Pride and profit: Why Mayan weavers fight for intellectual property rights
Why We Wrote This
Who owns culture, if anyone? It’s a complicated question that can
seem almost theoretical. But its real-life consequences are keenly felt
by many traditional artisans.
"Dr. Little fears that looking at textile design through the lens of fashion essentially “freezes it in time as a kind of folk art or folk material and that doesn’t allow it to actually live.”
“I think of [weaving] like a language,” he adds. Among indigenous communities, “it’s more vibrant when everyone is using it, fooling around with it, taking from others, and making new combinations. Vibrancy in language indicates strength, and in textiles it’s the same way.”"
