Until the 10th of March the Fundación Casa de México presents the exhibition Tzicurri: Eyes of God. Wixárika Cosmovision.
The “Eye of God” or tzicurri [sícuri] emerges as a sacred craft, born from the rich spiritual textiles of the Wixárika [wirrárica] or Huichol culture, ancestral inhabitants of the mountainous region of the Sierra Madre Occidental.
The Wixárikas weave each tzicurri with brightly coloured threads on a wooden frame in the shape of a cross, creating a mosaic of five rhombuses that glow to connect with the secrets of creation. In this exhibition, the tzicurris are presented in a monumental installation of two hundred and thirty-three pieces that pay homage to the intricate and rich vision this people have of the universe.
Dyed with natural dyes such as cempasúchil, indigo, cochineal, pericón and walnut shell, the wools are spun into skeins and then transformed by the skilled hands of Wixárikan artisans into unique pieces that are both art and heritage, a cultural legacy woven into modernity.
The Wixárican communities are located in the Sierra Madre Occidental, which extends across the Mexican states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas and Durango. This ethnic group is made up of some 60,000 indigenous people who have not changed their customs and way of life since the time of the conquest. When the Spanish arrived in Mexico, the Huichol people fled to the mountains, which are difficult to access, in order to preserve their autonomy.
This independence allowed them to forge a rich and distinctive cultural tradition, which includes their art, language, dress, religious practices and a worldview that emphasises the connection between spirituality, humans, animals, plants and the natural environment.
According to their mythology, Tamatzi Tauyumari, one of the gods who created the world, saw the layers of the sky, the earth and the subterranean mysteries with one eye. The tzicurri, in the Wixárika cosmovision, is an emblem of the connection with creation, with the ability to perceive and decipher the enigmas of the universe.
