Pro Arte Maya ~ Marilyn Anderson

1. The Pro Arte Maya Educational Project

Artes y Artesanías Mayas de Guatemala coloring books will be distributed to 775 rural elementary schools!

About the time of my trip to Guatemala, word came to me that that 775 rural schools in Guatemala will receive two copies each of the Artes y Artesanías Mayas de Guatemala Spanish/Maya coloring books. They will be included as part of a distribution of mini-libraries to schools by ILE (the Instituto de Linguistica y Educación), Universidad Rafael Landívar. I am very pleased to be associated with an organisation that has the capabilities to distribute books on this scale.

Since the first edition of Artes y Artesanías Mayas de Guatemala in 2001, each time I return to Guatemala I assess with my colleagues the importance of continuing fundraising for reprinting of the book. This year I came away still believing it has a place as a unique cultural and educational resource. The books are being used and appreciated, yet in the foreseeable future, the project will probably remain small and books will be distributed either by ILE or the Jun Ajpu Ixb’alamke Council of Maya Schools. Although other schools and libraries request copies, it seems unlikely that the national school system would support its printing and include them in its curriculum. Since we are committed to supplying books free of charge to students and teachers, that means that funding from outside of Guatemala will be needed to continue to support its publishing.

I met with Juan Zapil, the Guatemala City representative of the Jun Ajpu Ixb’alamke Council of Maya Schools. (He was vital in the initial production of the coloring book and he coordinated the translations of the Spanish text into Mayan languages.) He told me that the Council of Mayan Schools have only about 150 Artes y Artesanías Mayas books left! This will suffice for the classes using them in the upcoming school year. Although at this time he is less involved with the Pro Arte Maya project as he finishes a higher degree, he still coordinates the distribution of the coloring book and other projects for the Consejo Maya schools.

Later this year I will work to raise funds for a third printing and, while doing this, continue to coordinate my efforts with the Institute of Language and Education (ILE), Juan Zapil of the Council of Maya Schools, and Laura Martin and Nadine Grimm, of Yax Te’ Books.

Exploring support of backstrap weaving classes in two Maya schools: A new aspect of my Pro Arte Maya efforts
Last year, I personally sent a modest donation to help support weaving programs in two Maya Council schools where backstrap weaving is taught. Last March, I was able to present another donation from a generous interested person. But I have not yet appealed to foundations or to many individuals to make it into a major part of Pro Arte Maya effort.

One of the schools where weaving is taught is located in Rabinal, far from Guatemala City, and which requires several days for a visit to the school and travel there and back. I knew that would not be possible for me to do. However, I had hoped to visit the second school in Palín, which is located nearer the capital. Because of a family emergency of Juan Zapil, that did not occur. However, here is a summary of what he told me about these two programs in Consejo Maya schools.

Backstrap weaving classes have gone on since 1990 in the Palín Mayan school and since 1999 in the Rabinal. One hundred girls receive weaving classes in the former and fifty in the latter. The instructors receive only a small stipend. In the words of Juan Zapil, it is so little that it can be said to be “symbolic”. (Teachers’ wages in most Mayan and regular public Guatemalan schools are very small in relation to US standards.) But in regular schools, teaching of backstrap weaving does not happen at all.

Juan Zapil went on to say that the continuation of the art of backstrap weaving is directly related to economic factors in Guatemalan society. For example, the mothers of the girls in Palín weaving classes, often work in the factories (maquiladoras) located in the surrounding area and they have little time to teach weaving to their daughters.

Also, as compared to the past, in Palin, fewer women wear their traditional dress (consisting of a hand woven blouse “huipil” and skirt “corte”). In Rabinal, on the other hand, there are no factories but the cost of thread prohibits many women from having enough money to buy materials for weaving their traditional clothing. More women in Rabinal than in Palín continue to wear their traditional handwoven garments; a number use a simple blouse, sewn in a form similar to a huipil but of factory made material, rather than hand woven cloth.

