Little attendees at the Original meeting value the skill of the artisans

The Saturday session of Original: Mexican Textile Art Meeting, which concludes this Sunday at the Los Pinos Cultural Complex, was dedicated to boys and girls, to whom activities were offered, as will also happen today, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

While most small visitors marvel at the skill of the artisans and the magic they achieve with their work, some consider it to be a trade. bored and, above all, poorly paidin addition to being little recognized socially.

Santiago Emilio Vázquez Ramírez, eight years old, asked his parents to bring him to the former presidential residence to see the crafts, because he thought they were very prettyespecially because of the colors and shapes.

Artisans are very important, because thanks to them we continue to be very Mexicanhe said, but denied that it is an activity that he would like to do when he grows up, since I find it very boring y they pay them very badly.

A similar opinion is that of Leonardo Ríos, 12 years old, to whom the work of the artisans seems very cool and interestingespecially because of how careful and detailed they are, and because they do amazing things.

He stated that it is a very important job, because it does not allow cultural diversity in the country to become extinct. Although, the truth is, I wouldn’t like to be a craftsman, because few people value their work and they earn very little.said the teenager, who went to Los Pinos with his parents and brother.

At nine years old, Ximena Quetzali says she crafts fan and he is one of the few children consulted by this newspaper who said that big would like to be an artisan, because they are a very important part of the culture and they also do very nice things. What she likes most are embroidery and the woven figurines, because I know that it takes a lot of work to make them. I also like bracelets, because they are pretty and eye-catching. .

Childhood plays a central role in the fourth edition of Original, organized by the federal Ministry of Culture. It even has a special program, called Original Escuincles, made up of exhibitions, installations, artistic activities and workshops, including embroidery, natural dyes, feather art jewelry and lacquered jicaritas.

What is missing is the exhibition of handmade toys. With the exception of some modules with felt animals, such as that of Yolanda López Juárez, from San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, and the famous Lele dolls, available at the Juana Pérez Pascual stand, in Amealco de Bonfil, Querétaro, the The bulk of the offering is made up of women’s clothing, textiles, embroidery and accessories, such as necklaces, earrings and bracelets.

According to some of the creators participating in Original, such as Rosario Batista, from Mogotavo, Chihuahua; Zayra Palacios, from Tlacotalpan, Veracruz, and María Eugenia Cruz Moreno, from Saltillo, Coahuila, the interest of children and young people is decisive for the preservation, continuity, development, strengthening and even innovation of that knowledge, in many cases ancestral, that there is behind the craftsmanship.

More so in certain native towns and communities, where commercial ways and fashions begin to displace traditional practices and clothing, as artisan Lucía Vázquez Pérez states, which occurs in her native Zinacantán, Chiapas.

Although some girls are learning the backstrap loom, embroidery, how to work with wool, in short, the whole process, today these practices are being left behind. There are even many children and young people who do not like our clothing and prefer casual clothing, such as jeans, t-shirts and tennis shoes.adds the master weaver and embroiderer.

“In that part there is a risk that, not soon, but if we do not do something now, one day this valuable artisanal practice will be lost, which is one of the most important traditions of Zinacantán and also a means of life, because it is What most of the women in the town do, because the men work in floriculture.

It’s sad, but boys and girls are no longer so interested in this type of work. In my case, my entire family has made backstrap looms, since my great-grandmother. When I was a girl, I watched my mother make her looms and in fact I was lulled to sleep by the way she watched her weaving and I would fall asleep. From there my curiosity was born to want to do the same.

Of her 29 years, Lucía Vázquez Pérez has dedicated more than 20 to artisanal activity, which she has enriched with cutting and sewing classes, with the idea, she says, of making something different that unites the traditional with the new.

It is something that is becoming common in the town, because I have seen some fellow artisans who also do it. Perhaps it does put tradition at risk, but as long as we as a people preserve it and give it the value it deserves, it cannot be lost. The influence of parents is also very important, teaching children that it is important to preserve our traditions, which are our identity.