Armandina Cruz García

Mexico

Year(s) attended: 2010

Casa del Rebozos

Embroidery, Weaving and Toys

Casa del Rebozos is an organization founded in 2006 that is dedicated to preserving and expanding the tradition of rebozo weaving throughout Mexico.

In addition to sponsoring weaving workshops throughout the country, Casa del Rebozos also has developed an organized educational program for schools and community centers and other public sites which presents the history and use of rebozos with music, dance and poetry.

Rebozos are traditional shawls worn by women throughout Mexico since the eighteenth century, and in many ways serving even today as the enduring cultural symbol of Mexico. Each region of Mexico is known for its own weaving and design techniques, and the type of loom used in the textile’s construction—usually either the indigenous back strap loom or the Spanish pedal loom.

Rebozos are worn whenever women go out but are also used to carry babies or as head coverings in church.

Casa del Rebozos has recently expanded to include workshops on producing other traditional clothing items, including woven huipiles and embroidered and beaded blouses which are part of the traditional indigenous dress of many Mexican states.

The organization also sponsors the production of traditional market and festival toys such as the papier-mâché judas figures, and wood and cardboard figures traditionally made in the state of Guanajuato for the Days of the Dead.