Interweaving Cities Through Craft Traditions: Santa Fe, New Mexico and Trinidad, Cuba
The City of Santa Fe Arts and Culture Department’s goal of finding international opportunities for Santa Fe artists through the UNESCO Creative Cities Network led to an exchange that started in 2022 between artisans in Santa Fe and Trinidad, Cuba. Santa Fe was appointed to the UCCN in 2005. Trinidad is a newer member, appointed in 2019. Both cities have the Crafts and Folk Art designation.
Sabrina Pratt, a consultant to the City of Santa Fe Arts and Culture Department, contacted Duznel Zerquera Amador, Trinidad’s director of the Office of Conservation and their primary contact for the UCCN. Discussions regarding potential exchanges led to finding artisans in both cities who have a passion for keeping historical traditions alive. The four women who participated are quite accomplished in needlework, making work for sale and display, and teaching and demonstrating how the craft is done.
Julia R. Gomez and Barbara Romero Alba of Santa Fe are experts at Spanish Colonial colcha stitching dating from the 17th century. Julia mentored Barbara in learning about this style of embroidery. Trinidad’s participants in the project are Zobeida González Gomez and Obdulia González Gomez. They are experts at embroidery and drawn thread techniques using cotton, polyester, and silk.
After some brainstorming on how an exchange could work without the artists traveling to each others’ cities, which was not possible, it was decided to make four tapestries with two artists working on each one. Using the traditional methods of their city, each artisan embroidered half of one 22” cloth square that was completed by an artist in the other city, bringing two traditions together.
The four collaborative works feature design themes that are typical of the 17th century northern New Mexico and southern Colorado Spanish colonial era colcha stitching and the 16th century embroidery and other techniques used in Trinidad.