Jun 192013
 

I had a morning to kill in Antigua, Guatemala before heading off to climb the Pacaya volcano. Antigua is a beautiful old colonial town, evacuated after multiple earthquakes suggested it wasn’t a great place to establish a capital. Some people stayed though, and it’s now a world heritage site. I set out along a route that would take me to see the earthquake plagued cathedrals and monasteries of the town.

Along the route was a restored colonial mansion. When I got to where I thought it should be, I couldn’t really find any sign of it. Then, I spotted a small name plaque marking it’s location. It also showed it’s opening hours, and was closed. I turned to walk away and saw, across the street, a small shop selling textiles with a little old Mayan lady sat on the floor, weaving. Her name was Irene, and after a little chat, and an explanation of backstrap weaving I didn’t fully understand (was in Spanish), I snapped the below photo.

Mayan woman backstrap weaving surrounded by colorful weavings in antigua, guatemala

  3 Responses to “Irene the Backstrap Weaver, Antigua, Guatemala”

  1. beautiful colors -did you bring one home with you?
    is it me or does her foot look weirdly positioned?

  2. Beautiful photo! I love all the colours.

  3. Beautiful photo! It really takes you into the world of weaving. The angle of the photo is cool too as you can see all of her weaving ingredients in the basket. Surprised there wasn’t a picture of the photographer in the hanging mirror 😉

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