Textile art in Guatemala: design and identity

From 5 February to 3 May 2026, the Fernán Gómez Cultural Centre will be hosting an exhibition created by Idonika with architecture by Amarillo Studio, bringing together a selection of huipil tunics and pieces crafted using traditional techniques such as backstrap weaving and brocade. This exhibition is part of the Madrid Design Festival 2026 programme.

This exhibition will turn the Fernán Gómez Cultural Centre into an immersive space, showcasing Guatemala’s traditional textiles as one of the most sophisticated and vibrant expressions of contemporary design. Created by Idonika, featuring architecture by Amarillo Studio and curated by Emiliano Valdés for the Guatemalan Institute of Tourism (INGUAT), the exhibition invites you to discover a universe where ancestral techniques, community creativity and formal innovation coexist within the same territory.

It features a suspended structure made of textile pieces, creating paths and circuits that evoke the vitality of the Chichicastenango market, a space shaped by colour, movement and encounters. As you make your way through floating fabrics, you will travel through an immersive environment that amplifies the materiality of each piece thanks to audiovisual projections that detail patterns, shapes and compositions. There is also a series of photographs of the weavers, showing the faces of the women who keep this tradition alive.

The project is completed with an immersive sound piece that incorporates voices, languages and characteristic sounds of Guatemala’s weaving communities. A sensory atmosphere that places the audience at the cultural centre of the country, extending the exhibition beyond the visual aspect.

The exhibition features a selection of pieces from the INGUAT textile art collection, along with various representative pieces on loan from different sources. Mainly made up of traditional huipil tunics from regions such as Chichicastenango, Santiago Atitlán, San Antonio Aguas Calientes, Nebaj, San Juan Cotzal, Patzún or Santa María de Jesús, among others.