. . . at the Palacio Canton, Yucatan's Museum of Regional Archaeology and History in Merida, Yucatan--a marvelous place offering a wonderful new show. Room after room of fabulous traditional embroidered dresses from the indigenous Maya population, the selection on exhibit spanning the past 100 years. I had time for only a quick visit the other day, but will return for more views.
Tags: huipiles dress indigena bordado embroidery Maya palaciocanton merida museo museum yucatan mystuart 2012 exhibit textiles clothing hipiles
Constructed c. 1900 as the city house of the Canton family; now the regional museum of anthropology and history. Currently the museum has several wonderful historical exhibits, one containing old photographs of the house under construction, the family as it was in those days and the Paseo de Montejo neighborhood, where the rich society of Merida (who made their money mostly as proprietors of henequen plantations) lived. A type of agave, the fiber in the leaves was the world's principal source of rope until the invention of nylon in the mid-20th century.
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palacio_Cantón
Sr. Canton was not a plantation owner, but rather a leading military and government official during the late 19th century.
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Cantón_Rosado
Tags: museum architecture building merida yucatan mystuart 2012 museo archaeology history historia Geo-tagged
(In Yucatan, they are called 'hipiles'.)
The entry panel for a wonderful exhibit of traditional Yucatecan women's dress. What is the meaning of 'mestiza'? Read here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mestizo
Different parts of Mexico have their own regional traditions for constructing and decorating the traditional dress, or "huipil". This old photograph shows how Yucatan's version of the style, which began as a rural one, came to the city and moved into the middle and upper class gentry during the 19th century. Yucatan has tropical weather. While traditional dress in the highlands may be hand-woven of wool, here in Yucatan it involves white cotton and a cooling effect.
As this museum exhibit shows, the style is varied and intricate, involving a great deal of extremely fine embroidery. Regions of Yucatan had their own decorative traditions, which the exhibit explains and demonstrates with elegant examples.
During the 20th century, as the sewing machine came to Yucatan, the technique became largely mechanized (but not entirely). Today, one sees occasional examples of artistic experiments in which the designs are PAINTED onto cloth, as an homage to the needlework tradition. And the needlework tradition of hand-embroidered dresses remains strong and appreciated.
It's grand to see this fine exhibition at Merida's Palacio Canton, the regional museum of archaeology and history, giving full expression to the beauty that is the traditional Yucatecan dress. The show just opened and remains up through April 2013.
More images to follow.
Tags: mystuart 2012 merida yucatan palaciocanton museum museo exhibit textiles embroidery bordado handmade art arte
Map showing the Yucatan Peninsula, and within that, the location of the three states: triangular Yucatan (here in full color), and the bordering states of Quintana Roo and Campeche. Introducing more images of the textile exhibit at the Palacio Canton Museum in Merida, on view through April.
Tags: Geo-tagged yucatan museum exhibit mystuart 2012 bordado embroidery textiles map peninsula
Introduction of the exhibit at Museo Palacio Canton, Merida, about traditional lowland (Yucatecan) Maya dress.
Here's a primer in English:
www.merida.gob.mx/turismo/contenido/cultura_in/textiles.htm
Tags: Hui http://www.philadelphia-reflections.com/reflectionsHandheld.php?type=blog&key=530 Huipil hipil dress Yucatan tradition cotton decorated embroidered embroidery regional bordado mestizo mystuart 2012 palaciocanton Exhibit history costume