Ancestry and Artistry: Maya Textiles from Guatemala

Descripción

This book explores a century of Mayan textile traditions - from traditional dress to modern artistic and cultural reinvention. Cloth holds great importance for Guatemala's indigenous communities, and traditional dress plays an essential role in Maya identity today as a vital link with the ancestral past and a means of cultural reinvention. Whether worn for religious ceremonies or as an emblem of ethnic pride, textiles offer a medium for innovation and creative expression, as well as marketable product for the tourist industry. Through a range of perspectives reflecting on Maya identity and the effects of global influences on culture and community life in Guatemala, this thoroughly illustrated volume traces a century of dynamic change as well as the remarkable continuity of ancient Maya traditions in the face of significant modernization, political upheaval, and religious transformation.