Textiles

Cecilia & Angela Pérez Gómez,
Pantelhó, Chiapas

Pantelhó is a Tzotzil community located at the end of the San Cristóbal-Pantelhó highway. A spectacular journey that will take you through high mountains and beautiful valleys where coffee, fruit varieties and honey are grown. You will pass through the towns of Chenalhó, Polhó and Acteal, finally arriving in Pantelhó.

The municipality is mostly Tzotzil and is the commercial zone of the area. If you visit on market day, you will see a great variety of huipiles of Tzotzil or Tzeltals origin from the surrounding villages.

Many women are dedicated to making the traditional striped and brocade huipils that they wear with pride. A huipil is a traditionally Mexican blouse/dress, usually made of one or three rectangular pieces of fabric that are then sewn together.

Ceremonial huipiles are woven with white handspun cotton and natural brown cotton known as coyuchi. They have white and red-brown stripes with symbols woven into the fabric. Men's ceremonial robes are also brown, white and red, with brocaded wool symbols. Ceremonial robes take about a year to create and are spectacular pieces of work.

The everyday blouses are shorter, but can duplicate the ceremonial huipiles or be more rustic or have touches of metallic threads, depending on the women's
taste. 

Cecilia & Angela are two of the best weavers in this community. Both sisters weave ceremonial huipiles, beautiful shawls, tablecloths, pillowcases, napkins, scarves, purses, etc., all in cotton. The more elaborate work can have wool brocades, dyed with natural dyes or cotton brocades also dyed with natural dyes. The two sisters are fully dedicated to weaving and caring for their elderly parents. 

Both sisters started learning to weave around the age of 8 or 9 years old, already making their own clothes. Angela, the eldest, did not finish school because she was totally dedicated to her weaving from a very young age. She is the more outgoing of the two sisters. Cecilia is a bit more shy and continued her schooling for longer, but like her sister, she loves to weave and is totally dedicated to her art 

Both Angela and Cecilia consistently win competitions at the state and national level.

C.A. Obregon SN, Col. Centro

Pantelhó, Chiapas

Angela cell 919 152 1869 No Whatsapp

Cecilia Cell 919 165 6320 Whatsapp

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