Niisduuvbadou: Agave spirtit

Size: 80x150cm; 2.6x5ft

Weaver: Amancio Guitérrez

Materials and methods: criollo sheep wool spun at the family owned mill of Tianguistengo. Hand dyed with aniline dyes in an exhaust method for color fastness. Handwoven on a Zapotec style loom of the 16th century adapted from European styles. Woven using a 7 threads per inch reed and wool rayon blend for warp.

Design, patterns and symbols.

This rug starts with stripes of the smile pattern to reming us of the joy we feel when we plant our fields with milpa and agave. There is a row of mountains mirrored on tan and teal, showing the color transition of our landscape between the dry and the rainy season. The central pattern we have the five petal flower symbol, known as the cross of the feather snake, also used to represent the sun and venus. The Diamond in the center represents the delicate balance of the four directions and the four elements that needs to occur for life to flourish. This diamond is surrounded by seeds that also are shaped like a diamond, reminding us that the seeds are a gift from the Benigui'ea, the ladies of the market, the constellation known as the pleiades. And this is framed at the border by agave symbols, just like in the old days one would have fenced the milpa fields (corn, beans and squash plantation) with agaves, to protect it from trampling by cattle or wild animals. All the seeds were given to us we plant like brothers and sisters that are there to help and support each other in their growth, this way of doing agriculture is deeply embeded in the ecosystem, the landscape and even cycles of the cosmos. Something that goes beyond agroecology, we could call it agroecosmology.