Mayan Textiles at the Textile Museum

Last week, I finally made my way to the Textile Museum to take a look at the collection of the Mayan textiles from Guatemala. And I cannot help sharing with you what I saw. 

If colour and pattern were language - which I think they definitely are - this compilation of Mayan embroidery designs would sum up my impressions of the exhibit. It speaks for itself. It makes me happy! My happy muscles start twitching and my happy antennae start vibrating. Do you get that?

[The Maya believed that clothing could transform a person and a person could transform the garment and is expressed through it, so naturally clothing was of great cultural significance. ]

 The traje is also more durable, and a woman may wear it for many years, weaving a new one to recognize major life transitions or when resources permit. It makes me sad that we no longer spend as much time on a garment as women traditionally used to. Perhaps that is the reason fashion has become disposable, the less you pay for it, the less relation you have to it, the fewer times you will wear it and the less attachment you have to it. Eventually, it ends up in the donation bin...