Wixarika Yarn

"In recent decades, Wixarika art has become so popular that "yarn paintings" and figures made with beads (small, multicolored glass beads) can be found in places as diverse as subway platforms, souvenir shops, Mexican flea markets and street stalls, and prestigious galleries around the world. But, beyond its transformation into a commodity readily available to tourists, the exoticism that some associate with any Amerindian representation, and even surpassing the aesthetic emotion they may evoke, these images, this art, speak to a genuine iconographic narrative that requires no accompanying words.  However, it does require an understanding of the plurality of practices and behaviors carried out by the Wixaritari (Wixárika, in the singular) who inhabit the Mexican Sierra Madre Occidental and who are, all too often, referred to as Huichol, the name given to them by the conquistadors."

Read full Spanish language article here.