RESEARCH

Henequen is a plant native to the lands of the Mayan people in Yucatan, Mexico. They found its leaves filled with white fibers from which they created textiles and utilitarian objects. The rise and fall of henequen as a commodity is embedded in indigenous Maya craft heritage and local economy.  After commercial fiber production diminished the practice of manual processing, the decline of the henequen fiber industry stifled cottage production in rural Maya communities. Fiber cultivation and the craft of back-strap weaving with endemic plant fibers has nearly become a lost art in this region.  

But today a new landscape of value-added textiles has emerged as regional eco-tourism and the growth of global luxury handcraft markets has disrupted the waning henequen production system. Artisans are creating innovative, highly refined, handmade textile goods from henequen fibers that, through the help of local designer collaborations and global conservation efforts, are now being revived and brought to market. However, the transmission of this rare knowledge from aging elders to a reluctant new generation proves difficult as Mayan youth are dismayed by the vocation of fiber cultivation because indigenous marginalization and provinciality pales in comparison to Mexico’s connected urban societies.  The young generation find that this craft is repetitive, labor intensive and is seen in their view as low class, low wage work, and the tradition of weaving plant fibers is rapidly becoming a dying art.  

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The MYAI project purpose is to reverse this sentiment among Mayan youth, and encourage and support young women in the pueblos to learn the practice of traditional crafts through the coordination of mentor/mentee strategies of teaching, exposure of artisans to global markets, training on small business management and entrepreneurship. This project will take place over the course of 18 months, wherein a research study of ethnographic observations and series of field studies in the form of apprenticeship workshops and trainings will contribute to the overall project goals.  While a more refined design approach and collaboration with a small group of artisans has helped to  redefine how henequen textiles are valued, women who are the keepers of these skills are elderly or aging. Therefore, it is critical that coordinated strategies for the transmission of the practice of weaving with henequen fiber to a younger generation is critical for the preservation of the technique in perpetuity. We also aim to change the way artisans see their work, young and elderly, from that of weaving for utility to opportunities of designing textiles, thereby earning much more for their skill and craft, helping to regenerate rural economies.  

By bridging a generational gap within communities, aiding the transmission of skills, and demystifying and de-stigmatizing this craft for the youth, we will be assisting in the establishment of a new generation of artisans who will take the art of weaving plant fibers to a new level, a new industry and new markets will emerge that elevate the value of work that is produced.  New designs may include new patterns, natural dyes, and incorporating new plant fibers, such as sansevieria, banana, coco or other local plant fibers to create avenues for design innovation and novel concepts that the mentees can leverage in their designs.  

This project will seek to recruit young Mayan women between the ages of 15-25 years of age to participate in craft making collaborations with existing artisans (mentors) who will teach them the traditional methods of their heritage handicrafts, including fiber cultivation and processing, thread spinning, and weaving using plant fibers on a back-strap loom. Students will participate in design and business management workshops led by design educators, students and special subject instructors will to encourage them to explore new design methods and expose them to the potential for employment in the revitalized luxury artisan handicraft market.