| Handwoven fabrics comprise
the living history and culture of the Peruvian highlands from Cusco to Machu Picchu
and beyond. Fabric patterns with evocative names reflect the landscape and events
in vivid color, evolving over time.
The weavers who create these fabrics in the time-honored way
are keepers of the culture and sustainers of a noble but difficult lifestyle in
tune with the earth. They raise llamas and alpacas for fiber, collect plants for
natural dyes, spin yarn on primitive spindles, and weave acres of cloth on simple
backstrap looms just as their forebears have done for thousands of years. They
weave clothing, rugs, bedcovers, potato sacks, hunting slings, and sacrificial
fabrics – for themselves and their villages, and for sale to supplement
their meager incomes.
Travellers visiting the area (hundreds of thousands a year
from North America alone) are drawn to this authentic, well-crafted work and given
the opportunity to collect it at every street corner and rail stop. Weaving
in the Peruvian Highlands is their guide to quality, understanding, and appreciation.
They will learn how pattern names such as Meandering River or Lake with Flowers
relate to the geography and history, and how the traditional natural materials
and colors enhance the value of the work.
Nilda Callanaupa Alvarez is a native of Chinchero, the
Peruvian mountain village immortalized in The Motorcycle Diaries. She was
identified by anthropologists at an early age as having an unusual capacity for
understanding and recreating historic weaving technique, and was invited to demonstrate
at the Smithsonian Institution even before she learned English.
After receiving a degree in tourism from the University of
Cusco, she founded the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco, a combination
school/gallery/museum, and established weaving co-ops in nine far-flung mountain
villages to perpetuate traditional techniques and quality and build economic development
in these fragile societies. She lives in Cusco with her husband and two sons.
Paperbound, 8½ x 9, 96 pages
200 photographs
ISBN 978-1-59668-055-5
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