When I asked Juan Zapil how outsiders can help weaving programs in Mayan schools, he told me how important monetary help is. “These schools are struggling”, he said, “to teach the thousands year old art of Maya women. The state does not give help to them to teach it. But if girls learn weaving, it helps them to understand its value and, in turn, it helps Maya people to retain their identity.”

I will continue this effort personally but am not quite ready to do larger scale fundraising. The effectiveness of teaching backstrap weaving in a classroom situation, as a part of a strategy to encourage weaving as a ” traditional living art” is probably not proven. (Can it be proven??) Yet, I am willing to “gamble” that the experience allowing Mayan girls to learn weaving has value. As I understand literature about education and the arts, an activity such as backstrap weaving should offer students many possibilities for meaningful artistic and cognitive development.

The March WARP conference and tour, women and Fair Trade in Guatemala, and further impressions

2. The WARP conference and tour

The conference itself took place March 1th to 4th, in the Lake Atitlán town of Panajachel. From March 5th to 11th, after official meetings ended, WARP members visited coops and textile related organisations in the area of Quetzaltenango as well as around the Lake. Each town we visited presented unique cultural offerings and natural beauty and even if those surrounding Lake Atitlán boasted especially remarkable settings.

Attending the WARP conference offered the opportunity for exchange with many knowledgeable and dedicated people and to visit with old friends. A total of sixty came, mostly from the US. The organisers, Deborah Chandler, Brenda Rosenbaum and others did an amazing job to arrange visits, such as to Upavim, a Fair Trade cooperative sewing project in a marginalised section of Guatemala City, as well as to the fabulous Museo Ixchel textile museum. They also efficiently took us from place to place and arranged excellent accommodations.

During the three day conference, we heard from Maya women field representatives who work with textile and craft groups. They related stories of organising and attending to the needs these groups as well as their own personal struggles to gain education and overcome prejudice. A number of Maya women also treated us to demonstrations on their backstrap looms. Several North American women, who work with women’s groups in Guatemala and who are also long time Fair Trade Federation members, spoke of their difficulties and successes in paying weavers and craftswomen wages that would allow them to educate their children, have better heath care, etc. They told us about how much planning and oversight went into production of their Fair Trade products. Some of these organisations have been in existence for many years, e.g. Maya Traditions (www.mayatraditions.com), Mayan Hands (www.mayanhands.org), Cojolya Weavers (www.cojolya.org). (The Cojolya web site features a series of photos from my1978 book, Guatemalan Textiles Today, showing backstrap weaving techniques.)

The “after conference” tour

We visited a number of Maya women’s Fair Trade groups, markets, dye houses, and jaspé workers in Salcajá.

Before going to Santiago Atitlán to visit a weavers group, we saw the remarkable herb garden of Jane Mintz of Maya Tradtions. She reminded us that part of her mission as a Fair Trader was to contribute to encouraging reclaiming Mayan traditional medicines.

We then took a launch ride from Panajachel to Santiago Atitlán, going on to Panabaj (the town outside Santiago Atitlán that suffered a disastrous mudslide caused by Hurricane Stan). We were introduced to the difficulties of recovering from such an overwhelming event. Even if international aid organisations and government help have made life better for some, replacement dwellings for many of those who lost homes have been misguidedly built in an area also prone to mudslides! Mayan Hands has helped channel relief funds from the US to rebuild Panabaj. Women members of the Mayan Hands group, whose looms were destroyed, have received new looms. They are once again weaving having received a large order from a Fair Trade wholesaler and retailer in the US.

We learned “up close” about innovation in craft production from a group of women in a village nearby Sololá who make baskets using a recently introduced technique. The new approach, involving use of coiling with a plant material and pine needles as the base, was easily mastered by the women. But knowing that they had traditionally done similar, if less complex coiled baskets, made it more understandable how the women could so quickly learn to make baskets of many sizes and shapes that are so different from their traditional production.

