The Artisans
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Cotton Textiles
corpolienzo
An artisan cooperative that has been operating for 30 years, was the result of artisans from a small town in Santander, Colombia who decided to advocate for the preservation of their craft.
Now, about 40 women artisans form part of the cooperative. These strong women have decided to not let the ancient practices of spinning, dyeing and weaving disappear. They have been revitalizing the textile practices of the region, and now they want to share their unique products with the world.
Esther Monroy
Has been part of the artisan cooperative for 20 years. She is an experienced weaver and spinner. She believes the artisan cooperative has helped rescue traditions of the Guane culture and it has allowed women of her community to participate in leadership roles.
María Delia Poveda
Has been part of the cooperative for 4 years. She is a talented seamstress, and always enjoys learning new sewing techniques. María is very happy she can provide for her family through practicing handcrafts.
Ana Mercedes Alvarez
Has been part of the cooperative for 24 years. She is a master weaver and is also teaching other artisans the art of spinning cotton. For Mercedes, practicing handcrafts has taught her patience. She believes in preserving ancestral techniques and feels honored to be part of a cooperative which feels more like a family to her.
Martha Liliana Ardila
Has been part 0f the cooperative for 2 years as a weaver. For Martha, craftsmanship is a beautiful part of her culture and a way many families in Charala earn a living. She believes textile traditions from the Guane culture should be honored and appreciated.
Graciela Sanabria de Navarrete
Has been working in the cooperative for 20 years. She is the administrative head of the cooperative and also sews and designs new products. She truly believes the cooperative supports women to earn a living by practicing the Guane traditions of making textiles. Graciela thinks it is very important to teach the history of their ancestors to new generations as a way of preserving their heritage.
Otilia Pinzón
Has been part of the cooperative for 8 years. She is an avid weaver and is also the administrative secretary for the cooperative. Otilia is proud of belonging to the artisan cooperative because she believes she is helping to maintain the textile traditions of their indigenous ancestors, the Guane people.
Inés Pita
Has been part of the cooperative for 18 years. She is an incredible weaver and spinner. For her, working in the cooperative as an artisan means participating in changing her community, in preserving their cultural heritage, and believing in economic stability for both men and women.
Mireya Holguin
One of the newest members of the corpolienzo team. Mireya started to work with Corpolienzo in 2020 and quickly has become a talented weaver. She loves learning new weaves and has developed an interest in developing new weaves. She aspires to go to university one day.
Hilda Maria Sanabria Gómez
Has been working with Corpolienzo for more than 10 years. She started as a spinner, then learned to weave and is now a weaver and a natural dyer. She enjoys weaving and loves using her hands to create. Her love for textiles has allowed her to keep practicing her craft and hopes to see the business grow.
Diana Isabel Sanabria Gómez
Has been working with Corpolienzo since 2019. She is a weaver and natural dyer. She is one of the youngest artisans and came to work with the cooperative because she believes in preserving the craft for generations to come. She hopes to be part of the growth of the business and see it bear much fruit for her family and community.
Severa Castro Meza
She is one of the founding members and has been working with Corpolienzo for 30 years. She has mastered many processes of making textiles like weaving, spinning and naturally dyeing. She is a curious maker who is always investigating plants and loves discovering new dye recipes. She enjoys working in a team and loves seeing people come and fall in love with her craft traditions.
Maria Monsalve Monsalve
She has been working for 10 years with Corpolienzo and is a weaver and natural dyer. She is very passionate about supporting women in the work place and wants to see more people learn the craft and practice it for generations.
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Basket Weaving
CREARCOOP
Crearcoop is a cooperative located in the town of Guacamayas in the department of Boyacá, Colombia. They were founded in1985 and have been supporting the local economy by preserving the art of hand weaving baskets of their indigenous ancestors, the Laches. Their mission ever since has been to generate employment to women and to preserve and bring recognition to the basket coiling techniques they inherited from the Laches indigenous community.
Omaira Manrique
She is one of the founding members of the cooperative and has been working as a leader for Crearcoop for more than 40 years. She is currently the manager and administrator of the team. Omaira is passionate about seeing her community have dignified work and seeing her craft recognized nationally makes her very proud.
Elvira Gómez García
Elvira is one of the first members of the cooperative. She is seen as one of the master basket weavers in her community. Elvira loves making small baskets that are highly detailed and is happy to see that over the years people have grown to love their craft and is proud to call herself a Guacamayas artisan weaver.
Angelina Sanchez Bustacara
She has been a basket weaver for 27 years. She started to learn the craft since she was young and actually taught her parents and siblings after becoming part of the cooperative. She enjoys making big baskets and is always up for a challenge when developing new sizes and products.
Rosa Matilde Arenas Garcia
She has been a basket weaver for 38 years. She learned when she was young and quickly fell in love with the craft. She works in her basketry in the afternoons after taking care of housework and when the sun is bright so she can enjoy of good lighting to weave.
Yurley Gelvez
She has been working with Crearcoop for the past 4 years. She was originally from a nearby town to Guacamayas and once she married into a family from Guacamayas, quickly learned the craft and became very interested in becoming skilled at basket weaving. In just a few years she has become very good at detailed and small baskets which are some of the hardest to weave.
Isaura Valderrama Naira
She has been making baskets for over 10 years. She is passionate about teaching others and after she learned she quickly taught her husband and children to learn too. She believes in passing this incredible cultural knowledge to many people to keep it alive for many years.
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Rug Weaving
La familia Becerra
The Becerra family has been weaving fique rugs for more than 20 years in the town of Curiti, Santander. They are a husband, wife and daughters who run the family business. They have multiple weaving looms at their home and are currently working towards having a studio to have a larger space for their growing business.
Reinaldo Becerra &
Reinaldo and have been making rugs almost their entire life. Reinaldo worked in Bogota for many years in a rug factory and later he decided to go back to his home village of Curiti. Here he and his wife decided to work independently and started to get their own clients making custom rugs. Today they work full time making rugs from small to very large scale projects, their craftsmanships is incredible and are well known in town for their work.
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