Kemtzij
Reciprocal Indigenous Ontologies in Kaqchikel Maya Arts
Kemtzij is a volume on contemporary Kaqchikel Mayan art presented in English and Kaqchikel Mayan.
Description
Kemtzij: Weaving Reciprocal Indigenous Ontologies in Kaqchikel Maya Arts focuses on the artistic contributions of contemporary Kaqchikel Mayas in Guatemala and their diasporas. Rather than representing Kaqchikel Mayas as exclusively existing in their pre-Hispanic past, the contributors to this edited volume—Kaqchikel and non-Kaqchikel scholars—demonstrate the distinct interdisciplinary ways that contemporary Kaqchikels engage with present-day Maya aesthetics and artistic initiatives in Guatemala and abroad. With a focus on the key concepts of reciprocity and duality, the chapters in this book consider the myriad ways in which Kaqchikel Mayas express their identities, through poetry, textiles, community street art, and digital photo collages. Kemtzij is unique in being published bilingually in Kaqchikel and English, making it one of few texts to consider Kaqchikel lives and artistic production—and the ontological implications of that work—in and through the Kaqchikel language.
Joyce N. Bennett is associate professor of anthropology at Bates College. She is the author of Good Maya Women: Migration and Revitalization of Clothing and Language in Highland Guatemala.
Tiffany D Creegan Miller is assistant professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies at Colby College. She is the author of The Maya Art of Speaking Writing: Remediating Indigenous Orality in the Digital Age.