Explore Black History

ca. 2006-2008

In 2006, a group of women in Mampuján, Colombia formed a textile collective in the aftermath of a devastating paramilitary attack. The collective draws upon Afro-Caribbean storytelling and local textile art traditions, to create tapestries that document their history and the atrocities their community has suffered, past and present. The community Mampuján, one of 20 historical Palenques or maroon settlements formed by escapees in Colombia, has faced violence throughout its existence, from colonial extermination campaigns in the 16th and 17th centuries to the paramilitary attack. Sewing tapestries is one method women from this community have used to address and heal from trauma.
This tapestry, Violencia en Colombia y Esperanza (Violence and Hope in Colombia), depicts the paramilitary attack perpetrated against the Mampujá community by the Colombian army in 2000 as well as the hope of the community and for the future through the welcoming of new life. From the artist's statement:
[This tapestry] shows the testimonies of the victims of violence in Colombia during the years 2000 to 2005. Armed men burned the houses to force the peasants to abandon their lands, and raped and tortured women as a form of intimidation...
The weavers of Mampuján regret all the violence suffered by our people, beginning with the trafficking from Africa. The memory that is captured here is so that the new generations know from our hands and feelings the events.... It is necessary to know the reality of painful events from the truth to achieve catharsis, heal wounds, forgive offenses... and achieve reparation, justice, and peace. — Juana Alicia Ruiz Hernández, Mampuján weaver
The Mampuján tapestries have been displayed in museums in Colombia, including a piece on permanent display at the National Museum of Bogota and in the Mampuján museum newly opened in 2023. In 2015, the weaving collective won the Premio Nacional de la Paz award, an important peace prize in Colombia for their community organization and projects around the sewing collective.

One (1) cotton quilt tapestry, Violencia y Esperanza en Colombia (Violence and Hope in Colombia), crafted by Mujeres Tejedoras de Mampuján (The Weavers of Mampuján), circa 2006 to 2008.
The tapestry is vertically oriented and has a lavender cotton border around a white cotton background. It is constructed of colorful pieces of cloth shaped and sewn together in a storytelling display. At the top is the title [VIOLENCIA / EN COLOMBIA Y ESPERANZA] with “Violencia” appearing in green camouflage cloth and the rest in peach, yellow, blue, red, pink, and bright green. Several violent scenes are depicted centering around a blue, curving river that flows from top to bottom along the right side of the tapestry. Just below the title and at the mouth of the source of the river are three small houses or huts that have been set on fire with cloth strips of red, white, yellow, and black flames. All around the houses and leading into the other scenes are many small red and yellow flowers.
In the midground is a large tree with a yellow floral-patterned canopy. A Black woman in a purple dress with orange yarn hair gives birth while hiding within the tree. To the left, the body of another woman is hanged from one of the branches. Beneath the tree are chickens, and a girl in a green dress with pink embroidery thread hair clutches a hen. To the right, another tree, this one with a black and white trunk and large, three-dimensional pink and black flowers, falls into the river. Some of the pink flowers drift downstream amidst corpses thrown into the water to be eaten by fish. At bottom center, figures of children flee a red schoolhouse with a grey plaid roof and “Escuela” embroidered above the doorway. One child lies bleeding in front of the schoolhouse. The reverse of the tapestry is lavender cotton.

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Textiles and Quilts

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Juana Alicia Ruiz Hernandez, Mujeres Tejedoras de mampujan

National Museum of African American History and Culture

2024.2.2

tapestries

© Women Weavers of Mampujan
Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.

cotton and linen with batting and thread

H x W x D: 58 × 51 × 1/8 in. (147.3 × 129.5 × 0.3 cm)

Title • Violencia y Esperanza en Colombia

nmaahc_2024.2.2

NMAAHC

VIOLENCIA Y ESPERANZA EN COLOMBIA

National Museum of African American History and Culture

CC0

2010s • 2000s

Mujeres Tejedoras de Mampuján • Hernandez, Juana Alicia Ruiz

South America • Mampuján • Montes de María • Colombia • Bolívar • Latin America

African diaspora • Justice • Slavery • Women • Communities • Violence • Free communities of color

African Americans • Africans

City • Mampuján • County • Montes de María • State • Bolívar • Country • Colombia • Region • Latin America • Continent • South America

Images

Limited Use