Worry Dolls
Project 04: Visual Authorship and Space
In the dolls’ original Guatemalan tradition, a local legend about the origin of the Muñeca quitapena refers to a Maya princess named Ixmucane. The princess received a special gift from the sun god which would allow her to solve any problem a human could worry about.[3]
In traditional and modern times, worry dolls are given or lent to brooding, anxious or sorrowful children. They would tell their doll about their sorrows, fears, and worries, then hide it under their pillow before going to sleep at night. It is said that the child relinquishes their worries to the dolls during the night and by the next morning, all sorrows are said to have been taken away by the worry doll and they can move forward refreshed the next day.
Worry dolls have also played a role in modern paediatrics and child psychiatry. During a psychological interview with children, some counsellors have offered a worry doll to the child as some kind of imaginary, but trustworthy “listener”, “allayer” and “contact person”. The doll, in turn, will work for psychiatrists, psychologists, educators and parents as some kind of “agent” and “troubleshooter” between child and adult.
Today, worry dolls are sold in huge quantity in Guatemala and Mexico. Nuns and poor children sell them to tourists as souvenirs. The dolls are quite popular since they are so small and thus easy to carry around.
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