When walking through the VCUarts Anderson
Gallery, most people are struck by the brightly
colored patterns that adorn the traditional Mayan
clothing hanging on the walls.
Domitila Curuchich, a master Guatemalan
weaver, said she feels sad when she sees them.
Her sadness comes from the deep connection
she feels with her ancestors, something akin to
homesickness.
Curuchich is visiting as part of the gallery’s
exhibition, “Ixchel’s Thread: Mayan weavings
from the Bowdler collection.” The exhibition
showcases traditional women’s garments from
different pueblos, or villages, across Guatemala.
Each pueblo has its own patterns and colors
specific to its residents. The patterns are passed
from mother to daughter, and often were started
thousands of years ago.
“I have been weaving for 33 years,” Curuchich,
who speaks Spanish, said through an interpreter.
“My mother taught me when I was 7.”
Curichich weaves the patterns her mother
and grandmother taught her into traditional tops
called “huipils” (pronounced whee-peel) and
skirts called “cortes.”
Women are the tradition-bearers in Guatemala,
she explained. Men do not wear traditional clothing
because they often join the workforce while
women stay in the villages.
Curuchich has devoted her life to preserving the traditional weaving
techniques of her Mayan ancestors. She sees modernization as a threat to
their way of life.
“Threads are becoming more expensive,” she said.
The Mayans are a nature-based civilization, so many of the garments’
patterns characterize creation and the power of nature. Unless there is a
harvest festival or similar holiday, Curuchich weaves every day.
Curuchich no longer uses natural, hand-dyed thread, instead she uses
factory-spun and dyed skeins of yarn that one of her five sons unravels and
makes into a ball. Traditionally, the male children help the women with the
tasks that surround weaving, but don’t practice the art itself.
Curuchich said it can take her months to weave a single huipil. Everything
is done by hand on a traditional back loom that anchors to the wall at one
end and to a belt on her waist at the other.
Although she lives in the town of Patzicia, she still weaves in the tradition
of her birthplace; San Juan Comolapa. She sells her clothing to women in
her own and other pueblos.
This wearing of other pueblo’s clothing “creates a great appreciation for
the Mayan identity as a whole,” she said.
Mayan historical artifacts show the important role that textiles played in
their culture.
“There is a huipil for every stage of life,” said Churichich’s interpreter
Jessie Krafft, a 20-year-old Spanish and anthropology major.
During her time at the Anderson gallery, Domitilla will make a children’s
huipil that she will donate when she leaves.
“I miss my town and my family,” she said.
She enjoys seeing students taking an interest in her traditions and her
culture, she said.
—
Ixchel’s Thread will be at
the Anderson Gallery until
Dec. 9.
Domitila will be weaving
in the gallery today at
2 p.m., Wednesday from
1 p.m. until 3 p.m. and
Friday from 1 p.m. until
3 p.m.
The event is free and
open to the public.
The Anderson Gallery is
open Mon. – Fri. 10 a.m.
– 5 p.m., Sat. and Sun.
1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
For more information and
photos go to
vcu.edu/arts/gallery