ST201902

FLOWER PHOTOGRAPHY: BEN ANDREW

Designs for life

“

R

ed. That’s the colour

weusethemost.It

represents our blood,”

says Marina

Rodríguez from Tecpán, Guatemala.

Marinahasbeenweavingsince

shewaseight.Theskillhasbeen

passed down through generations,

alongwitheachMayancommunity’s

uniquedesigns.Butinrecentyears,

companieshavebeenimitating

their designs and mass-producing

textiles, threatening the practice

ofweavingbyhand–and

jeopardising the livelihoods of

many indigenous women.

Now,agrassrootsGuatemalan

organisation, the Asociación

Femenina para el Desarrollo de

Sacatepéquez(AFEDES),ishelping

Marinaandotherwomenfightback

by campaigning for collective

intellectual property rights for

Mayan textile designs.

The group has already achieved

some success. In 2018, Guatemala’s

constitutional court recommended

thatacomprehensivelawbe

developed to protect Mayan

intellectualproperty:thiswould

recognise indigenous communities as

collective owners of their artisanal

crafts, and prevent companies or

designers from patenting their work.

Moneyaside,tousethedesignsfor

commercial purposes is seen as an

affront to Mayans’ cultural heritage.

Every village has its own unique

design inspired by nature or the local

surroundings, from hummingbirds

and stars to flowers and pine trees.

Colours are symbolic too: blue is

water, green is nature, white

representsdayandblackisnight.

If they win the case, Mayan

people will be able to negotiate

royalties for the use of indigenous

handwoven designs.

This fight is, ultimately, much

bigger than textiles. “It’s about

a500-year-oldstoryandthe

oppression of Mayans, which is

still experienced by indigenous

women,” notes Angelina Aspuac

from AFEDES. “Our textiles

arethebooksthecolonisers

couldn’t burn.”

MAYAN TEXTILE DESIGNS ARE OFTEN COPIED AND

MASS-PRODUCED. IT’S INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

THEFT, SAY THE MAYAN WOMEN FIGHTING BACK

Photography:TOM LAWWords:CATHERINE HICKEY

GOOD THINGS

POSITIVE NEWS* FROM AROUND THE WORLD

THE PLASTIC BACKLASH

When social change is fast-tracked

2015

Mainstream society didn’t seem too

concerned about plastic

2016

A Greenpeace petition for a UK-wide

plastic microbead ban hit 365,000

signatures in just four months. It

became the largest environmental

petition ever presented to government

 2019

A revolt against single-use plastic is

now under way

LIVING (^) | GAZETTE