wrapped
in color

Join Zapotec textile artist Porfirio Gutiérrez and ASM curators to learn about the iconic Mexican Saltillo sarape’s history, regional influence, and contemporary manifestations. Discover how Indigenous textiles embody the interconnection of peoples, traditions, arts, culture, and environmental stewardship.

For thousands of years, Indigenous people of the Americas have woven textiles on backstrap looms using local materials, including cotton, other plant fibers, and animal hair. In Mexico, as in other parts of the Americas, weaving practices were further shaped by Spanish colonization, which introduced sheep and the treadle loom. The distinctive Saltillo sarape design developed out of this early colonial period. Today, Indigenous and Hispanic weavers in Mexico and the southwestern United States continue to interpret the Saltillo sarape’s designs.

Join Zapotec textile artist Porfirio Gutiérrez and ASM curators to learn about the iconic Mexican Saltillo sarape’s history, regional influence, and contemporary manifestations. Discover how Indigenous textiles embody the interconnection of peoples, traditions, arts, culture, and environmental stewardship.

For thousands of years, Indigenous people of the Americas have woven textiles on backstrap looms using local materials, including cotton, other plant fibers, and animal hair. In Mexico, as in other parts of the Americas, weaving practices were further shaped by Spanish colonization, which introduced sheep and the treadle loom. The distinctive Saltillo sarape design developed out of this early colonial period. Today, Indigenous and Hispanic weavers in Mexico and the southwestern United States continue to interpret the Saltillo sarape’s designs.