If you have ever traveled to Peru, Bolivia, Chile, or Argentina, you will have seen more than one woman from the Andes using these colorful blankets with a lot of tradition and history. This textile piece is called aguayo, a rectangular piece of colored wool. Women wear it to complement their clothing, to carry children or things. Design If you…
Kené in the Shipibo language refers to the design system of the shipibo-konibo people (in the plural, it is called kenebo). These designs can cover the body’s surface, clothing, and other materials such as cloth, wood, or ceramics. Among the materials they use to trace their designs are natural dyes, seeds, cotton, fabrics, colored wool yarns, and beads. These designs do not…
The “Torito de Pucará” is a symbol of the Andean culture, known as qonopa or illa, which was used in rituals. Then it became a totem symbolizing protection, it is very common to see it in the highest part of the roofs of houses and businesses in Puno. It is also a symbol of happiness in marriage and fertility at…
These traditional Peruvian textiles are called Frazadas, which means blankets or bed covers. But these Frazadas are thick handwoven, and heavy enough to be used as rugs. Frazadas are 100% sheep wool textiles woven by hand and hand-dyed in the rural villages of the Andes by Aymara women in Peru. They use old techniques inherited through generations; it takes weeks to…