Handwoven in Peru…

Peru is one of the most fascinating countries to travel to. As I have a passion for handmade fabrics I focussed on the Quechua weavers.  These descendants of the Inkas are preserving their hundreds of years old tradition of weaving on a handloom. The weaving is an important part of the rural culture as a collective memory and a tool for social cohesion. 

                                                                    l © Cusco, dehmarion, r Uaiki2016, both pixabay                                                                                                                            
On the market of Pisac, a small town 30 km from Cusco, the colours explode. Guadalupe shows me how to weave on the handloom. She is holding one end in her lap and fixing the other one at her feet. For large pieces a wooden frame is used. The patterns and colour combinations of the cloth belts, ponchos and carpets are sheer endless. In the evening is fiesta.
In Cusco proper I spend a whole morning at the Centro de Textílos Tradicionales del Cusco. The CTTC is an NGO that works with ten small rural weaving communities and has an educational programme. For the intricate shoulder poncho left a woman has to weave several months. The poncho made of lama wool is a multi-purpose piece of garment. It serves for warming up on cold winter days in the mountains and to wrap the baby warm and cosy.





In Trujillo I find a lovely woollen handbag with flowers stitched on. Another technique of weaving I come to know in San Juan, a small village on the Yanayacu, a tributary of the Amazonas in the tropical region of Peru. We are getting there by boat from Iquitos the isolated capital of the North. The villagers are living in open wooden houses on stilts. Handicraft and guiding tourists in the dense jungle are their main sources of income. They make hand bags and other souvenirs by weaving palm leave fronds.



           

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