One of the world’s leading experts on Mayan textiles recently visited The Granary in downtown Morgan Hill to view local architect Lesley Miles’ exhibit of handwoven Guatemalan pieces she collected during her visit to the country more than 35 years ago.
Margot Schevill, author of “Maya Textiles of Guatemala” and other books, was impressed with the exhibit in the ground floor gallery space of The Granary, located at 17500 Depot Street.
“This is wonderful,” Schevill said of the exhibit. “I did fieldwork in Guatemala with textiles at the same time as Lesley. The textiles have changed (since then) but these are still wonderful.”
The exhibit titled “Woven Voices of Guatemala” displays “the remarkable weaving skills of the people from the Todos Santos region of Guatemala and throughout the highlands,” Miles said.
The exhibit is a collection of huipiles (backstrap-loomed tops) and other handwoven pieces. Miles’ exhibit also includes vintage pieces from the 1950s, and it represents the traditional garments worn by the Mam, Ixil and Quiche indigenous people.
The fibers in many of the garments were specially prepared before weaving, Miles said. Soaking the threads in cornstarch gave the weaver ease in her work and insured the durability of the garment. The different patterns and colors indicate the various regions. Like stories passed down from one generation to the next, the unique weaving skills and patterns of the different villages unified the people and created a textile lineage.
The village in Primer Centro, inhabited by the people of Todos Santos, no longer exists due to the civil war, Miles said. However, as long as the integrity of the fibers and the energetic imprint from the weavers of these garments lives on, so will the stories of the people.
“This display is in honor and memory of the people and the very fine weavers that once lived there,” Miles said.
Schevill visited Morgan Hill from Berkeley. She did not know Miles when the two were in Guatemala at the same time.
The exhibit will remain on display until Dec. 31.
