CORAL GABLES, FL.- Flowers for the Earth Lord: Guatemalan Textiles from the Lowe Art Museum, on view at the Lowe Art Museum from September 23 to November 12, 2006, is the first curated exhibition from the Lowe’s impressive permanent collection of Guatemalan Maya textiles. The exhibition features over 150 handmade textiles, two-thirds of which are colorful costumes unique to each highland village. Many pieces were made using the back strap loom, a form of weaving technology that dates back to the Classic period of Maya civilization which is still alive and well today. A selection of important contemporary pieces from the Lowe’s Maya folk art collection of wooden slingshots and dance masks, and selections from the pre-Columbian collection will help contextualize the textiles.

The Lowe’s permanent collection includes over 125 textiles donated by the eminent Mesoamerican archaeologist Dr. Samuel Lothrop, who collected textiles in the Guatemalan highlands during the 1920’s-30’s. Historic photographs of Dr. Lothrop working in the highlands will also be on view. The collection also includes over 660 additional pieces acquired after the Lothrop donation. Many of these important pieces were acquired in the 1970’s and have never been exhibited before.

The exhibition will explore the evolution of style and innovation in textiles from important weaving villages, including Chichicastenango, San Antonio Aguas Calientes, Comalapa, and Nahuala. Weaving technologies and interconnections between all domestic arts will also be addressed. One major theme of the exhibition is how textiles have been used as a window on modern Maya culture.

A lecture series sponsored by the Lowe Art Museum , Tribal Arts Society, and the University of Miami ’s Center for Latin American Studies will highlight contemporary scholarship on Guatemalan textiles and their long history of collecting. A major bilingual exhibition catalogue with scholarly essays on key pieces in the show, as well as the entire Lowe collection, is also planned. The exhibition is curated by Dr. Traci Ardren, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at UM, who will give a lecture on Friday, September 29, at 7 PM, at the School of Business ’s Storer Auditorium located at 5250 University Drive on the Coral Gables campus. A Members’ Preview will follow at the Lowe, from 8 to 10 pm. Members Free; non UM students, $5; non-members $10.