The group Mukta Luch is a family group of 18 women weavers and their male relatives. 

Their representative is Carolina Santiz Ruiz. They live in Aldama in the Chiapas Highlands and are part of the Zapatista families who live in that area. The men are farmers and produce coffee besides the traditional crops of maize, beans and squashes.

They also make nets of agave fiber. The ones they produce are some of the finest and best made in the highlands. Lorenzo Santiz Jimenez learned from his father and passed on his trade to his sons. They collect agave leaves, scrape them to get the fine fiber out and weave the fiber to make morales, the traditional net used to carry object seen in the highlands. The ones they produce are very fine and regarded as some of the best. They either leave them natural or dye them with soot or other types of dyes.

The women headed by the matriarch, Maria Ruiz Santiz, dedicate themselves to weaving on the warp loom making huipils, cosmetic pouches, bags, tablet protectors, etc., decorated with the traditional Magdalena icons woven into the fabric. They mostly use cotton thread.

Most of the women in the family only speak their native Tzotzil so do not usually go out to sell what they produce outside of the village.

Feria Maestros del Arte 2025

ARTIST INFORMATION

Conocida, Aldama Centro

Aldama, Chiapas

Cel  967114 4510