The Nim Po’t
Centro de Textile, a large warehouse and store near the famous arch in Antigua,
Guatemala, sells an array of folk, hand crafted art from different regions of
the country, reflecting the immense diversity in talents and cultures. Featured in the Bilingual Frontera/Tecúm Umán
production slide show, The Nim Po’t Centro de Textiles are examples of the hand woven work represented in the woman’s blouse called
huipil. The multi-media production has a
subtitle of “Un homenaje a la mujer Guatemalteca” that refers to honoring the talented weavers, the
majority whom are women.
The Department of Sololá (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sololá_Department)
has 20 municipalities, a lake, Lago Atitlán, and Volcán Tolimán. Santiago
Atitlán, on the shores of the lake, is accessible mainly by boat, and
reportedly houses the Museum of the Cojolya Association of Maya Women Weavers.
San Lucas Toliman, Solola
The huipil is a
bright reddish color with detailed designs in the upper area. Small colorful
flowers accent the collar giving it an appearance of a necklace.
Santiago Atitlán, Sololá
The piece is lavender in
color with dark vertical stripes. The upper huipil has small squares with
designs of greenish and bluish hues.
Medium size flowers adorn the collar as a necklace.
Sacatepéquez (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacatepéquez_Department)
has 16 municipalities; Antigua is the capital. The city of Sacatapéquez was
founded in 1542 but was destroyed by the powerful Santa María earthquake in
1773.
San Pedro, Sacatepéquez
The huipil has a
white color bottom; the upper ¾ has colorful designs of squares, rectangles,
and other geometric designs of red, yellow, and blue-green hues.
Santo Domingo, Sacatepéquez
Mostly in a deep
red color with stripes in the shoulder area, the huipil has colorful geometric
designs mixing bold reddish and blue colors with pastels of pink, blue, and
yellow. Down the middle of the huipil is a ribbon with similar geometric
designs.
San Juan, Sacatepéquez
The huipil
features stripes in gold and navy and royal blue; the upper middle has square
designs with similar color scheme.
Santiago, Sacatepéquez
In the lower
part, the huipil has checkered red and while squares; the upper features
slanted red rectangular designs with small multi-colored blue green and yellow
diamond designs interspersed in pattern form.
San Antonio Aguas Calientes, Sacatepéquez
This piece has a
green colored background completely woven with uniquely different horizontal
stripes with a variety of designs. The upper part has a floral design.
Chimaltenango
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimaltenango_Department)
has 16 municipalities with half a million residents.
Tecpán, Chimaltenango
The huipil has a
white color bottom while the top has geometric designs, each with a different
color scheme using reds, greens, and blues.
About midway, the huipil has a large strip with floral and foliage
designs.
San Juan Comalopa, Chimaltenango
This piece has
horizontal stripes with roses and other floral designs. The bottom part has a
row of small vertical rectangular pieces of different colors.
Patzún, Chimaltenango
This piece
features a large bodice of colorful flowers against a maroon colored striped
material.
Huehuetenango (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huehuetenango_Department)
has 31 municipalities and borders with Mexico. The Mayan city of Zaculeu, later
became the city of Huehuetenango, was conquered by a cousin of de Alvarado in
1525. The Mam king, Kayb’il B’alam surrendered and the Spaniards took over the
governing reins. Huehuetenango is the second largest department in Guatemala
and has the largest numbers of Mam speakers, although several other indigenous
groups reportedly reside in the area.
Aguacatán, Huehuetenango
Made of white
material, the huipil has a reddish collar, colorful stripes, and a lacy bottom.
Idelfonso Ixtahuacán, Huehuetenango
This huipil has
maroon vertical stripes against a natural cotton background. It is accented
with small geometric designs using same color thread. Tassles adorn the bottom
edge of the huipil.
Todos Santos Cuchumatán, Huehuetenango
In this piece,
two like panels are on each side and a different panel in the center. The two
outer panels have thin vertical reddish stripes on blue-green material. The center part consists of square and
rectangle designs of blue and red hues. The collar is necklace-like with loops
of red thread geometrically laid around the collar area.
Alta Verapaz
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alta_Verapaz_Department)
has 17 municipalities, including Q’eqchi’ and Poqomchi’ speakers. “Verapaz”
comes from the Spanish, “true peace,” originating from the fact that the
Spanish conquistadors couldn’t conquer the fierce-fighting soldiers, but the
Catholic friars won them over with the Christian religion.
Cobán, Alta Verapaz
This is a bright
red piece with simple horizontal designs using the same color thread.
Totonicapán (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totonicapán_Department)
consists of 8 municipalities, mostly of K’iché speaking residents. In 1820, the
indigenous communities led a revolt against the Spanish conquistadors, but were
eventually defeated although the leader was declared King Tsul.
Totonicapán
This piece has
solid gold-yellow horizontal stripes alternated with motif-studded stripes,
using the same color scheme but accented with dark blues and greens. The bottom has medium size black horizontal
stripes against white color material.
Quetzaltenango (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzaltenango_Department)
consists of 24 municipalities, many of them K’iché and Mam speaking residents.
Before the Spanish conquest, the department was part of the K’iché state of
Q’umarkaj. The Quetzaltenango town is known as Xela by locals rather than use
the Nahuatl name, which means loosely “the land of the quetzal bird.”
San Juan Chile Verde, Quetzaltenango
This huipil
features embroidered nature scene designs with fish, birds, and foliage. In the
middle of the huipil is a string of diamond-shape motifs running across
horizontally.
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