Where are the finest textiles/weaving in Guatemala?

I'm certainly not an expert after visiting Guatemala just the once, but we bought some absolutely beautiful embroidered pieces at the Chichi market.There was a lot there that was definitely tourist issue stuff but if you look around you can find quality. Can't speak for Solala; as soon as we got there the heavens opened up and the rain poured down so not much shopping and looking was done by us. We did buy an apron in the manner of some of the local women. It is very nicely made. I also got a quilt made of huipil squares (Chichi). Near the end of our time in Chichi we found a section of the market where they sold used clothes and textiles. I'm not that good at haggling, so I thought the prices I was told were high but a good haggler could probably get some good buys. One guy there was buying a huge plastic bag of old huipils.

Don't know anything about textiles and am always amazed when I see someone at a local auction buy an Amish quilt for $400 that I wouldn't throw in my doghouse.

But a few years ago I ran into a couple guys from Oz who were buying textiles in Chichi. They told me it was the best place to buy quality textiles IF you knew what to look for. Wandered around with them for an hour while they showed me how to tell quality stuff. Forgot it all as soon as I walked away. Guys were counting threads and looking at seams with a magnifying glass!

Solola Market--was there two weeks ago and don't recall seeeing any textiles made in Guatemala. Lot of Chinese stuff however. And one duck.

Glad to see that you are still alive in this dangerous country.

The market in Chichi is unbelievable. There is so much there that one can find almost anything. However, you really need to know what you want to buy, and how to recognize quality and authenticity. Thursday is the best day, if you are a serious shopper; there are far fewer tourists there then. There are, however, just as many pickpockets, so be careful.

To me, the Solola market is the place to go, if you want to buy some good local livestock.

you want to buy something exceptional/ Try Nim Pot in Antigua - high quality, but high prices too. Otherwise if you put in the time and effort (hours...) sniffing and asking around in Pana and even Chichi some good gear will show up. Or try highlands like Nebaj, Todos Santos.

There's a lil textile museum in Santiago A that has good links to local weavers.

Thanks, Bob.
I thought Chichi was overwhelming. We decided this trip around to do a lot of walking and looking and IF something really caught our eye and we could get it for what we wanted to pay, then we would buy. It does help to have someone on the ground to help you figure out fair prices. I had no idea of what things should cost so I asked the hotel owner at the place we stayed at in Pana (Utz Jay).

My friend and I enjoyed the evening set-up in Chichi and LOVED the produce market in the commercial building, then walked around for an hour or 2 in the morning before the day trippers arrived. I bought a piece of lovely blue woven cloth from the people I liked the best - an old woman named Lucia and her husband Thomas; had a lovely conversation and took a few photos. That tends to be me my line of thinking when looking for a piece, and the memories flood back when I see it hanging on my wall or draped over a chair.

AS a fiber artist, I can tell you what my research here at CIRMA (which has a wonderful collection of books and academic papers on GUatemalan weaving) and my weaving friends tell me: San Antonio Aguas Calientes, near Antigua, produces the generally highest regarded category of weaving: brocade...i.e. both sides are the same, which is the most technically difficult hand weaving done in Guatemala. BUt weaving is an art as well as a technique and many factors enter into an evaluation of weaving: artistic design,qualitiy of materials (acrylic and metallic yarns are frowned upon by serious collectors...natural fibers only are what collectors want) use of color, interpretation of historical patterns, reputation of the weaver, rarity, and age of the weaving. As Bob notes, there are people who are serious sellers like Bob and there are serious collectors, here and in Europe who rarely sell anything they have collected. There are several elderly collectors here whose collections will eventually be broken up, but you would have to live here and get to know them to have any hope of getting things from their collection. You won't have a chance to get the very,very best most likely.

A better strategy is to do it for fun not for thoughts of profit. Go to NimPot, they have huipiles arranged by region. Select the style/s you like best and write down prices of the best of those styles. Armed with this you can now visit the regions themselves or look in Chichi, Pana, Antigua or wherever. If you don't find what you are looking for at a lower orice elsewhere then go back to NimPot for your purchase.

I followed this strategy when I first came here in 1999 for a year. I liked the embroidered huipiles from Santiago Atitlan partly because I do emboidery and can recognize good work from average or poor. I noted the prices at Nim Pot, went to the village and began searching. Everything I found was too costly for the work, I felt. So I waited and went back another time. I began asking people in tiendas, and out of the way places. I happened upon a woman who had about half a dozen she was waiting to clean (all smelled of smoke which is very common for huipiles) and take to Antigua to sell...I bought her two best for far less than one would have cost in Antigua.

All this takes time work, and interest....if you don't have enough of either, then just buy what strikes your fancy!!

I like San Antonio Aguas Calientes also, and I'm glad to hear an expert (L.A.) give it a good review. The co-op has a very relaxed atmosphere and the textiles are some of the most stunning I've come across in Guatemala. We have items that we bought there over 5 years ago that are still holding up extremely well. I like strolling around the village as well. If my memory serves me, you can find one of the oldest fountains in the region there. Or, maybe that was Santa Maria de Jesus....anyway, it's only a 20 minute bus ride from Antigua.

And, another vote for Nim Pot. It's one of my my last stops before heading back home. Another easy going place filled with everything and anything. Hit the sales bins for trinkets.

Is there a good place to buy local yarn? My wife is quite good at knitting and will be accompanying me in December. Places we will base in will be Santa Cruz la Lagund, Antigua (I think can handle it) and Guate.