ANDREA ARANOW COLLECTION PERU: TEXTILES SIERRA … · to document the existing situation for the Instituto Nacional de Cultura, ... evolution of a culture very much alive. ... “Chonguinada

A N D R E A A R A N O W C O L L E C T I O N

A n d r e a A r a n o w T e x t i l e D o c u m e n t s , N e w Y o r k C i t ya n d r e a @ t e x t i l e d o c s . c o m

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TEXTILES THE SIERRA CENTRAL

PERU: FROM

A N D R E A A R A N O W , N E W Y O R Ka n d r e a @ t e x t i l e d o c s . c o m 2

A N D R E A A R A N O W ’ S

O V E R V I E WIn the early 1970s I took a short vacation trip to the Andes of Peru and was enchanted by the wealth of textiles still being made and used there. I returned to learn more, traveling to different regions for a month at a time to document the existing situation for the Instituto Nacional de Cultura, and settled on the sierra central as the most interesting zone to investigate. T h e a r e a

Situated at an altitude above three thousand meters, this region is roughly due east of Lima and had experienced centuries of passes from adventurers heading to the rich mines found in the southern part of the zone now known as Huancavelica. In the center was the rich agricultural valley of the Mantaro, spearheaded by the bustling commercial center of Huancayo city. And to the north the very high zone around Lake Chinchicocha were the windswept highlands still producing lots of sheeps wool on far-flung ranches.

T h e c u l t u r e

Economic development across this area varied considerably, from the largely untouched regions of the south where the Spanish and later masters required only labor and otherwise neglected the population (trade in kind was much more popular than currency for transactions and the language was overwhelming Quechua) to the richer villages in the center (many people using Spanish, more education and more contact with the capital and other regions) to the relative isolation of the Chinchicocha highlands. So the culture of these lands certainly included threads of Christianity and mestizo elements, but these overlaid a way of life sometimes not much changed from long ago.


T h e t e x t i l e s

A unifying attribute of the whole zone was the presence of tapestry weaving as the technique used for the creation of the mantas to be worn. Backstrap weaving for belts and carrying cloths was also done throughout the zone. Not surprisingly, considering the textile history, the handmade elements of daily dress were characterized by strict geometries and abstract motifs in the rich colors of natural and dyed wool fibers.

What a contrast awaited on the exceptional days, though, when the rhythms were interrupted by villages fiestas on the patron saints’ days of the Catholic calendar: Industrial materials permitted a bright new aspect; techniques of embroidery and application opened the way for appropriated imagery to startle and delight. T h e r e s u l t s

Embedding myself and my family for five years allowed me learn the rhythms and position myself as a student of the developments in local textiles. I was able to travel to outlaying hamlets to acquire older items, to arrive at the right moment for the fiestas, and thus I pieced together the evolution of a culture very much alive. When domestic politics necessitated our evacuation in 1980, I took my gathered material with me, eventually transferring about four hundred items to The British Museum, where I hoped they would be exhibited and appreciated more widely.

But thirty years later that material has so far reminded largely hidden. Life is changing rapidly in Peru and people increasingly prefer to buy manufactured goods secondhand, loathe to spend the time on such activities as spinning and dying wool. Nationally, Cuzco is now the main area publicized for its folklore and traditions.

T h e g o a l

I am looking for opportunities to collaborate on bringing this fabulous material into the public eye, by virtual and/or physical means.


ALTO REL I EVE EMBRO IDER I ES FROM JUNIN

In this sector of the Sierra Central of Peru, the celebration of the village’s patron saint’s day begins and ends at the church in the plaza central. But along that voyage is a week of joyous and often riotous celebration. This collection dates from 1915 to the early 1970s and includes items which adorned the shoulders of the men and some of their horses as they danced


through town to the music of brass, harps, and violins.

The themes of the embroideries are heroic, either religious or military, with extra glory bestowed by the fanciful airplanes and flowers. They are often copied from illustrations in the children’s text or comic books. But the colors and textures are the inventions of the (male) embroiderers. This alto relieve technique – wrapping and stuffing the shapes to be then applied – came to this area from the stumpwork of Spanish church vestments.

The earliest pieces I have seen dated used mainly silver thread (1915), but popular elements and other colors began to be introduced after that. First a sailing ship, then a bi-plane. There was a temporary landing strip established nearby in 1932, which fired the local imaginations. More colors and elements were introduced in quick succession, always depicting the bigger-than-life glory of faraway events. The artwork of the 1930s and 40s was full of with costume details and lettering. By the 50s, designs were bolder and bigger, more formal in composition, balanced and regal. The 60s and 70s continued with new materials included, and some asymmetrical compositions.

And the drinking and dancing continued, up the mountain and down again, until everyone has to collapse for a few days before the long cycle of daily life begins again.

ALTO REL I EVE EMBRO IDER I ESFROM JUNIN


ALTO REL I EVE EMBRO IDER I ESFROM JUNIN


STR I PED MANTAS FROM THE S I ERRA CENTRAL

The warp-faced striped mantas from the Sierra Central were known by either of their Quechua names, lliclla or ushcata. As seen here, their aspect is varied, but the weavings of different times and places still have characteristics in common.

