Traveling to Cusco was a much anticipated part of our trip, and I can say that I haven’t been disappointed at all so far. While my predictions of Peru where not spot on, Cusco matches up better with my expectations than Lima. I love the mountain town feel. This town attracts many tourists, but I still feel that we get to see into the life and culture of the people who live here.
Photo Credit: http://www.qorichaskaperu.com/blogtravel/cusco-city/
This town sits in an interesting place in history and time. The history of Cusco is remarkable dating back to its’ days as the Inca capital, but in modern day it seems that this town is trying to find a balance between knew technologies while staying true to the history of its past. We were able to see an attempt to save one of the regions most ancient traditions while visiting the Centro de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco.
Photo Credit: http://textilescusco.org
“Simple spun fibres almost 10,000 years old provide evidence of the first human occupation in western South America” (http://museum.archanth.cam.ac.uk/textiles/collection/samerica/peru/). The Centro de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco is dedicated to keeping this ancient occupation alive. While in the museum I began to realize that textiles where not only an occupation but a way of life. The first thing that stood out to me was [A spinner makes yarn any time their hands are free]. Textiles where part of everyday life in ancient peru, and as Dr. Brown pointed out, textiles told stories of the people through pictographic images because of the lack of written Quechua materials. Many ancient textiles have been recovered near burial sites as they were used for burial shrouds, but the museum explains that mothers begin to weave for their babies beginning at conception. They continue to do so, and when old enough the children themselves would begin the trade. I also found it interesting that, [Adolescence produce their best work due to competition with friends]. This takes place between ages 12-20 when women were looking for someone to marry.
I can think of no tradition in American history that prevails through the entire life of a culture, beginning before birth and continuing after death through the burial shroud. I know that modern day technologies will choke out the traditional way of making peruvian textiles, and while technology is not a bad thing; it would certainly be a shame to lose the detailed artistry of this ancient tradition. As the last room in the museum made clear, it is generally up to the grandparents of the region to keep traditional textile weaving alive.
Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sourire11/1450703483/
Even after seeing the man sitting at the loom working with many pieces of yarn probably stretching many miles if laid end to end, I still don’t have a clear grasp of how the many different textiles are made. I can not imagine the amount of time it takes to produce a simple piece, much less an entire $1200 wall rug. I could probably benefit from the patience that must come with weaving such detailed pieces.
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