Welcome to the Traditional Arts Pages

Guatemala is the home to many Mayan ruins such as famous Tikal, the largest of any Mayan ruins. This region is culturally influenced by its pre Columbian Indian heritage and practices. Lake Atitlan is one of the cultural hubs of the region.It is surrounded by 12 villages of original Mayan peoples that date at least to 600 BC. The lake is also crowned by three active volcanoes.The colorful hand-woven tapestries and fabrics are unique to each tribe. The colors and patterns in their textiles show their origin.The Treadle Foot Loom was introduced to Mayan weavers by the Spanish shortly after the Conquest. The most typical fabric produced on the foot loom is the corte, or skirt material worn by Mayan women.The corte fabric is village specific.It typically takes about 8 hours to weave one yard of corte fabric due to it's complex designs. Some women use natural dyes as their grandmothers did many years ago. All of the plants are collected close to their village.

Ixchel, the Moon Goddess and consort of Itzaman the Sun God, was the patron of weaving. She was depicted sitting in profile, with one end of her loom tied to a tree and the other around her waist. She is weaving with the shuttle in her left hand. All types of fabric are woven on a back-strap loom but, most specifically, the huipil or traditional blouse of the Mayan woman. The corteand the huipilare part of the trajeor traditional dress of every Mayan woman. The design of the huipilis a testament of cultural identity and artistic expression as each weaver weaves her own history and philosophy of the universe into the garment.One huipil may take several months to weave depending on the complexity of the design. It involves the binding and dyeing of yarns prior to weaving to produce patterns with blurred edges. Skirts, sometimes called morga,are dark blue, once made from indigo, but now from commercial dyes .

Many of the designs, patterns and colors have been passed on from generation to generation, for centuries.

The Fair Trade Federation tries to place a fair market price on handcrafts in order to break the cycle of poverty and hunger. The Fair Trade Federation tries to place a fair market price on handcrafts in order to break the cycle of poverty and hunger. In Guatemala City 2 women are murdered every day with minimal investigation.