Because they were used for carrying, strength and weight were important, so the wool was tightly spun and hard-twisted. The preparation of the yarns was done by women, but the weaving itself by professional men, both dexterous and powerful. The cloth was woven on a backstrap loom, a shinbone of llama sharpened to become the pick. The square was composed of two equal parts later joined together by the owner with decorative embroidery. Traditionally the sections were woven separately, each turned and needle-finished to provide four finished selvedges. But by the 1970s, some people wove one long strip which was then cut in half and joined. It was common to machine stitch a ribete to strengthen the perimeter. The older mantas featured combinations of


wide and narrow stripes, of either local cotton, sheep’s wool or alpaca. A patterned stripe was sometimes introduced, created from alternating warps. This feature was called gusano (worm), and in time the number of gusanos defined the prestige of the manta. The bold strokes of color were sometimes complicated by more color changes, variegated ombre effects, and increasing numbers of patterned stripes. Color preferences depended on the fancy of prospective owners. They were usually bright to begin with when aired for the first time at a fiesta, and then softened gradually as the manta was successively paraded to town markets, trips to visit country cousins and finally to daily chores in the fields. Sometimes the fibers were left undyed, creating soft grounds for the sharper tones of aniline-dyed yarns and later acrylic ones.

By the mid-70s, few individual villages retained a distinctive style. These expensive handmade items were usually commissioned a month in advance. Most of the ushcatas seen on the streets were weft-faced copies being produced industrially from big cones of acrylic yarns at San Pedro de Cajas and widely distributed. Around the Mantaro Valley, the villages of San Jeronimo, Viques and Cochas Chicas were still known for their weavers.

STR I PED MANTASFROM THES I ERRA CENTRAL


STR I PED MANTASFROM THES I ERRA CENTRAL

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EMBRO IDERED MANTAS , APRONS AND SPAN ISH BREECHES

A manta, or mantle, has been used for many centuries by the mountain women of Peru to warm their backs and shoulders. The two upper corners of the square are pinned together at the center front, just below the collarbone, and the rest drapes across the shoulders and down the back.

These mantas, however, are part of a special dance costume used for the popular “Chonguinada”. In this dance, the women represent the Spanish ladies and dance with their male partners. The men wear long, curled wigs and the short ruffled trousers of colonial days. The women dance in several full skirts and petticoats topped by a Victorian-cut blouse. An embroidered rectangle complimenting the manta is worn over the skirt, and all dancers wear masks and are meant to be both gorgeous and rich. The collection includes examples dating from 1915 to the


1970s, and reflect the trends as they changed over the period. Though commissioned for women, the embroidery artists were all men. They chose themes from published sources like advertising calendars or historic scenes from the children’s textbooks. Comic book wild animals were also popular. In the earlier days in some of the small villages, the designs were quite romantic and some artists sketched flowers from their gardens. There was a strong presence of the very full flowers adapted from the “Chinese” shawls exported throughout the Spanish empire from the Philippines as well. More recent preferences were for ever bolder colors and imagery, and by the 1970s it was common for the dancers to rent a whole costume from the embroiderer. As the dances fell at different times according to the date of the patron saint of each village, a few of these men had built large commercial family enterprises.

This collection includes older examples from Paca and Jauja, and more recent pieces from Huancayo and its neighboring villages in the Mantaro Valley.





TAPESTRY WOVEN MANTAS

Tapestry weaving can be found among the many textile techniques of pre-Colombian Peru, but by the twentieth century this was still practiced only in the zone of the Sierra Central. This method was ideal to create the soft layered mantas the women prized for their warmth. They wore several layers of the smaller ones, called wawa cata, which were sometimes covered by a folded double one, a mama cata. The higher elevations were too extreme for growing crops so many people herded sheep in the north and alpaca in the south; the families in the center could buy or barter what they needed with their agriculture produce or commercial ventures. Typically, each person cleaned,


spun, and dyed her yarns. Cochineal was still produced in the Huancavelica area and indigo was imported into Carhuamayo until the 1950s. Both the bark & leaves of walnut were in wide use throughout the Andes. Other plants and lichen were still being collected and utilized as well.

She then commissioned a professional (male) weaver to execute the garment, choosing from a variety of traditional motifs. The layout was comprised of an odd number of designed horizontal bands (cajones) separated by solid areas of flat or natural color. Both color and motif preferences varied by person and by zone. Innovative options such as a lettered date of manufacture or the name of the patron added prestige. In the Huancavelica end of the area, the more colors, the better. Aniline dyes gave a welcome boost of intensity, and florescent acrylic yarns were later introduced. The northern end of the tapestry area, around Carhuamayo, has always favored a more restrained palette. They often used warm colors in a cajon banded by wine, green, and indigo on an undyed background.

Exceptions to the everyday occurred when a woman dressed in black for mourning (luto), usually for one year from the death of a close relative. During this time she



wore a manta with a black ground and patterns in only cool colors. After six months she could change to medio luto: cool colors on a natural grey ground.

Styles for edging the mantas varied. The old way in the Carhuamayo area was to needle weave the warp ends back up into the textile. Many times a “frame” of industrial cloth was applied to the borders with decorative stitching from a treadle machine, and this cloth being replaced periodically. Darning also extended the life of a manta, especially in the upper corners where it had been repeatedly pieced by fasteners.




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ANDREA ARANOW COLLECTION PERU: TEXTILES SIERRA … · to document the existing situation for the Instituto Nacional de Cultura, ... evolution of a culture very much alive. ... “Chonguinada