Join us on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 July 2021 for a two-day virtual workshop on Mayan rug-hooking technique. This workshop will be hosted by Multicolores, an association of Maya women artists who create original textile artwork through rug-hooking and embroidery. Multicolores encourages the use of art as a tool for exploration and expression and the hand-hooked rugs are no exception; each one is completely unique and highly personal — a celebration of the artist’s creative voice. Participants will learn how to design and hook a rug in the Mayan way with women artists who will guide you through the entire creation process: design, colour combinations, material preparation, and hooking technique.

Find out more and book tickets for the workshop on the event page: Rug Hooking, Virtual Workshop with Multicolores from Guatemala

In their design process, Multicolores artists blend ancestral motifs drawn from backstrap weavings, inspiration from the natural world, and their own imagination. The result is works of textile art that evoke both their Maya heritage and their individual creative voice. Through their work, these contemporary indigenous artists are not only honoring their cultural traditions but serving as a catalyst for positive social change in their families and in their communities. Likewise, Multicolores champions the use of uniquely crafting rugs using dozens of recycled second hand garments, mostly t-shirts: an environmentally friendly, innovative material that reduces textile waste in artists' communities. Find out more about Multicolores artists' design process in the video above. You can also view Multicolores products on the Selvedge website here: Multicolores products

Image: Women of Multicolores. Photo by Joe Coca

In the article Rug Money by Mary Anne Wise and Cheryl Conway-Daly, published in Issue 95 Heritage, we explore the journey of Multicolores’ rug-hooking artists as they start their rug-hooking apprenticeships and go on to become creative and innovative artists, empowered leaders and change makers in their communities: “The Multicolores rug project provides insight into the critical topic of folk-art innovation, a subject ripe for discussion as artists seek new and sustainable ways to maintain their artistic traditions.” Read the rest of the article here.