Nanduti Lace
Dimensions
870 mm (diam)
Materials
Circular mat: linen needlework lace
Artist statement
‘I joined Tekojoja Kuna Rembiapope [a women’s cooperative] after my husband lost his job. I get fair payment for my work and am now able to pay for food, electricity and water for my family.
I learnt to make nanduti [traditional Paraguayan lace] from my mother. The story of nanduti [‘spider web’] is special. According to legend, two young Guarani indigenous boys competed to win the heart of a beautiful girl. The poor boy wandered through the woods looking for a gift for her. He raised his head to the heavens to implore the help of Tupa, the Guarani God, and saw a beautiful lace in the branches of a tree. When he touched the lace he found nothing but a torn spider web. His mother dedicated herself to making an identical web of lace. She studied the spider’s movements and began to copy it using her needle and strands of her white hair.’
Nanduti Lace
Griselda Gonzales
Dimensions
870 mm (diam)
Materials
Circular mat: linen needlework lace
Artist statement
‘I joined Tekojoja Kuna Rembiapope [a women’s cooperative] after my husband lost his job. I get fair payment for my work and am now able to pay for food, electricity and water for my family.
I learnt to make nanduti [traditional Paraguayan lace] from my mother. The story of nanduti [‘spider web’] is special. According to legend, two young Guarani indigenous boys competed to win the heart of a beautiful girl. The poor boy wandered through the woods looking for a gift for her. He raised his head to the heavens to implore the help of Tupa, the Guarani God, and saw a beautiful lace in the branches of a tree. When he touched the lace he found nothing but a torn spider web. His mother dedicated herself to making an identical web of lace. She studied the spider’s movements and began to copy it using her needle and strands of her white hair.’