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Project Overview
Masked and anonymous the Zapatista dolls appeared in Chiapas, Mexico simultaneous with the 1994 indigenous rebellion. Now, entering their second decade, the Zapatista dolls remain a fascinating mystery. Traveling deep into the jungles of Chiapas this project unravels the
origins of the Zapatista doll in terms of intersecting global cultures.
Beginning in the markets of southern Mexico, traveling to the Zapatista headquarters at Oventik and winding up in the highlands
of Chiapas this paper locates the birth of the Zapatista doll in non-Zapatista community of San Juan Chamula, a municipio of San
Christobal de las Casas. With the exception of the signature ski mask, this paper explains, the Zapatista dolls are identical in
material and technique to the traditional Chamulita doll. Contemporary doll making in Chamula will be used to illustrate
adaptability of this specific indigenous community as it absorbs and responds to the politics of globalization.
Interviews with the Chamula craftswomen prove they have been affected by the Zapatista movement although they express little sympathy
for it. During the course of the paper, it becomes apparent that the influence of international tourist is critical to the contemporary
Zapatista incarnation of the ancient Chamulita doll. Amongst the doll makers, the unanimous explanation for existence of the Zapatista
doll is “para vender” or “to sell”. Evidence from the craftswomen suggests that the original idea for the masked Zapatista doll came
from an Italian woman visiting the region in 1994. Somewhat disappointingly, the dolls are more a product of Capitalist demand than
they are model of Zapatista resistance.
The union of traditional craft and capitalist ingenuity may, however, be the key to peace in Chiapas. While catering traditional dolls
to suit the demands of the international consumer, this paper suggests, the Chamulan craftswomen have been able to preserve traditional
methods of sewing, felting, and dying in a time of cultural crisis. Although they are not Zapatistas, the artists have recorded an
extensive history of contemporary Mexican politics from an indigenous perspective. The identity and mythology of the Zapatista dolls
is explained in terms of their historic, political and geographic location. In addition to explaining the craft of Zapatista doll
making, this project traces the art of doll marketing. From ancient Chamula into the webs of cyberspace, the Zapatista doll will
be presented as living survival model for traditional voices amidst the current rush towards globalization.
Exhibition
The exhibition of Zapatista Dolls is to carve a space in which
the Tzotzil-Mayan doll makers of San Juan Chamula can converse with North American
Audiences. It will enrich Western understanding of international culture and
the effects of globalization. The production is being sponsored by the
Kentucky Foundation for Women and is made possible by extended in-kind
support from the The University of Louisville.
The exhibition includes a display of dolls and materials, photographs, explanatory
text, and documentary video from Chiapas. An exhibition book will set the Zapatista
dolls within the social-historical context of a global economy. It will examine
doll symbolism (the mask, the bandana, the rifle) and its relationship to historical
events. The study will explain how, why, and by whom the dolls are made. Additionally,
Muñecas y Mascáras will weigh the consequences of the
dolls in relation to the Zapatista Movement, village lifestyle, and global politics.
Fieldwork
The inception, distribution, and the consequences of the Zapatista dolls
(muñecas zapatistas) has been the subject of recent fieldwork for
this project in Chiapas, Mexico. Funding from KITLAC
(The Kentucky Interfaith Task force on Latin America and the Caribbean),
The International Center and Office of the President at The
University of Louisville enabled the preliminary phase of research in 2003.
Video documentation collected during this fieldwork is in the final stages of
DV editing. It includes footage from the recent Zapatista Rally in Oventik,
interviews with dollmakers, footage from Mexican news stations, and images of
life in Southern Mexico.
Extended fieldwork during 2004 was supported by The
Kentucky Foundation for Women and the University of Louisville's University
Commission on the Status of Women. During the Fall of 2006, the research
team will return to Chiapas for a deeper investigation of the history, practice,
and significance of Zapatista doll making. Ongoing fieldwork and video documentation
is currently being assimilated into the publication and exhibition materials
that have already entered production.
Politics
The Muñecas y Mascáras project carefully
avoids political affiliation and intellectual colonialism by working directly
with the Tzotzil women of Chamula, Chiapas to record the doll making process.
In the past, indigenous crafts and cultures have been explained in terms of
Western research standards. This project is dedicated to allowing the indigenous
dollmakers a forum for representing themselves. In addition to recording oral
histories of the dolls, the book and exhibition will included visual images
captured by the citizens of Chamula. Indigenous organizations such as Sn
Jtz'Ilbajom -- a Tzotzil-Tzetzal co-operative dedicated to securing an indigenous
voice within new media -- will be consulted for technical and stratigic advice
for providing the dollmakers with a voice in their own story.
