Transformative Prospects: Textile Structure and the Social Organization of Pre-Columbian and Colonial Andean Production

The pre-Columbian Andean material culture record is especially crucial for trying to understand social organization because Andean societies apparently did not employ what Europeans recognized as “writing.” The evidence contained in the objects themselves thus bears a larger burden in helping scholars analyze how social life was structured to enable a huge volume of cultural production. For pre-Columbian textiles in particular, the analysis of embroidered figures and their relationship to the ground fabric on which they were positioned has played crucial roles. In effective and original ways, Anne Paul used the evidence in textile objects, especially from the Paracas culture, to further our understanding of social organization as well as aesthetic choices. In this paper, I discuss how several aspects of her analytical approach can be applied to Inka and colonial period textiles, especially those that combine woven structures and techniques (notably, tapestry) with embroidery

Ethnic Artists and the Appropriation of Fashion: Embroidery and Identity in the Colca Valley, Peru

When I\u27m in Arequipa and I see a lady in embroidered clothes, I always greet her; she\u27s from my land, she\u27s my compatriot. . . . [When I teach embroidery] no matter how much one teaches, the motifs don\u27t come out the same. If there are twenty embroiderers, twenty different motifs come out although they have the same name. It\u27s like, even if you\u27re my brother, we\u27re not the same. These comments by embroidery artist Leonardo Mejfa neatly express the character of Colca Valley ethnic clothes: simultaneously shared and individual. Similar appearance is important in recognizing a compatriot, but an artist\u27s style of executing the complex embroidered designs distinguishes his/her work. Contemporary textile production in the Colca Valley, a highland region of southern Peru, occurs mostly in small workshops, where I center my study. There, men and women embroider and tailor ornate clothes on treadle sewing machines. About 150 artisans provide garments for about 8,000 female consumers (total valley population is about 20,000). This article draws on surveys that I conducted with 110 artisans and vendors, during two years of fieldwork. Textiles are important emblems of ethnic identity, as is commonly observed. However, I want to move beyond seeing emblems as superficial symbols, and to analyze ethnicity as a concept, as a relation of power among social groups with profoundly different resources. The rural, Quechua-speaking Colca Valley peoples are often considered Indians by outsiders, but they do not identify themselves as such. Indio in Peru is a powerful epithet that accentuates class difference and disguises it in racial terms. The social and economic roles that Colca Valley men and women play in Peruvian society have changed considerably in this century, and increasingly so in this generation. Ethnic artists have been crucial in mediating change, by producing ethnic clothes. Through observing everyday and festival garments, discussing aesthetics with women who wear those garments, and analyzing the artisan surveys, I realized how important color and materials had become. In these domains, ethnic artists appropriate national and international tastes according to local cultural preferences, which in tum help to develop and maintain discrete ethnic identities

Ethnic Artists and the Appropriation of Fashion: Embroidery and Identity in the Colca Valley, Peru

When I\u27m in Arequipa and I see a lady in embroidered clothes, I always greet her; she\u27s from my land, she\u27s my compatriot. . . . [When I teach embroidery] no matter how much one teaches, the motifs don\u27t come out the same. If there are twenty embroiderers, twenty different motifs come out although they have the same name. It\u27s like, even if you\u27re my brother, we\u27re not the same. These comments by embroidery artist Leonardo Mejfa neatly express the character of Colca Valley ethnic clothes: simultaneously shared and individual. Similar appearance is important in recognizing a compatriot, but an artist\u27s style of executing the complex embroidered designs distinguishes his/her work. Contemporary textile production in the Colca Valley, a highland region of southern Peru, occurs mostly in small workshops, where I center my study. There, men and women embroider and tailor ornate clothes on treadle sewing machines. About 150 artisans provide garments for about 8,000 female consumers (total valley population is about 20,000). This article draws on surveys that I conducted with 110 artisans and vendors, during two years of fieldwork. Textiles are important emblems of ethnic identity, as is commonly observed. However, I want to move beyond seeing emblems as superficial symbols, and to analyze ethnicity as a concept, as a relation of power among social groups with profoundly different resources. The rural, Quechua-speaking Colca Valley peoples are often considered Indians by outsiders, but they do not identify themselves as such. Indio in Peru is a powerful epithet that accentuates class difference and disguises it in racial terms. The social and economic roles that Colca Valley men and women play in Peruvian society have changed considerably in this century, and increasingly so in this generation. Ethnic artists have been crucial in mediating change, by producing ethnic clothes. Through observing everyday and festival garments, discussing aesthetics with women who wear those garments, and analyzing the artisan surveys, I realized how important color and materials had become. In these domains, ethnic artists appropriate national and international tastes according to local cultural preferences, which in tum help to develop and maintain discrete ethnic identities

