The clothing of the Otomí people entirely reflects their way of seeing and understanding everything around them and the universe itself.
Colorful embroidery of flowers, animals, geometric figures that for centuries have been used exclusively as decoration for women’s blouses … It was only when a massive drought devastated crops in the Tenango de Doria area that the Otomi made available for selling their jobs outside of their community.
Translated as “Stone Quarter“, Tenango houses several caves with drawings depicting animals and natural and supernatural forces. It is believed that it is these images that have inspired the motifs on Otomi fabrics.
The process begins by preparing the cotton cloth, which is then naturally dyed through ancient techniques that involve the use of flowers, plants and vegetables. The artists then choose whether to use a stencil to trace the design to embroider or draw freely on fabric.
Thus begins the slowest and most creative phase of embroidery. The fabrics are embroidered entirely by hand, stitch by stitch, taking up to months to complete their creation.
The fabric is then hand washed and left to dry in the sunlight. A tradition that for centuries has seen Mexican women protagonists of an art that we hope is still handed down from generation to generation.
