Events

Berkeley City College will host a visit by the president of the Jolom Mayaetik Mayan weavers' cooperative from San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico on Monday May 17. From noon to 2:30 in the BCC atrium, Celia Santiz Ruiz will exhibit and sell textiles created on the traditional backstrap loom by members of the 250-strong cooperative who live in small communities in the highlands of Chiapas. The collection includes traditional tapestries and huipiles as well as examples of the cooperative's new designs—pillows, scarves, kitchen towels, tablecloths. In the afternoon she will speak to a BCC class about the work of the cooperative and the daily lives of its members. The weavers of the cooperative are proudly carrying on the weaving tradition and ancient designs learned from their mothers and grandmothers and also working to extend the reach of their art by visiting communities in the US and exhibiting their work and speaking about the goals of their cooperative.