We saw women using floor looms producing weaving for Fair Trade. Even 25 or so years ago, men were the principal weavers on these these looms. But in the 90s, I remember hearing for the first time about floor loom weaving projects for widows who had lost husbands during the civil war. Since then, it has become more and more common for women to weave using floor looms.

But we also saw how Fair Trade organizations encourage women to weave on the backstrap loom. Much of what is most beautiful and distinctive about Maya weaving is best done on a backstrap loom. Fair Trades helps obtain higher prices this for fine work, and thus encourages women to continue use of their traditional looms.

From the women themselves, we heard how Fair Trade organisations have offered them opportunities for increased earnings which benefit them and their families and allow them to take some control over their lives. In an article I read many years ago–(sorry, I do not remember the author’s name)–the writer pointed out that when women have craft skills and talents, they are in a better position to achieve social and financial autonomy than their sisters who do not have such skills. This is probably true for the Mayan women in Guatemala who produce arts and crafts. Yet, they still must overcome the effects of “machismo” attitudes and economic inequalities, as well as racism.

On a Sunday morning, from Panajachel, we travelled to the quintessential and probably the largest market town in Guatemala––Chichicastenango. My first trip there was in the late 60s and my last happened in the 90s. Understandably, my March visit made me think about the many changes to be seen in Chicastenango and in the weaving and crafts of Guatemala.

Although even in the 60s, the items sold in the Chichicastenango market were both “traditional” and “made for tourists” now more than ever are made expressly for the tourist trade. Especially items such as masks, which instantly can become souvenirs to hang on the wall rather than a part of a cultural tradition, have suffered in level of craftsmanship. Probably some of their “magic” also goes away when they are not made for use in the traditional dances. I also noticed that when items meant for local consumption, such as cargo nets made of maguey fibers, were offered for sale, their prices were notably lower than most “tourist” items, probably because the vendor did not expect many tourists to buy his nets. As might be expected, enormous amounts of hand weaving for the tourist trade, often consisting of place mats or other household items, were offered. And, generally, their quality was very high.The issue of the influence of tourism on traditional arts is such a large one that it deserves much more attention than possible to give it here.

But the Chichicastenango market had so much merchandise and stalls were piled so high that I felt lost in the midst of what seemed like hundreds of them. Walking through row after row of sellers, I often felt sad at not being able to see the main church over the top of the stalls. The itinerant women sellers elicited empathy. Carrying stacks of textiles, often on their heads or over their shoulders, and with the inevitable intense competition between the sellers, probably they sold only an item or so in a day.

We went on to Quetzaltenango, as our second base. In that area, we spent time in nearby Salcajá, where we visited dyeing establishments and saw the production of ikat “jaspe” yarns for weaving the cloth for which Salcajá is so famous. I took photos in the 70s of this being done but had not stopped in Salcajá for years. Many changes have happened in the meantime with the major one being that of increased mechanisation of yarn dyeing. Large machines now made processes very efficient. In one dye house, even the packing of the skeins of yarns was done with the help of an ingenious machine. My photos of these processes from the 70s show every step being done by hand. Now those images seem documents from a distant time––even if it is only around 35 years.

We also visited jaspé workers at work arranging the long warps for the production of the patterned skirt material worn by so many indigenous Maya women all over Guatemala. Unlike the dyeing of yarns in a modern dye house, the wrapping, knotting and dyeing for jaspé yarns are processes that likely cannot be mechanized. They demand intensive hand work and considerable skill, especially if complicated patterns are being produced. Walking down the main streets of Salcajá, it can seem as though the whole town revolves around the dyeing, weaving and selling of jaspé cloth. This aspect of Salcajá feels much the same as it did in the 70s.

Further travels after the conference tour

After bidding good bye to many WARP friends, I met up with my Fair Trade companion and friend from Colores Del Pueblo in Houston. Her fine website is: www.coloredelpueblo.com. We spent time in Antigua markets and shops and while there I donated a number of my photographs of Mayan artists and artisans from the 1970s and 80s to CIRMA, (El Centro de Investigaciones Regionales de Mesoamérica) which is an archive and research center (www.cirma.org.gt).

