Weaving Wisdom: Trama Textiles
By Kirthi Jayakumar
A collective of 400 backstrap loom weavers, Trama Textiles brings together 17 weaving cooperatives representing five regions in Guatemala (Solola, Huehuetenango, Sacatepequez, Quetzaltenango, and Quiche). This powerful collective is a moving example of collective solidarity and subversion of systemic and structural violence.
The origins
Trama was formed in 1988 as Centro Nacional de Artesania Textile or CENAT as an association to support women working in remote regions in Guatemala. This followed some of the more devastating years of the Guatemalan Civil War, during which many Maya men were lost. During the war, many people were displaced, killed, and disappeared, and as many as 83% who faced one or the other predicament were indigenous Maya (Sanford, n.d.). Many women faced sexual assault and violence, humiliation, and torture.
United by the tragedies of war, women in the Mayan communities came together to use their skills and knowledge as weavers to both support themselves and their families, and to keep alive a traditional artform that is integral to the Maya identity (Steen, 2022).
In 1995, the name was changed to Asociacion Trama or ASOTRAMA, before it became TRAMA Textiles. The Spanish word "Trama" means "weft," and is interchangeable with the word "comida," which means food. The textiles themselves are put together with a patterns that vary from village to village, community to community, across the country. The designs each tell a story, documenting events of the past and preserving a rich, ancient culture.
Subverting systems of violence
Trama textiles brought together women from across Guatemala, spanning several indigenous communities. These women, all survivors of La Violencia, had first-hand experiences of the civil war, and the textiles they create also includes, among others, patterns specific to their regions, and memories of their genealogy, homelands, and their own past. Each woven textile is “an act of resistance,” a “reclamation of… tragedy and hope.” Most women were widowed as a result of political violence, and continued to remain vulnerable to poverty and social exclusion. The collective memory among Mayan women remains the primary motivating factor behind the creation of Trama textiles (McNees, 2018).
Following the war, women were forced to live in conditions of poverty: A situation that forced several of them to become breadwinners – sometimes the lone ones in their families (McNees, 2018). Had they not entered the workforce, they would be doomed to a very real threat of their children and dependants dying of starvation.
Through the 1960s and 1970s, several women sold their products to male-run textile businesses. Some women worked in factories to support machine made textiles. With the civil war, tourism took a beating and many of these factories closed down (McNees, 2018; Annabell, 2019). Several women went back to mass production factories, earning less than minimum wage.
Most women had to work on their own and fight for themselves in the face of systemic exclusion and erasure. They neither had support nor professional guidance from the government, which broke their trust in the system in itself. Drawing from their ancient practice of weaving, these women relied on what they knew best (McNees, 2018; Steen, 2022). Their woven products are very much in alignment with the principles of sustainable and slow fashion.
Building bridges: Lessons for Feminist Foreign Policy
Trama Textiles centers itself on the idea that recovery begins with women taking up positions of leadership in their homes and the larger economy. To buttress the women's traditional knowledge and skills, it offers opportunities to teach weaving, weave products, acquire business skills, and sell their wares to international markets (Annabell, 2019).
One key lesson for feminist foreign policy practice from the experience of Trama textiles is the focus on collective organizing. Earlier, women worked alone and sold their wares to a middleman who profited off their labour. The collective now paves the way for them to sell their products for a fair price and earn a fair wage.
A second major contribution is the establishment of collaborative lines across international borders. For example, by collaborating with a Netherlands-based NGO, the women received training on international clothing measurements and producing finished products for the international market. They also built a network of international English-speaking volunteers to promote their work globally and locally (Annabell, 2019; McNees, 2018). These volunteers support the women by bringing in publicity, facilitating international wholesale trade, and building their presence online through social media and ecommerce platforms.
Another key contribution to feminist foreign policy practice is the focus on preserving memory through art. The collective memory of the civil war and the violence enacted on the bodies of indigenous women and their families remains an important truth to tell, and these pieces of art bring those truths to life, to newer communities each time.
Finally, the focus on justice and healing is an important lesson for feminist foreign policy. The collective memory among Mayan women is the main motivation behind the creation and operation of Trama textiles (McNees, 2018), and the practice of weaving keeps a traditional practice alive in the face of systemic erasure and exclusion.
References:
Annabell, L. M. (2019). Trama Textiles: Guatemalan fabric of resistance. https://www.thelovepost.global/nourish/articles/trama-textiles-guatemalan-fabric-resistance
McNees, M. A. (2018). Hecho A Mano: The Cultural Significance of Women's Textile Cooperatives in Guatemala. https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/downloads/hd76s167f
Sanford, V. (n.d.) Violence and Genocide in Guatemala. https://gsp.yale.edu/case-studies/guatemala/violence-and-genocide-guatemala
Steen, M. (2022) Trama Textiles. https://shop.mahrimahri.com/blogs/brands/trama-textiles
