In pre-Hispanic Mexico, there were small beads made of jade and turquoise
There is a hypothesis that the beads, (like the ones we know today perhaps from India), were introduced to Mexico by the Manila Galleon from the Philippines and that its use spread thanks to the famous fairs, where the new products that arrived from the ancient East were displayed to the Mexican people.
It is also possible that in ships, coming from Europe and manufactured in Czechoslovakia, Austria, or Italy, we believe that the small beads arrived in Mexican territory probably in the middle of the seventeenth century.
Cultures from central Mexico
What is a fact is that the cultures of central Mexico adopted these small pieces as part of their daily clothing; creating designs of their own identity.
The bead embroidery is kept alive thanks to the indigenous artisans, who show in their creations complex geometry, where the depths of their experiences are impregnated.
Indigenous creations have a highly symbolic character that forces us to stop and contemplate human life.
Pablo our indigenous artisan creator of the collection of beaded earrings tells us:
“What I do is figure out what I have dreamed – and he laughs – when I remember … I am inspired by everything that surrounds me, the forest, the cornfield, the rain, the fire, the parties, my dreams … I walk a lot to meet me and be clear about my next creation”.
For them, everything has life, and man is born into a world that listens to him. The human being is connected in this world and has a job in it, and it is to seek his own meaning in this world, Pablo’s is to create … Knowing that each human being has a destiny and has a reason.
“Everything in this universe is planned by the divine fabric made by the gods,” Pablo tells us.
I am an enthusiast of Mexican native cultures, I love to narrate what the indigenous people tell me, which my grandparents have told me, which is the first source I have kept in my heart.
Alejandra