Leaving Antigua, an old friend, as well as a coop administrator, accompanied us to a village outside Comalapa, which is the home of a remarkable organization of weavers called “Flor Del Campo” ( Flower of the Field). It began as a group of women, made widows during the armed conflict in the 80s, who began to work together to support their families. By dint of courageous efforts, they recently obtained funding to build their own weaving center and sales room. To see their production and that of other groups who are members of the Fair Trade association Samajel Batz, go to: www.samjelbatz.net.

Then, traveling with my friend to the Lake Atitlán area, we visited cooperatives and several towns other than those that were part of the WARP tour. With my companion, I learned more about the “beading explosion” (my term) that has happened in Guatemala during recent years. For example, as compared to the past, in places like Santiago Atitlán fewer women do backstrap weaving as a source of outside income. Instead, now many produce beaded jewellery and decorative ornaments.

Guatemala City

After my friend had to return to the US, I stayed on with a friend in the “Zona 1” or Zone 1, the “Centro Historico” (historic center) of Guatemala City. Spending time there is always important for me. Once Guatemala City was described in tourist literature as the “Paris of Central America” (a replica of the Eiffel Tower stands prominently in a traffic circle). But now many tourists do not venture into downtown Guatemala City. However, the large market, near the Central Square and the National Cathedral, offer a unique experience very different from Chichicastenango. For the savvy visitor, the “Centro Historico” has interesting architecture and several hotels that have charm that eludes the high rise hotels in “fashionable” outlying districts. (But especially for a non-Spanish speaker and first-time visitor to Guatemala, exploring the streets of “Zona 1″ is best done with the help of a local person.)

There are many pressing human rights, economic, and political issues that deserve the attention of everyone interested in Guatemala: the high murder rate of women, the effects of CAFTA (the Central American Free Trade Agreement) and Bush’s visit to Guatemala in March. Information on these issues is on the websites of Amnesty International (www.amnesty.org.uk/svaw), Rights Action (www.rightsaction.org), and NISGUA (www.nisgua.org).

3.”Baskets, Nets, Grinding Stones, and Pots… Artists and Artisans of Guatemala”

My blockprint series of the artists and artisans of Guatemala and progress toward a projected book of prints and text.

Over the last 10 years I have been making woodcuts and linoleum prints of images of artists and artisans in Guatemala. However, by 2000, only about four were finished. (This first stage of work went slowly because during 1996 to 1999, I was completing drawings and text for the coloring book Artes Y Artesanías Mayas de Guatemala, seeking colleagues in Guatemala to help prepare it, and searching for foundation funding in order to print it.)

Now in 2007, nearly 30 prints are completed with at least 10 more on the drawing board. This year’s goal is to finish more woodcuts to reach at least 40 and to print them as a book next year along with an exhibit of prints.

In March, during my visit to Guatemala, I spoke with a publisher about printing my book. I also met with a gallery owner in Panajachel and explored the idea of producing an edition of my prints on Guatemalan paper. (Beautiful handmade papers are produced in Guatemala.) I also met with a director of a gallery space about an exhibit when my print series is complete and my book is printed. Many different kinds of people, from coop members to anthropologists and a museum professional offered helpful comments and observations about my proposed book. Several even mentioned that my prints showed crafts that they did not know were done in Guatemala! I am very grateful for their input.

The novelist Maxine Hong Kingston once said: “By the time I finish a story, I am a different person.” While working on my print series, her words help me to understand how over the years, Guatemala has changed me and given much to me. In conclusion, these years of printmaking have been a “voyage of discovery” and have helped to bring together ideas that have long interested me. I realize how the artisans and their work tell “stories” of significance and contribute to the lives of those in Guatemala–and to all of us.

