Mayan Embroidered Folk Art Tapestries from Guatemala, a Fair Trade Gift Option from Terra Experience

These wonderful embroidered tapestries are folk art of today - where traditional Mayan skills and themes have found a new medium of expression. This project was started in 2001 by Ramelle Gonzoles, the founder of Foundations for Education a nonprofit organization which provides financial and logistical assistance so that Maya youth can obtain advanced education in Guatemala's secondary schools. She started this embroidery project in a small aldea of Solola. with a group of women of 30 called "Union Y Fuerza de Mujeres" (Women United with Strength) from a small village called Panimatzalam in the department of Sololá.

Ramelle was talking with the mother of one of the Foundations students, Elma Morales who will graduate this year as a Home Economic Teacher. Elma's mother was working with a group of women and Ramelle suggested that they do some embroideries with a Folk Art theme. Ramelle gave them a sample made of different pieces of cloth. From this sample they have come to make these beautiful folk art wall hangings or pillowcases. All of them have the name and individual that made it on the backside with the theme of the piece. The tapestries are approximately 17" by 17". Terra Experience is happy to help by providing a fair trade retail outlet for these woman's art.

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