Reimagined for the screen: Traditional Mexican textiles and their makers | Talk and Walkthrough with Marta Turok and Hillary Steel

Discover the work behind the award winning costume design by Anna Terrazas of Netflix's Pedro Páramo featured at the Mexican Cultural Institute's Dressing Absences: The textile journey of Pedro Páramo through the eyes of Hillary Steel and current MCI's Executive Director Marta Turok. Together, they will explore the rich traditions of Mexican textiles, from weaving to resist-dye techniques, highlighting the artistry, cultural significance, and makers behind these practices.

ABOUT HILLARY STEEL:

Hillary Steel is an American textile artist and educator specializing in hand weaving and resist-dyeing techniques such as ikat and plangi. Her work is deeply influenced by traditional textile practices and extensive travels throughout Côte d’Ivoire, Peru, Chile, and Mexico.

From 2006 to 2017, Steel collaborated with artist Virginia Davis to study and document the work of Mexican master rebozo weaver Don Evaristo Borboa Casas, producing handwoven rebozos and a short film about his practice. Her textiles have been exhibited internationally and are included in collections such as the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery and the Rosewood Centre Arts Gallery. Alongside her artistic practice, she has taught textile arts in schools, museums, and workshops across the United States and Mexico, helping preserve and share traditional weaving knowledge with new generations.

ABOUT MARTA TUROK:

Marta Turok is a renowned Mexican anthropologist, curator, and leading scholar of folk art and textiles whose career has been dedicated to supporting and preserving the cultural heritage of Indigenous artisan communities across Mexico. Through decades of work with cooperatives and cultural institutions, she has collaborated closely with Indigenous textile makers, particularly in Chiapas, where she studied Tzotzil-Maya language, textile techniques, and symbolism while helping establish some of the first artisan cooperatives in the region.

Throughout her career in public service, cultural policy, and nonprofit leadership, Turok has championed the recognition of artisans as cultural knowledge bearers and advocates for fair economic opportunities, ecological sustainability, and the transmission of traditional textile practices to new generations. Her work has played a vital role in revitalizing endangered textile traditions and promoting the artistry of Indigenous communities nationally and internationally.

There are two sessions available for small groups, if you cannot attend, please let us know so we can free spaces on time.