Lol-Chuy Embroidery Workshop
Some of the most colorful and exciting and contemporary embroidery is being done in a workshop setting deep within a small town where birds still sing and they're just part of the exquisite sense of design and craft.
Lol-Chuy is a traditional embroidery workshop in a town dedicated almost entirely to the artisan tradition going back generations. The town is X-pichil with fewer than 1,500 permanent residents. It's idyllic, some 30 minutes west of the Tren Maya station at Felipe Carillo Puerto in Quintana Roo and nearly entirely devoted to embroidery although the surrounding country is alive with farms and orchards.
Embroidery here makes up a big part of the Maya heritage of the people, with extraordinary and often unique motifs, designs, and meanings in every stitch. People come to admire the products of all of this handiwork, but the increasingly popular workshops also open their doors to interested visitors. Many of these workshops began in effort to teach younger people. Today they increasingly teach embroidery techniques and the characteristic regional styles to just about everyone. Designs are inspired by snake skins and Mayan motifs, and these elements lend something to the identities of the women of the area. They are also notably different from the motifs common in the state of Yucatán to the west. The state line is just about one hour's drive.
Visitors learn and practice embroidery techniques on handkerchiefs, wallets, or clothing. Taking a finished product home is not uncommon. One will also notice that the women offering the Lol-Chuy workshop are always exquisitely dressed in the traditional handmade attire. Male workshop participants are also increasingly walking away with garments, especially t-shirts, made using the same techniques. There are also guayabaras, vests, and smaller items. In fact, workshop organizers will inform anyone who asks that men have always had at least some role in the embroidery practice, although usually in lower numbers.
Like in so much of the region, X-pichil residents appreciate the surrounding landscape, dotted as it with cenotes with rivers underground to nourish the greenery and the people above. It's a fantastic place of tradition, food, and culture. People generally speak Maayat'aan although Spanish is largely understood.
Contact:
Artesanías Lol-Chuy
Tel. 98 3102 9376
lolchuy.chukoob@gmail.com
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