all that new-ness is through workshops taught by good teachers, with all the backup and follow-up needed to make them work. For the past decade, Mayan Hands has been offer-ing workshops to Mayan women in Guatemala with the clear intention of greateropportunities for sales, and therefore income. For women who somehow managedto survive on less than $1 a dayprior to their relationship withMayan Hands, having steadywork that pays fairly is a miracle.

Through the generosityof a star-studded list of NorthAmerican teachers, Mayan Handshas been offering a series ofworkshops that are as enrichingto the teachers as they are tothe students. Ten teachers havetaught 18 workshops to 65women in pine needle basketry,natural dyeing, needle felting,and rug hooking. With tangibleresults as the goal, the lessonshave been reinforced with mul-tiple workshops. Some of theteachers have made repeat vis-its. Every teacher has said shewants to come back.

31Fall2013 31

ABOVE: Lake Atitlanin Sololá, Guatemala, isa popular destinationvisited by all MayanHands guests.

LEFT: A butterfly basket designed by thewomen of Xeabaj afterMichele Hament’s 2010basketry workshop.

BELOW:Michele Hament’s bas-ketry workshop in El Adelanto, 2006.



Pine Needle Basketry“I feel amazingly fortunate to have gone

to the highlands of Guatemala and met people Inever would have had the opportunity to meet hadI not been a basket maker.”—Michele Hament(San Francisco, California)

Baskets have been made in Guatemalaforever with traditional materials such as pajon(tall grass), cheche (from the maguey plant), mim-bre (wicker), and bejuco (a vine). Michele Hament,an internationally celebrated basket maker andteacher, began teaching basketry to groups ofMayan women in 2006. She introduced them tothe idea of using pine needles, raffia, and RIT dye,along with a contemporary sense of design. Theresult has been such a huge demand for the bas-kets that the existing groups have needed togrow and a whole new group is about to beformed in Xeabaj. RIT is even poised to put theGuatemalan basket makers on their website.Raffia-in-hand, two women from Xeabaj,Chimaltenango, expanded their knowledge earli-er this spring by attending the natural dye work-shop in San Rafael.

“Please give our clients our thanks. I thankevery client who buys our baskets. The baskets benefit our families. Most of the money goes to

education. Today all my children are in schoolbecause of this work. It is a big effort making these baskets, but I and my family receive a bigbenefit.”—Sabina (Xeabaj)

Natural Dyeing“While our original intent was to connect

the women to local materials, it became evident tous that these hard working women could not possi-bly add growing and harvesting dyestuff to theirroutines. Any gardening energy needs to be direct-ed to growing food for the table.”—Donna Brown(Littleton, Colorado)

Natural dyeing was common inGuatemala for thousands of years before syn-thetic dyes came along. With the rise of interestin all things environmentally friendly, naturaldyes are making a big comeback everywhere inthe world. The group of weavers in San Rafael,Baja Verapaz, had no history of dyeing until a2012 workshop led by Guatemalan natural dyeexpert Olga Reiche. This past spring, natural dyeexperts Donna Brown (Littleton, Colorado) andCatharine Ellis (Waynesville, North Carolina) ledthe group in a second workshop, this time usingmostly powdered dye extracts with fresh bananatree trunks to provide supplementary tannin.

Mayan women from the village of Xeabaj making miniature baskets with pine needles and raffia.


33Fall2013

Mayan Hands began offering scarves and towelswoven with naturally dyed yarns in their existingmarket, but the cost involved made them difficultto sell. Irene Schmoller from Cotton Clouds isnow helping with a marketing plan and its execu-tion to sell the yarn to appreciative weavers inthe US. This is still very much a work-in-progress.

