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Quexquemitl: Mexico's Pre-Columbian Poncho
Quexquemitl is a type of poncho that originated in Puebla in Pre-Columbian times.
There are seven ethnic groups in the area and some of them still make and wear Quexquemitls using back strap looms and a curved technique that is unique and rare where warps and wefts are intertwined changing places to form its distinctive curve. Taffeta and Brocade sarge are two types of weaving that complete the piece. This fusion comes from Mexica and Maya cultures merging in a dialogue that continues after centuries of mestizaje.
In Pantepec, Lucia Maria Angel is a ninety two year old weaver who is blind but is the only master artisan that can do this special type of poncho. In Puebla at the Instituto de Artesanias e Industrias Populares, there is a program that aims to continue this tradition by teaching children and young adults techniques from their ancestors. The project embraces the entire value chain integrating vegetable dyes such as grana cochinilla and traditional weavings.
Textiles from Oaxaca in Santa Fe
Remigio Mestas
Mexican textile expert and promoter from Oaxaca, Remigio Mestas, attended the Santa Fe Folk Art Market last weekend for the first time. It was a unique opportunity for fairgoers to discover Mexico's treasures first hand. The work of weavers Luisa Jimenez Cubas from Laguna Chicahuaxtala and Nicolasa Pascual Martínez from San Bartolo Yautepec was represnted.
Collectors and textile aficioanados from around the world know Mestas's Los Baules de Juana Cata, his atelier in Oaxaca, where he gathers the best weavings from remote villages in Mexico. His collection includes coyuchi cotton, indigo, and textiles made with traditional techniques such as backstrap loom.
This team from Oaxaca wanted to share their rich textile tradition with the world. Their aim is for these traditions to continue and thrive!
Transforming the found objects
Creative use of what's left over
The artist duo Alain Guerra and Neraldo de la Paz, overwhelmed by the amount of excessive discarded clothing and overproduction waste find a way to use the material as an evident for their installation concepts.
The pile of clothes are arranged into a spectrum of color. The installations are the results of sorting, compositing and mixing colors in a refined way. They focus on consumerism, ecology, waste and recycling.
Guerra de la Paz is represented by cts.
