Mazateca Embroidery

Displaced by the Mexicxn government they were forced to move from their ancestral lands on the plains to a dense plot of land in the lower mountains. The men began working with Professor Nisao Ogata to learn about cultivating cacao on the unfamiliar new land.

The women came together and organized 'Mazateca' an autonomous embroidery collective. With an introduction from Niaso and the support of the Museo de Textil they learned more about the plants available to them for use in natural dyes. In this photo we are explaining an idea that led to us commissioning them to embroider a few shirts for Fortuna. The results were so beautiful.

"What hurts Indians most is that our costumes are considered beautiful, but it's as if the people wearing it didn't exist" - Rigoberta Menchu

we relied on jessicas translation of spanish to mazateco and back again to spanish

one of the finished designs