Queens’ Land: the indigenous Mayan queens of Guatemala – photo essay

Hundreds of indigenous queens are elected each year in Guatemala. Photographer Julia Zabrodzka presents this little-known part of modern Mayan culture

Angelica Cardona, with a microphone in her hand, stands among a group of candidates. Her voice reverberates firmly from the stage: The art of weaving forms part of our Mayan identity. Nowadays, however, cheap printed fabrics are replacing our ancestral hand-woven textiles. This is how capitalism is killing our culture and preventing us from putting our heart in each artisanal piece we produce." Her last words sound like a cry of protest. Seems rather like a leftwing party's rally than a beauty pageant, doesn't it? Well, indigenous queen elections are not typical beauty contests.