海角大神

Spanish women pick up the old traditions of lacing to connect with ancestral past

Generations of Spanish women gather at the base of the Arc de Triomf to exemplify their time honored tradition of lacing.  

It鈥檚 a sunny Sunday morning at Arc de Triomf, the arch-shaped聽monument situated on a long rectangular plaza normally dominated by break聽dancers, street performers and young people on rollerblades, skateboards and聽bikes鈥攂ut not today.

Today the plaza is packed with what look to be at least two thousand Catalan聽grandmothers, seated at long tables stretching as far as the eye can see. On a聽stage underneath the arch, a quartet plays traditional music while costumed聽dancers perform a folk dance involving a pair of gegants, enormous papiermach茅 puppets that are a staple at cultural events in Catalunya. The women sit聽in chatty clusters of five or six, their hands busily working a complex of threads聽and pins stuck into cylinder-shaped pillows.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an international meeting of lace-makers,鈥� explains Teresa Sabater as she聽works on the lace for a bridal handkerchief. Hundreds of tiny pins hold the pattern聽in place on her pillow, organizing an intricate web of individual crisscrossed聽threads. Dozens of small wooden spools dangle from the threads, looking a bit聽like the barbs that hang from a bull鈥檚 collar during a bullfight, albeit not so聽gruesome.

As traditions go, lacemaking may not be as old as bullfighting, but it is surely聽more important to Catalunya, which outlawed the corrida in 2011. Catalan聽lacemaking dates back to the 1600s, and the tradition remains strong in the聽villages of the Maresme region of the Costa Brava, where smaller gatherings of聽lace-makers are held nearly every weekend when the weather is good.

Throughout Spain, lace鈥攚hether made by hand or machine鈥攈as long been聽a part of important family functions, from the decorative lace that dresses up聽the table for special occasions to the delicate mantillas worn by women聽during Holy Week, inspiring masterpieces by Picasso, Goya and Velasquez.聽Two hundred years ago, daughters learned the basics of the craft at their聽mothers鈥� feet; by their wedding day, young women were expected to equip聽their new homes with a trousseau full of lace-trimmed linens, stitched by the聽bride鈥檚 own hand.聽

聽鈥淲e like to come here to see new things so we can learn to do them at home,鈥澛爏ays Ms. Sabater, who lives in the village of Tei脿, about a half-hour鈥檚 drive from聽Barcelona. 鈥淚f you see someone doing a stitch you don鈥檛 know, you say, 鈥楥an you聽show me how it鈥檚 done?鈥� and she teaches you.鈥澛�

Organized by the Catalonian Lace Association, the 26th annual meeting聽attracted 聽2,200 lace aficionados on May 26, according to association president聽Maria-Jesus Gonzalez, as well as a handful of glad-handing politicians. Vendors聽set up tents around the perimeter where the women browse new patterns and聽buy bobbins and thread in an array of rainbow colors.

鈥淐atalunya was a very important center for the lace industry in the 19th century,鈥澛燝onzalez says. Until mechanization all but killed off artisanal lacemaking, some聽30,000 women were engaged in the craft. 鈥淚n the 1960s there was a revival, and聽then people did it not for commercial purposes but only as a hobby.鈥�

Like many of the women here today, Sabater came late to the game, at the age聽of 46, part of a recent wave of renewed interest in this astonishingly timeintensive art. Working about three and a half hours a day, she鈥檚 on track to finish聽this 10鈥� x 20鈥� handkerchief in about two months. Her three granddaughters have聽started to learn, but it hasn鈥檛 quite stuck.

鈥淵outh is not for these things,鈥� Sabater says, cocking her chin at the sea of gray聽and white heads surrounding her. 鈥淛ust look around.鈥�

Helena Fornier is an exception. At 12 years old, she鈥檚 already been making lace聽for four years.

鈥淢y grandmother always did it, and since I was little I liked it,鈥� she says as she聽works on a delicate flower design. 鈥淚t relaxes me.鈥�

Helena鈥檚 grandmother, Maria-Rosa, picked up her bobbins again about 12 years聽ago.

鈥淲hen I was little it was taught in school, but not anymore,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t is a very聽important Catalan tradition for many years, because it comes from the Costa聽Brava. In Galicia they also make lace, because it is near the sea. Women were at聽home alone waiting for their fishermen husbands to return, so this is what they聽did.鈥�

Some speculate that lace-making around the Mediterranean may have evolved聽from the construction of fishermen鈥檚 nets, but that鈥檚 not necessarily true, says聽Neus Ribas, whose lace museum in Arenys de Mar gets between six and ten聽thousand visitors annually. 鈥淲hat is certain is that lace was usually made in聽towns with access to the sea and traded through commercial ports. That鈥檚 why聽the two industries are closely linked.鈥�

In the western state of Galicia, lacemaking is still big business, and not just for聽hobbyists, says Ribas, who attributes this to Galicia鈥檚 stronger tradition of setting聽the table with elegant linens, as well as a simpler (and hence, more affordable)聽technique

鈥淭he problem is that this work is not valued,鈥� she says. 鈥淎t the prices you have to聽charge, very few people consider it affordable.鈥� (100-120鈧� for a 10-inch square聽handkerchief)

Since the 19th century, the tables have turned in the lace world, and now it鈥檚 the聽men who are stuck waiting around for their women. I spot 72-year-old Damia聽Palau sitting on the sidelines among the other husbands.

鈥淲e go almost every Sunday to lace meetings in other villages,鈥� says the retired聽professor from the village of Sana眉ja. 鈥淚n my day, the girls when they went to聽school, they would spend the morning working on math and science, but in the聽afternoon they would sew. It鈥檚 not like that anymore, now the girls study as well.鈥�

Palau doesn鈥檛 necessarily lament the changing times. 鈥淏etter that you don鈥檛 learn聽to sew,鈥� he advises, waving a slender finger. 鈥淏ut keep one thing in mind: If you聽don鈥檛 sew, someone else will have to do it for you.鈥