Sunday, 15th November, La Esperanza: indigenous embroiderers
A great mate of ours, Katherine, set up a business about 2 years ago called Mi Mariposa. The indigenous women of Ecaudor are reknowned for their embroidery skills, and Katherine has employed a collective to make and embroider her designs for children’s clothes. 12 women are part of this group, and they are headed up by a lady called Hortensia. We are driving to Ibarra to meet and interview Hortensia and her husband.
La Esperanza is a village just above Ibarra, the big town. The streets of La Esperanza are cobbled and uneven, and it is populated almost entirely by indigenous families. Ladies in hats, with long dresses and shawls, and gold necklaces round their necks, wander the streets, with children in tow and babies strapped tightly to their backs. The village (and Ibarra below it) nestle in the base of a huge valley, so they are surrounded by green mountains. The earth is slightly fatter at the equator, so the tip of the snow-covered mountain we can see from our bedroom window is the furthest point from the centre of the earth, as it sits pretty much directly on the equator.
The light is perfect and clear, the temperature cool, the grass green. It’s magical. We pass a market in a small square in La Esperanza. About 15 stalls are set up, each manned by a cluster of indigenous women. The stalls are strewn with examples of the beautiful embroidery that these women do: table clothes with tightly embroidered flower patterns, matching napkins with embroidery of all colours and designs, children’s clothing, knitted jumpers, men and women’s designs. An array.
We ask for Hortensia, and are directed to a small but well turned out woman in her mid 30s. She is manning a stall of her own embroidery, and we chat. She and her husband are perfectly prepared to meet us that evening so we make arrangements. I wander the stalls as Mike films (much excitement to appear in the film, he is endlessly pulled to see this or that design at the various stalls). I look for little girls’ dresses for our various goddaughters and find some that I like.
The designs are wonderful, the little dresses are totally adorable. I’ll post a link to Mi Mariposa designs as soon as I have it! Great Christmas presents!
