Fundacíon Chol Chol;
January 9, 2010
Hand Crafted Mapuche Textiles
Fair trade indigenous art: preserving culture and relieving poverty.
The Foundation specializes in traditional, completely natural, Mapuche textiles and knits ranging from wall hangings, rugs, blankets, and table cloths to ponchos, shawls, scarves, hats, and gloves.
Chol Chol Foundation's exclusive fair trade store
All patterns and symbols are uniquely Mapuche, and represent cosmological stories of their religion as well as elements of the natural world.
Folded textiles woven by Mapuche artisans
The yarn used for each piece is hand-spun, and every color is dyed from natural brews of native plants and fruits.
Mural Trarikan: ceremonial Mapuche wall art
As with this Trarikan, some textiles are still made with ancient techniques involving dying with mud that is knotted with reeds. Mapuche textile art is still intimately connected with spirituality of the Mapuche people.
Artesanía Mapuche; Hand Made Yarn
September 21, 2009
Textiles at the Chol Chol Foundation
The weaving from the 38 Mapuche communities we work with is beautiful, with earthy tones and graphic symbolic patterns representing different visual elements of Mapuche spirituality. All wool is carded from sheep in the Aracaunía region, and shipped locally.
raw wool drying before being spun
The women spin the wool by hand into variety of different textures of yarn: thin, thick, smooth, textured, with single or double fibers twisted.
Mapuche mother spinning wool in her kitchen
The yarn is then dyed naturally with plant or mud brews from materials harvested sustainably in their communities. Read the rest of this entry »
Artesanía Mapuche; Palacio de la Moneda
September 7, 2009
Palacio de la Moneda, Artasania de Chile Mapuche exhibit, Santiago
The Mapuche are best known for their craft traditions in textiles, silver jewelry, wood, and basket weaving. Many of the patterns, symbols, and techniques still used date back to pre-colonial times.
Here are some examples from Artasanía de Chile’s gallery at la Palacio de la Meneda in downtown Santiago.
Plata
(Silver)
silver and beaded traditional Mapuche jewelry
head pieces, worn in a circle around the top of the the head.
These are clothing pins, used to hold wrapping sweaters together as you wear them.
