Chonita chose the word “Kotz’ij” which means “flower” in Tz’utujil. She told me that flowers are hugely important in Tz’utujil culture and they are very often present in the patterns on women’s clothing. These colourful dresses are woven in the village itself. Also Chonita wanted me to paint a word in the Tz’utujil language. It is one of the languages of the Mayan people, and she wishes for the future generations to carry on speaking the language even though Spanish is the language used at school, at work, in newspapers and to communicate with other people groups of Guatemala.
Thank you to Thelma, Diego and Reina for the warm welcome, thank you to Tchan for the help painting ! And thank you to Chonita for making me paint a word in a native American language!
Seb Toussaint 