Photo 08 · DSCF8483Profile 11 · Peguche, Ecuador
Textile makers · Family enterprise · Milmarte
A family workshop
Segundo runs Milmarte, a family textile workshop in Peguche, a community near Otavalo, Ecuador. He works alongside his brothers and their families, while his wife, Alicia Yamberla, sells their textiles each week at Otavalo’s famous Ponchos Plaza.
Wool and art
The name Milmarte reflects a combination of milma, the Kichwa word for wool, and arte, the Spanish word for art.
But industrializing the workshop has left Segundo in an unusual and sometimes difficult position. Within Otavalo’s artisan community, he has struggled to be recognised as a true artisan because Milmarte uses more modern machinery and produces on a larger scale than many traditional workshops.
Between two worlds
Segundo feels differently. The techniques and knowledge behind his textiles remain rooted in the same traditions as those of other local artisans. He has simply found ways to produce more efficiently. Yet even at this scale, Milmarte cannot compete with the vast industrial textile factories of Asia.
Segundo therefore finds himself caught between two worlds. He is too large to be considered an artisan, yet far too small to be an industrialist.
Holding onto meaning
Despite this tension, Segundo and his family continue making textiles in Peguche, adapting their methods while holding onto the traditions at the heart of their work.