4. End thoughts–“Local, Sustainable, Ecological, and Biodegradeable”

In the 60s and 70s, while living in a then-remote Guatemalan Mayan town (now easily reachable by vehicles), I learned lessons from my daily use of traditional Mayan household arts and crafts that have stayed with me.

My pots, baskets, bags, and gourds not only had use in my kitchen and for going to market but their beauty gave constant pleasure. Other longer and shorter stays in Guatemala, have given me the chance to see vast changes in use of these different items caused by increased industrialisation and trade.

But when I used these basic arts and crafts, many of which have been part of Maya culture for thousands of years, I gained an understanding of their relationship to the environment as well as to the local economies. I now think about how they literally came from the earth and when their useful life was over, they returned to the earth.

The raw materials for many came from nearby. Some, such as gourds, remarkable vessels of many uses, sizes and shapes, grew on trees and vines in the vicinity. I stored tortillas in them or used them as “cups” to drink “atole” (a corn-based drink) as well as for still other purposes. I shopped in the market using baskets that came from a town well known for specializing in basket production, and then reachable only by trail over several mountain ridges. I remember once marveling at a seller, who arrived at the town market, bringing on his back a load of baskets that seemed to be five feet high!

My beans cooked in a locally hand made earthen ware pot and had a wonderful special flavor imparted by the clay. Tortillas were baked over the fire on a round clay tray (comal). Without running water, water was collected at a spring and stored in clay jars. I lived with wooden furniture made by a carpenter from across the street. I carried things in bags, some of which were made from maguey fibers grown in neighbors’ yards. The technique to make them dates back thousands of years! Plastic bags were unknown then.

My rainproof palm fiber hat was perfectly made by a local hat maker. Even the silver earrings I wore were fashioned by a silversmith neighbor. Because no electric light was available, I often used candles produced by a woman a few houses away. I swept floors with a hand made broom of split palm fronds.

So many of the items that sustained my and other townspeople’s lives everyday were “local,” either made in the very place we lived or in neighboring towns. Even the toy pottery dishes that my daughter played with were made close by.

In the list of the arts of the the town where I lived, weaving, done by many of the women there, needs to be included. Although most wore blouses (huipils) made of machine woven material and their hand woven skirts came from fairly distant weaving centers, they wove their own hair ribbons (cintas), using a narrow backstrap loom. (To the present, they are well known for this special kind of weaving.) Coiled around their hair, and wrapped on top of their heads, wearing the ribbon gave them a distinctive charm and recalled centuries past depictions of Maya women. These hair ribbons probably had a less of a utilitarian purpose than most of the other crafts I wrote about above. But the beauty and sense of identity that these ribbons could give to the women who wore them has another kind purpose and importance.

Diverging from the subject of arts and crafts, most of the food we consumed was locally grown. Using pack animals or on their own backs, agricultural producers (using bags, nets and baskets) brought their products to market from outlying villages. The very “remoteness” of the town where I lived helped to contributed to making life less environmentally destructive. People ate what was grown closeby. Fruits and vegetables were eaten only when they became in season. You only had mangos during “mango time” or avocados during “avocado time”. Without passable roads, few vehicles could travel there over the rough horse trails. This insured that bringing in large amounts of food from distant places would have been very difficult and not an activity that offered much profit. Even jeeps would have had a hard time to do that! But the influence of mass brands was beginning to be felt. From time to time, sellers and their pack animals arrived loaded with Pepsi, and other drinks.

However, “biodegradable”, “ecological”, “local” and “sustainable” all “buzz” words in this age of new environmental awareness, still describe much of what I experienced every day living in Guatemala of the 60s and 70s.

It is easy to understand that, at least in some parts of Guatemala, life was simpler and more ecological then from what it is today. Now, industrially made products–frequently plastic–replace a number of indigenous arts and crafts, and more imported foods take the place of food that was once locally produced.

Without intending to give a recipe for changing the world or to say that we should go back to the Guatemala of 35 years ago, perhaps my past experiences can point out some lessons that the arts and crafts of Maya indigenous people can teach us.