Exhibition of Historic Serapes in Guanajuato

Published January 3, 2022

Serape Exhibition in Guanajuato has Local Angle

By Susan Page

The one-hour drive to Guanajuato to see the current exhibit of serapes at the Museo del Pueblo is well worth the time, for a fun day-long excursion. The serapes are a traveling exhibition presented by the Museo del Sarape y Trajes, located in Saltillo, Coahuila.

The beautifully woven blankets known as serapes are a universally recognized symbol of Mexico. Woven all over the country and widely used for centuries, the serape is an integral part of Mexican history and identity. San Miguel de Allende was a major center of serape weaving in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Worn over the shoulder by aristocrats, used as blankets by cowboys or bedspreads in homes, or spread out on the ground at markets to display wares, serapes were ubiquitous. The extremely refined, specatular, and expensive serapes were worn by hacienda owners and gentlemen as they rode on horseback through Chapultepec Park or strolled along the Alameda. Lavish serapes were the Rolex watch of their day.

Local Connection

Galeria Atotonilco owner Mayer Shacter has a significant, widely admired collection of historic serapes from all over Mexico. In 2008 and again in 2010, he sold some of his serapes to the Museo del Sarape. He was delighted to discover, upon vieweing the current exhibition in Guanajuato, that seventeen of the serapes on display are pieces that the Museum purchased from him.

Shacter’s collection is significant, not only because his serapes are stunningly beautiful, but also because they represent the last significant period of serape making, which ended abruptly at the onset of the Revolution in 1910. With the mansions of Mexico City being commandered by insurgents and lavish haciendas being ransacked and destroyed, it was dangerous to appear wealthy, and symbols of wealth went underground. Weavers, if they were not fighting or hiding, wove only simple blankets for everyday needs.

As Mexico began to stabilize in 1920, tourists discovered its exhuberant, colorful culture and began to flock here in great numbers. Newly equipped with their snapshot cameras, they were searching for icons to bring home. The serape became a tourist item, and weavers flourished again. The time that goes into creating a serape—from shearing and carding the wool, to spinning and dying the yarn, to setting up the loom, and then the months required to weave a piece—means that the price of the finished piece must remain high. Now serapes had to be affordable for tourists, so, though they were still beautifully designed and crafted, they became less intricate. As the cost of a good serape began to exceeded the demand, around 1950, the craft fell away.

In a testament to the quality, significance, and rarity of Galeria Atotonilco’s collection, portions of it have been exhibited three times at Bellas Artes here in San Miguel, at the Governor’s palace in Sonora, as well as at the Museo del Sarape in Saltillo.

Shacter would like to find an appropriate home for his histoically important collection where it can be appreciated by the public. His entire collection of 200 serapes is currently available for purchase.

For a variety of historic reasons, collections and exhibitions of serapes are somewhat rare. So the current serape exhibition in Guanajuato is an unusual opportunity to view some of the finest historic serapes that survive today.

 Museo del Pueblo Guanajuato

Positos #7

Guanajuato

Monday through Saturday 10 to 7

Sunday 10 to 3

$25 pesos

contacto@guanajuato.gob.mx