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Colectivo Ixarte

A Family Tradition Woven from the Maguey

Made in Queretaro
Specialization: Ixtle Fiber Art

In Villa Progreso, Ezequiel Montes, Querétaro, the work of Colectivo Ixarte carries a tradition that has been passed down through four generations.

Led by Aurelia Mendoza and her family, this family-owned workshop has been creating art and useful objects from ixtle for as long as they can remember. What began as a heritage learned from their elders continues today through the hands of six family members, each bringing their own skills and knowledge to the workshop.

At the heart of their practice is ixtle, a natural fiber obtained from the agave, or maguey plant. The fiber is carefully extracted and transformed into pieces such as bags, natural exfoliating brushes, sponges, and other handmade objects.
For Colectivo Ixarte, working with ixtle is about more than preserving a family tradition. It is also a way of creating in relationship with the natural world.

The workshop seeks to keep the process as natural as possible, using materials such as marigolds, plants, bark, and seeds to create natural dyes. The materials they work with return to the earth at the end of their life. Ixtle is biodegradable and can be composted, allowing these objects to eventually become part of the same environment from which they came.

Each piece has its own rhythm. The length and thickness of the ixtle must be considered according to what is being made. Some pieces can be completed within a few hours, while others require several days of careful work. The dolls, among the workshop's most intricate creations, can take approximately two months to complete.

Through Colectivo Ixarte, ixtle becomes more than a fiber. It becomes a connection between family, land, material, and memory. A tradition that began generations ago continues to take shape, one fiber at a time.

Categories 2026

Colectivo Ixarte

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