Guatemala
In the mountainous Guatemalan highlands, the Maya Indians maintain their traditional costume to this day. Each village has its own particular costume. A person who knows the traditional visual codes can glean, from a costume's design, construction, and color, information about the wearer's social and marital status, place of residence, and weaving skills. Nonetheless, each individual piece is unique.
The Henry Art Gallery’s Guatemalan textiles date mostly from the 1930s through the early 1980s and come from three major collectors. The architect Arthur Loveless, who wintered in Mexico during the 1940s, collected many of the older items between 1944 and 1956. Beginning in 1946, Harriet Tidball, a weaver and weaving teacher, gathered items that illustrate facets of textile structure. In the early 1980s, Peace Corps volunteer David Stowell French collected to support indigenous people affected by the 1976 earthquake and the ongoing civil war.
To see all of the textiles from this region represented in the Henry Art Gallery’s collection, go to the Collection Search on the Henry's Website.
To view the Google Earth Guatemala file download the most recent version of Google Earth.
