«I learned since I was 4 years old. My grandmother taught me and also taught my sisters, and now all of us, my daughters and my nieces, we all dedicate ourselves to making shawls. Reyna Nuci Hernández, originally from Ahuiran, Paracho municipality, Michoacán, does not miss an opportunity to show her work, elaborated for months with great care for the threads and the feathers she uses for some designs.
The first thing she did for her grandmother was to weft and warp the threads, then once "I gathered feathers from two birds and my grandmother helped me make a shawl my size." From a very young age, p?hurépecha women begin to wear the shawl, or what in p?hure is known as atachi o joptsacua.
Now, at 45 years old, the tradition of his community has not been lost, quite the contrary, it is kept alive and in constant adaptation to the new fashion trends in the region. For example, Reyna makes traditional shawls for daily use, which is made up of black and blue stripes and its meaning depends on the way it is worn.
There is also the feather party shawl, which takes up to 4 months to prepare and costs the public between 5,000 and 8,000 pesos? Around 250 and 400 dollars? The next festive shawl is known as the one with a thousand flowers, which takes about 3 months to prepare and costs between 4,000 and 5,500 pesos? Between 200 and 275 dollars; Finally, there is a more discreet one called empuntado, which takes between 2 to 3 months to prepare and costs between 2,000 and 3,000 pesos ?100 to 150 dollars?.
The rebozo is, in addition to a part of her identity, the main form of subsistence and that is why Reyna is always ready to go anywhere where she can show and sell her work. Whether it's the arts market that is held in Pátzcuaro during the festival of the dead, every year, or in different stores where you can leave your work, such as El Ayate, a store that brings together the best of the region's arts and which can also be visited in Pátzcuaro.
Sometimes Reyna travels to Mexico City to show individuals her work or she is constantly looking for where she can post it. She always carries large, heavy suitcases with dozens of shawls of all kinds and many colors. "Sometimes they come all the way from California to see my rebozos and they buy me some." All my work is done by hand and the dyes are extracted from plants and the whole process is the closest to how it has been done for many generations.
Heriberto Paredes Coronel (Tlaxcala, 1983), Mexican freelance photographer and journalist, dedicated to documenting organizational processes in indigenous and peasant communities, the search for missing persons and environmental issues in Mexico. He currently explores formats such as documentaries and podcasts without abandoning photography and text, where he explores new narrative routes. He has collaborated with national and international media, has directed short documentaries and is currently in the development phase of a feature documentary as well as writing a book that brings together more than a decade of work on the Michoacan coast. He lives in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán. Twitter @BSaurus Instagram @el_beto_paredes.
You may be interested in: Fruits of the dialogue