Structure, Design, and Gender in Inka Textiles

This paper focuses on Inka textiles that apparently were made specifically for or were used by males or females in pre-Columbian times. In particular, I address relationships among tapestry-woven objects (especially those featuring tukapus, rectangular design blocks) and those created using warp-patterned structures, centering on garments and personal accessories. While there are fewer extant full-size garments associated with females than with males, the availability of a large number of miniature female-associated garments both facilitates and complicates gendered comparisons. Estructura, Diseño y Género en Inka Textiles Resumen -- Este ensayo se enfoca en textiles Inka que aparentemente fueron creados o utilizados específicamente por personas masculinas o femeninas en tiempos pre-columbinos. En particular, se abarcan las relaciones entre los objetos tejidos en tapiz (especialmente los que incluyen tukapus, bloques rectangulares de diseños) creados con estructuras en patrones de urdimbre, en particular vestimenta y accesorios personales. Aunque existen menos ejemplares de prendas al tamaño pleno asociados con individuos femeninos que los asociados con individuos masculinos, la existencia de gran número de prendas en miniatura con asociaciones femeninas tanto facilita como complica las comparaciones de género

Ancient Designs for the Modern Era: Artists Interpret Andean Textiles

Artistic re-interpretation of the works of earlier centuries has become a mainstay of modern design. Textiles bearing Andean designs that appeared on pre-Columbian objects and the products of contemporary weavers using motifs from their own cultural traditions are well represented among cloth items used and marketed in Peru today. Only 150 years ago, however, pre-Columbian Andean textiles were little known. In the early twentieth century, knowledge of indigenous American cultures increased rapidly as archaeologists excavated previously unimagined cultural riches. Simultaneously, the international modernist movement toward streamlined design pushed artists and designers to seek inspirations for their bold new efforts. Especially but not only for Peruvian artists, both ancient and contemporary Andean cultures provided abundant inspiration. This paper explores the politics of representation revealed in twentieth-century interpretations of Andean textile designs and structures. It focuses on the production of artists who discovered Peru\u27s ancient heritage and, inspired by the aesthetic and technical virtuosity shown in textiles, created their own, related art works, whether paying direct homage to the original creators or freely adapting the designs and structures. Prominent among these are three women, all born in the late 19th century but closely associated with 20th century modernism. Each promoted indigenous artistry as she produced her own, Andean-inspired works: Elena Izcue and Julia Codesido (both Peruvian), and Anni Albers (German). The paper contextualizes these developments within the realm of creativity writ large, examining how indigenous artists and artisans placement within contemporary art scenes academic fine arts education

Weaving a Future: A Panel in Honor of Elayne Zorn

In honor of our dear friend and colleague, the respected textile researcher Elayne Zorn, we have shaped six presentations around several interrelated political themes: heritage, identity, status, cultural continuity and economic sustainability, especially for the indigenous women and men who make the cloth. The titles and the themes draw inspirations from Elayne’s book Weaving a Future, published in 2004. The first three papers address these issues in relationship to Andean societies of the past, using artifacts and archaeological and historical perspectives. The final three papers, while concerned with broadly similar issues, focus on prospects for the future and explore how weavers, and other textile artists, shape their futures as strongly related to tourism, education of foreigners, and national politics. Together these presentations explore ancient and contemporary Andean textiles as contextual messengers and powerful symbols of status and political affinities as well as how current decisions are affecting the future of textile Andean traditions