Weaving Dignity - Capstone 2026
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Weaving Dignity - Capstone 2026 -
Weaving Dignity
Weaving Dignity highlights contemporary Indigenous activism in Guatemala through the metaphor and materiality of textile. Centering the legacy of Rigoberta Menchú, the project positions weaving as language, testimony, and resistance, carrying histories of dispossession, survival, and collective struggle. Through interactive loom-based visualization and printed zines, the work frames textiles as active archives that preserve memory while continuing to speak to present-day movements for autonomy and justice.
Medium One
The Loom of Memory - El Telar de la Memoria
The future is woven
The future is woven
Interactive Loom Installation
Inspired by Guatemalan weaving, this installation lets users create patterns with ribbons in five colors. Each ribbon carries a statement—together, they form a data visualization of personal and collective truth.
Yellow – The Thread of Awakening
I honor what I was given, and name the moment I cut that thread to see for myself. Patterns hold stories. Stories hold power.
Red – The Territory You Defend
My body is my first land. I name what I’ve stood against. What I wear declares: I belong to myself.
Green – The Seed You Carry
What my ancestors planted—a wound, a gift, a story—survives erasure. I nurture it and pass it forward.
Blue – The Testimony You Hold
A truth lives in my body that the world needs to hear. Silence protects the oppressor. My voice protects my people.
Fuchsia – The Armor You Wear
Tradition is not a relic it is a tool. Erasure does not win. We do.
Medium Two:
The Living Thread - El Hilo Vivo
Zine 1: La Memoria (The Memory). Focus on textile symbology as language. Uses Menchú’s early life and descriptions of her mother’s weaving to explain how culture is encoded.
El Cuerpo-Territorio (The Body-Territory). Focus on defense. Shows how the huipil is armor. Features Menchú’s activism alongside modern land defenders.
