Travels of a Rayed Head: imagery, fiber, structure and connotations of early textiles from the South Central Andes

The rayed head image has long been identified as a central symbol associated with the Paracas tradition, also called the sun face 1 and associated with the concept of Oculate Being developed by the Berkeley School. 2 Prominently repeated on the central ground of the famous Paracas Textile at the Brooklyn Museum, this image has much earlier antecedents in the region. Scholars disagree on the extent to which many Paracas, Topara and early Nasca images with large round eyes, grinning mouths, and serpentlike appendages emitting from the head and body may also be manifestations of a particular Oculate Being or of more general concepts of natural or supernatural power. Recently, contemporary textiles found in the Sihuas valley to the south (see Haeberli in this volume) challenge us to reexamine the similarities and distinctions among rayed heads. One of the great challenges of the history of material culture, envisioned as a history of philosophical concepts, social values and cultural practices through their inscription in material objects, is the degree to which a recurrent image, pattern or special arrangement reflects a similar idea. A number of quite different images have been associated with the concept of an Oculate Being proposed by John Rowe and others of the Berkeley school based on their analysis of Ica valley ceramics and Ocucaje gravelots in the 1950s. I here trace the rayed head or sun face image as it occurs over at least 500 years in the region of Ica and Paracas. I then briefly consider its relationship to other contemporary imagery and later imagery featuring ray-like elements emitted from the head, both in the same contexts where the rayed head appears, and in other cemeteries to the south in southern Peru and northern Chile. All the imagery discussed here is associated with a period between about 450 BC and AD 450 called the Formative in the South Central Andes (Bolivia and northern Chile) and called the Early Horizon (or late Formative) and Early Intermediate (or Regional Development) Period in the Central Andes. Most of the images I discuss are created on textiles. While only recovered from burials on the desert coast, textile materials draw on relationships of production and exchange that spanned the Andean cordillera to the montane rainforest to the east, and stretched to the north and south. Either as clothing or cargo, textiles themselves traveled and were no doubt a primary source of non-local imagery. I do consider related images on non-textile artifacts. I compare textile based imagery with contemporary imagery on engraved and painted ceramics and gourds to try to distinguish among design features specific to medium, style and iconography

Scrivere per scrivere

Da dove nasce la mia passione per la scrittura? Dalle scuole. Inizio da lì, a percorrere una breve storia di come sono riuscito ad amare e apprezzare la parola scritta e successivamente che idea mi sono fatto sull’importanza di scrivere oggi. Divenuto autore dei miei spettacoli, ho analizzato quali sono le metodologie (se ce ne sono) che utilizzo per scrivere un testo. Giocando con me stesso mi sono intervistato per esternare pensieri su cosa significa per me scrivere, oggi, in un mondo dove le immagini sostituiscono i concetti esprimibili con maggiore precisione delle parole. Parlo del mio percorso, per i più giovani di me che desiderano fare questo lavoro, e anche per me parlo, per non dimenticare mai che l’umiltà è la chiave per aprire le porte dell’arte.Where does my passion for writing come from? From school. Everything began there. A short story of how I learned to love and appreciate the written word, and what I think about the importance of writing today. When I became the author of my plays, I have analysed the methods (if any) I use to write a text. Like in a little game, I interviewed myself to express what writing means to me, today, in a world where images seem to replace concepts with greater power and precision. I describe my career for younger people who want to do this work. But I also speak to myself, to never forget that humility is the key to open the doors of art