Crafting Through Covid

In the rural Lake Atitlán region of Guatemala, artisanal textile production continues to be a significant part of indigenous Maya cultural heritage and the creative economy. As an area heavily dependent on tourism, the coronavirus pandemic adversely impacted craft production and threatened the livelihoods of many artisans.  This project, supported by the Global Challenges Research Fund, charts how artisan groups successfully diversified their textile and entrepreneurial practices to sustain their communities during the Covid-19 crisis.

Made possible through remote collaboration with five socially driven textile organizations – A Rum Fellow, Cojolya, Kakaw Designs, Mercado Global and Mutlicolores – our ethnographic enquiry, the resultant case studies and documentary film reveal how the artisans and their partner organizations responded to the restrictions of the Covid lockdown(s), highlighting the resilience and resourcefulness of the artisans and their partners as well as considering the potential long-term effects of the pandemic on the artisan sector.