"Our newest exhibition, "Empowering Threads: Textiles of Jolom Mayaetik" will feature this 8-foot-long loom! Contemporary weavers in Los Altos de Chiapas, located in the central highlands of southern Mexico, are preserving ancient Mayan art and culture. Working on backstrap looms, these artisans are utilizing methods passed down through generations to combine old-world symbolism with new colors and designs. See "Empowering Threads: Textiles of Jolom Mayaetik" opening next week, pre-security, in the International Terminal. " This was posted to our Instagram account on August 10, 2017 – https://millsfield.sfomuseum.org/instagram/1729359203/

"Autonomous craft organizations provide artisans with a market for their goods and offer strength in numbers to their collective membership. In Chiapas, the more progressive weaving cooperatives also promote solidarity by creating a space for members of different communities to socialize and discuss current problems and issues. In 1996, the founding members of Jolom Mayaetik fought to form their new cooperative for pressing reasons, including declining wages, rising costs of living, and mismanagement of government-run cooperatives they previously worked for. Frustrated with exclusion from local government and marginal political representation outside of their communities, Jolom weavers also sought sociopolitical empowerment. Today, Jolom Mayaetik holds educational courses, lobbies for political inclusion, and lectures locally and internationally to promote the rights of women and indigenous people in Mexico. Learn more about "Empowering Threads: Textiles of Jolom Mayaetik" on display, pre-security, in the International Terminal. http://bit.ly/EmpoweringThreads" This was posted to our Instagram account on January 20, 2018 – https://millsfield.sfomuseum.org/instagram/1729358677/