The department of Alta Verapaz boasts alpine meadows, pastures, coffee and cardamon plantations, steep green hillsides, limestone caves and a variety of weaving styles, including the ancient, diaphanous, white on white pikb’il style.
This three-panel red and white huipil or blouse is a traditional design of Tactíc, a Poqomchi-speaking community 28 kilometers from Cobán. Photo by Kathleen Mossman Vitale 2005.
Pikb’il, an ancient style of back strap weaving still practiced in the outskirts of the Guatemalan city of Cobán by a handful of women, is made of starched cotton threads. The intricate designs are formed by supplementary weft brocade. Photo by Kathleen Mossman Vitale 2005.