THE SACRED GEOMETRY OF MOPAN MAYA EMBROIDERY WRITTEN BY: TANYA MCNAB PHOTO CREDIT: FULL MEMORY PHOTOGRAPHY
Xokb’il Chuy, translating to counted stitches, is the name of a Mopan Maya embroidery that turns geometry into art. True to its name, patterns are sewn using a complex counting system transmitted from mother to daughter for hundreds of years. The designs depict motifs from Maya stories, such as the sun, moon, or snakes, or the flowers, plants and birds found in their environment. While first created on hand looms for millennia, the art evolved during the colonial period into the hand-stitched embroidery practiced today. But that’s not the only history that the Mopan Maya hold: archeology clearly establishes the Mopan Maya as the first people of Belize. Not to mention, Belize’s very own name is likely from the Maya word belikin, which means “road to the sun.” 80
Despite constant pressures to assimilate, the Xokb’il Chuy has endured a hand-sewn record of survival. Against the odds, Maya women have kept their language and culture alive, one stitch at a time. While the Mopan Maya language is anticipated to go extinct in a matter of decades, the counted stitches practice is a living gift bestowed by one generation to the next, in an effort to ensure their continued survival. This year, the Maya community organization Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management (SATIIM) initiated a program with support from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) under its Cultural and Creative Industries Innovation Fund (CIIF) to preserve this cultural wealth. Here, Maya women are being positioned as national artists innovating new designs and bringing their creative products to a wider market, starting with modern fashion designs adorned with Xokb’il Chuy. CA R IB B E A N L IFE STYLE. COM
