Joy of Weaving - World Wide Weaving of Women 2 - VERBINDUNGSLINIEN 2023

Joy of Weaving - World Wide Weaving of Women 2 is a cultural exchange between Mayan Weavers-Artists from Guatemala and Bavarian Weaving-Artists. At the end of the project there will be an exhibition by the participants in Halle6 in Munich.

Duration/Laufzeit: September/Oktober/November 2023

In the midst of an industrial world where fast fashion reigns, two groups of women weavers resist and keep ancestral textile traditions alive. Despite coming from different continents, Mayan weavers from Guatemala and weavers from Germany face similar challenges: a globalised industrial world that threatens their local textile art. Despite the difficulties, these women have created safe spaces to continue the traditional weaving techniques and to express their life visions.

In addition to these challenges, Mayan women weavers and German women weavers also face a society that does not perceive the artistic value embedded in the textile activity. In the collective imaginary of capitalist societies, the act of weaving is understood as a purely economic and material activity. However, for other human groups (as in the case of these Mayan and German weavers), weaving is an art and a sacred activity that preserves ancestral knowledge. Weaving is a source of creativity, where these women artists not only express their emotions, but also the way they understand the world. This project seeks to integrate women weavers that at the same time, are artists who enlighten the world of arts with their meticulously detailed designs, unique colour combinations, and techniques that keep alive a millenary activity.

Indigenous woman wearing a huipil: traditional Mayan blouse. The elaboration of the huipils shows unique colour combinations and requires complex hand-weaving techniques with the cientura loom. Photo copyright: Movimiento Nacional de Tejedoras Mayas de Guatemala.

Exhibition

To close this project, there will be an exhibition showing the textile pieces that the Mayan artists and the German weavers have created together. It will also include various textile pieces brought from Guatemala, backstrap looms and textile pieces created by the local weavers and artists.

A ritual coming from the Mayan tradition will also take place in the exhibition and possibly other interactive performances.

Besides showing the beauty of textile art, the exhibition also has a critical approach, which aims to raise public awareness about socially relevant issues such as: environmental sustainability in handmade textiles, intellectual property rights of the weavers, cultural appropriation and plagiarism of local textile designs, the symbolism behind each textile piece, among others.