Friends of the Ixchel Museum (FOIM) has long sought to mount a museum-quality exhibit featuring our outstanding US textile collection. This summer, we achieved our goal. Just as important, all the building blocks are in place for a repeat in additional locales. On July 13th our exhibition Mayan Traje: A Tradition in Transition opened at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles (SJMQT) in California. The reception was well-attended, including by the new Consul-General for Guatemala in San Francisco, Sylvia Wohlers de Meie. It is estimated that about 2,000 visitors, including local school groups, saw it by the time it closed in mid-October. The exhibit was curated by Raymond Senuk and Abby Sue Fisher and installed with the help of SJMQT staff and local volunteers. It consisted of about 85 pieces which graced gallery walls and mannequins. The selection was predomiantly beautiful and rare pieces dating from the 1920s to the 50s, with several paired comparisons from the same village to show how little substantive change had taken place. * Then we also featured some contemporary machine-made pieces to provide dramatic contrast, since major changes have recently swept into fashion.
In This Issue
- FOIM Find Their Way to San Jose
- In the Museum
- Mayan Traje: A Tradition in Transition – our first publication
- Honoring Our Mothers
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