“When we started dyeing, we were work-ing with local plants, but the results were not good.Now we are using the powders and the results arebetter, but they raise the cost of dyeing the yarn. Welike the project and want to keep going if it willwork.”—Elvira (San Rafael)

Needle Felting“The women were amazing!”—Fran Irvine (Concord, New Hampshire)The idea of trying needle felting grew

out of observing local sheep whosefleeces were going to waste. Thewomen of Vasconcelos, Solola,began felting simple animals andnativities in a workshop witheducator and fiber artist FranIrvine in 2005. Through work-shops taught by Fran,Sharon Costello(Rensselaerville, NewYork) and Dee DeeTriplett (Bryson, NorthCarolina), the group nowmakes detailed sculpturesof colorful whimsical ani-mals, the Holy Family innative dress, and Mayanwomen reading withtheir daughters. Mayan

Hands took all of the women to the GuatemalaCity zoo this past spring, where they took pic-tures with their cell phones of giraffes, elephants,and penguins.

“I am very happy and thankful and alsovery excited when we make new products. This givesus the opportunity to create and invent and toshow the world what we are able to do. We are veryhappy for your voice because it motivates us to dobetter each day. Even more, because the income wereceive sustains our families, I work on the animalswith joy. We are open to do new things. If you wantsomething, we can do it.”—Diega (Vasconcelos)

Rug Hooking“During the second class, I distributed pen-

cil and paper to the women to begin drawing a rugdesign. Carmen sat frozen like a deer in the head-lights. She had never made a mark on paperbefore… It's about access to opportunities.”—Mary Anne Wise (Maiden Rock, Wisconsin)

The most outstanding aspect of MaryAnne Wise’s eight-part rug hooking coursewas that it began with general design con-cepts and ended with students from vari-ous groups teaching other women in theirregions, extending its outreach manytimes. Wise is a rug designer and maker,and co-founder with Jody Slocum ofthe shop Cultural Cloth, which sup-ports women artisans around theglobe. Slocum has assisted with theworkshops since they began in 2009.Rug hookers from the US have hookedside-by-side with Mayan rug hookers,sharing an experience unhindered bythe language barrier. The success of

LEFT: Catharine Ellis teaches a 2013 natural dye workshop in San Rafael, and shows the group that indigo is not toxic. RIGHT: The group naturally dyeing cotton and raffia.

BELOW: Sculpture of a Mayan mother and daughter reading together (wool, needle felting, 5" x 3", 2013) made by women in Vasconcelos.


Mary Anne Wise leads a teacher training class, examining small brocadedelements of traje to enlarge as rug designs, 2012. Photos: Mary Littrell.


TOP: Sharon Costello teaching needle felting to a group in Vasconcelos, 2011.


35Fall2013

these cross-cultural encountersis found in the common lan-guages that connect them—the work of their hands andintentions of their hearts.

“I used to have to go tothe mountains every day andchop wood many hours with mymachete. I hauled wood down themountain on my back and sold itwalking door to door in my vil-lage. But now that I am sellingrugs, I don't have to go to themountain any more. I am a luckywoman and I am grateful for thisopportunity for a better life.”—María (Chirijquiac)

These are just a few ofthe inspiring stories that havecome from the educationalefforts of Mayan Hands, withmany still to come. A major goalis to offer Mayan women inGuatemala tools with which toconstruct their futures. It is verychallenging, and very excitingwork.

Mayan Handswww.mayanhands.orgCultural Clothwww.culturalcloth.comSharon Costello www.blacksheepdesigns.comDee Dee Triplettwww.spiralcreek.comMichele Hament www.michelehamentartwork.comOlga Reiche www.customtextiledesign.comCatharine Ellis www.ellistextiles.comDonna Brown www.tablerockllamas.comMary Anne Wise www.maryannewise.com

—Deborah Chandler now lives inGuatemala after teaching and writ-ing about weaving for 30 years inthe US. She is the former Director ofMayan Hands-Guatemala and theauthor of Learning to Weave(Interweave, 1984).

INSET LEFT: Teachers Jody Slocum (left) and Mary Anne Wise (right) with student Yessicaand her hooked rug in progress. ABOVE: Yessica’s completed rug (recycled fabrics on

monks cloth, 56" x 26", 2011). Photo: Mary Anne Wise.


art and opportunity in guatemala - ellistextiles.com · baja verapaz, had no history of dyeing...

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