The Deep Dig

The Deep Dig offers in-depth adult classes taught by Penn professors and graduate students. These specially designed online courses are more academic in nature and guide participants through subjects connected to the Penn Museum’s collection and research. In addition to engaging lectures from experts, digital readings, online archival research, and access to videos help adult scholars dig deep into a range of topics.

Maya weavers use the backstrap loom to create beautiful, colorful textiles that express their social and aesthetic traditions, as well as their individual creativity and contemporary fashions. Join us as we explore the roots and meanings of this living tradition through five weekly interactive conversations, beginning September 9 and concluding October 7. We will cover the history, materials, techniques, and woven symbols of this ever-evolving art form, and participants will be treated to a demonstration by a master weaver. Expert lecturers will use textile samples from the Penn Museum, Friends of the Ixchel Museum, the Museo Ixchel del Traje Indígena, and private collections to bring lessons to life in each virtual class.

Barbara Knoke de Arathoon, Guatemalan, has a master’s degree in cultural anthropology from Wayne State University, Michigan. She is an associate researcher at Universidad del Valle de Guatemala and the Ixchel Museum of Indigenous Dress, where she was technical director (2005–2008) and exhibitions director (1991–2008). She is an international speaker, has written books and articles on the Indigenous textile tradition and is co-author of Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion (2010). A permanent member of the Academia de Geografía e Historia de Guatemala (Academy of Geography and History of Guatemala) since 2000, she has held various offices onits Board of Directors and was president from 2013 to 2015.