#cojolya

[fyeahindigenousfashion]

clutch, Cojolya (Tz'utujil Maya)

[fyeahindigenousfashion]

wallet, Cojolya (Tz'utujil Maya)

[fyeahindigenousfashion]

clutch, Cojolya (Tz'utujil Maya)

[fyeahindigenousfashion]

shopping bag, Cojolya (Tz'utujil Maya)

[fyeahindigenousfashion]

Xisqara! (Buenos Días, Hello) This is a Clutch Pacaya with a detachable recycled leather strap made by Maya Tz'utujil artisans of Cojolya Association of Maya Women Weavers. The textile is hand-dyed, and then hand-woven on the back-strap loom. Cojolya is a registered non-profit in Guatemala, and it was founded in 1983 to preserve the art of the back-strap in Santiago Atitlán as a sustainable source of income for women during the civil war. From 3 weavers, the association has grown to over 40 artisans. Cojolya is registered as fair trade by the World Fair Trade Organization and believes in fair, ethical, and slow fashion.  50% of the price goes directly to the artisans, 25% goes to social programming (scholarships and free community classes), and around 25% of the price is materials, rent, etc. 

Melti'ox! Gracias! Thank you!

[juliapretsfelder]

Instagram sample for Cojolya’s International Women’s Day campaign

[silviarobertelli]

Helping with some simple means: Cojolya Association of Maya Women Weavers

Cojolya Association of Maya Women Weavers is a fair trade NGO located in Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala, which empowers female artisans to support their families through weaving. The aim of Cojolya is the conservation of the millenial Maya tradition of backstrap loom weaving as well as the customs and traditions that surround it as an economically viable source of employment for our woman weavers.

Since years they've been wanting to create a wall with the artisans' pictures, so that the visitors could somehow "get to know" them, into their boutique/office/small weaving museum. 

Creating this wall installation was the volunteering project I undertook with Giulia, my travel mate. 

After an artisans' gathering (in which all the women were invited to take collective decisions), Giulia took photographic portraits of 24 artisans: all of them were women (the weavers)  except from Pablo, the tailor, Tomàs, the Jaspe dying expert and Antonio, the production manager. 

They came in their brightly coloured traditional clothes, some with their children, and they all looked very happy to see one each-other. 

After the shooting, I talked with each of them, with the help of Antonio's translations from Spanish into Tzu'tujil (the local maya language) and back. 

A few were very timid in their speaking, but always came up with important subjects in their words. Some have difficult stories behind them and joining the Association has really been a way to escape from poverty. 

Few others were quite talkative and looked genuinely happy to share their story and ideas, looking into my eyes, smiling and moving their hands vividly, while I couldn't understand nothing but very few words, waiting for Antonio's precious translation. 

They talked about openness (Maria: “me siento muy feliz de poder encontrar a gente de afuera como los voluntarios que nos apoyan con muchas ganas de ayudar”), quality (Pablo: “estoy feliz de tener la posibilidad de hacer un producto de alta calidad, no como las cosas que se venden en la calle. Es un poco dificil trabajando con diseñadoras extranjeras a veces, pero soy muy satisfecho cuando llego al producto final”), tradition and future (Antonio: “tocar los hilos y los colores me encantaba tanto como la posibilidad de aprender esa arte antigua de nuestra tradición y llevarla adelante”), the pleasure of learning, the meaning of working together with other women.

From this interviews, we extrapolated (with a lot of effort, as everything they said was worthy) simple and short sentences that I later hand-drew into each photo-frame, along with the portrait and the name of the artisan. 

This experience made me think about the importance of giving voice and being heard and seen, and how some very simple means as photographies, wooden frames, coloured threads, cardboard and hand-writing can create something - I hope - very meaningful. 

Photography: Giulia Sasso

Calligraphy: Silvia Robertelli

Mil gracias to: Katie Sullivan, Céline Gaiardo, Carina, Maria, Antonio y todo el equipo de Cojolya!