Beautiful handwoven Mayan textile designs are often copied by foreign designers and mass produced. It amounts to intellectual property theft, say the Mayan women who are fighting back
“Red. That’s the colour we use the most. It represents our blood,” says Marina Rodríguez from Tecpán, Guatemala.
Rodríguez has been weaving since the age of eight. The skill has been passed down through generations, along with each Mayan community’s unique designs. But in recent years, companies have been imitating their designs and mass-producing textiles, threatening the practice of weaving by hand – and jeopardising the livelihoods of many indigenous women. “Companies are taking work away from us. Our textiles just don’t have the same value any more,” says Rodríguez.
A grassroots Guatemalan organisation, the Asociación Femenina para el Desarrollo de Sacatepéquez (AFEDES), is helping Rodríguez and other women fight back by campaigning for collective intellectual property rights for Mayan textile designs.