Explore Guatemala: Chuacruz
We recently visited the community of Chuacruz, located in the highlands of Guatemala, with views of volcanoes along the horizon and wisps of cloud among the green corn fields. Flory, our director, has worked with this cooperative of 8 members for 18 years! Join us on our visit to this special group of weavers.
A history of Waqxaqi' Kan from Flory
This group of Waqxaqi’ Kan (“Eight Threads” in English) was founded in 1982. Chuacruz is a small rural town in the mountains in the department of Sololá. The members of this community are Maya Kaqchikel, speak Kaqchikel, and dress in traditional clothing from this region. The weavers themselves make their own jaspe (ikat threads) that they use in their traditional dress. During the civil war in Guatemala, this community suffered a lot of violence and many women became widows. With the goal to support their families and reconstruct their community, the women joined together to create this weaving cooperative. Group Members (Left to Right): Micaela, Maria Pablo, Carmen, Matea y Maria Raxtun
Techniques
JASPE
Jaspe (or Ikat) is a process of resist dye. In this demonstration, white threads are used as the base. Every centimeter the threads are wrapped tightly with a secondary thread. The wrapped white thread is then dyed black. The secondary threads are removed, and what you have left is the little white dots where the black dye couldn’t penetrate the base threads. You can see this technique used in the huipiles (shirts) of the weavers if you look closely.
RANDA
Each weaving community in Guatemala has their own designs for a Randa stitch. A Randa is a hand embroidered joining stitch used traditionally on huipiles (woven tops) and cortes (woven skirts) to join narrow pieces of fabric together.
BROCADE
The maíz (corn) design is created by placing supplementary weft threads in the warp during the weaving process.
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