DAY 1:
Thank goodness, we arrived in Sucre ON TIME! Not that I would have noticed if we had any more problems with the bus as I slept the ENTIRE way... The altitude really tired me out, or maybe it was the swimming? Anyway, it's not really important. Like I said before Sucre is/was/might still be the capital of Bolivia and it's a sprawling city! It is known for it's night life and beautiful Colonial architecture. Because of it's proximity to Potosí it was also colonized during the mid 1500s. It is also at a much better altitude (closer to that of Cochabamba) and therefore not nearly as cold as Potosí! After we arrived we had free time to do whatever we wanted (maybe the first time this entire trip!!) So we all went out for dinner with plans to meet up later to officially celebrate Rhen's 21st! My little group found a restaurant called the Condor Cafe. It is completely vegetarian and it was amazing! I tried the tucumana which is a pot pie of sorts. It has a flaky crust (very similar to that of an empanada) and was filled with fresh vegetables and a little bit of sauce. We added a sweet salsa to it and that just sealed the deal! I could have eaten four of them they were so good! (And while I didn't eat that many, we all returned at least once --or twice-- to eat there again! Although, the second time I got a veggie omelette and I hate to say it, but it definitely beat out Pamela's!!)
After we ate we headed to the plaza to a bar/restaurant called Joy Ride. Their tagline was "no solo para gringos" aka "not just for white people..." But the drinks were good and they had some dancing and gave Rhen a birthday cake and birthday shot, so really I don't have any complaints! We danced for a while upstairs and made sure Rhen was never empty handed and we all had a blast. That was one of the first times all of us have been out together, which I think made her birthday even better! I headed back with a few others instead of going to the discoteca as the next day we were going to a weaving museum and being the sewing nerd I am, I wanted to be fully alert and not hungover at the museum! :)
DAY 2: Museo de Tejido Indígena
We had an early start, so I was very happy with my choice to go home "early" the night before! We ate breakfast and then walked to the museum of Indigenous textiles. It's through an organization called ASUR: Anthropologists of the Southern Andes and is part of the foundation for Anthropological Research and Ethno-development -- aka everything I love!! Although we weren't able to take pictures of everything, so I'll just describe some of my favorite things in great details and add some images from the internet!
The original purpose of the museum was to conserve the culture and intricate textiles of the Jalq'a. The founders were a husband and wife that were interested in finding the source of beautiful antique textiles that were popping up around South America. When they found the Jalq'a, they had lost almost all of their colors and patterns for weaving. Thus the husband and wife took it upon themselves to help the Jalq'a regain their 'colors' and thus their culture. The proceeds from the museum, the sale of textiles and other artifacts are all given to the men and women that weave them. (Yes, MEN and women!) Every textile has a purpose. There are colors that are used for daily life: reds, oranges and yellows and colors used specifically for ceremonies: purples, greens and blues. Certain patterns also have their own names and designs much like quilt patterns today! It's hard to describe them, so you'll just have to believe me and/or go see for yourself! Also, all the colors can be made using natural elements -- although today many indigenous groups actually use chemically produced dyes. But in case you're curious here is a list of items you can find in nature to make all your colors.. unfortunately most of them are in what I think is Quechua (one of the 37 recognized indigenous languages found in Bolivia) but just know you can make all the colors of the rainbow (especially red)!!!
eucalipto (Eucalyptus) = red-orange to red
chima t'ula
ch'akatiya
molle t'ula
carmín de conchinilla (Carmine) = crimson
misuk'a
cochinilla molida (Crushed Cochineal) = crimson
q'ilkikhichka
añil = indigo
cochinilla (Cochineal Insect) = crimson
And to make it even more confusing, each group of people has their own imagery and patterns for their tejidos. Around Sucre alone there are seven distinct groups! But, the types still fall under broad categories and usually abide by the same color rules. One of my favorites is from the Jalq'a group. They are one of the largest groups around Sucre and their textiles look like the red and black one below. It's called "Rompecabeza" which literally means "head breaking" and when you see it you'll see why! They are very dark with all different animals (real and imaginary) and often times include Supa (the devil). It's a very mysterious and diabolical pattern and you have to look very closely to determine what you're looking at because nothing is oriented the same way nor is it the same size!
The original purpose of the museum was to conserve the culture and intricate textiles of the Jalq'a. The founders were a husband and wife that were interested in finding the source of beautiful antique textiles that were popping up around South America. When they found the Jalq'a, they had lost almost all of their colors and patterns for weaving. Thus the husband and wife took it upon themselves to help the Jalq'a regain their 'colors' and thus their culture. The proceeds from the museum, the sale of textiles and other artifacts are all given to the men and women that weave them. (Yes, MEN and women!) Every textile has a purpose. There are colors that are used for daily life: reds, oranges and yellows and colors used specifically for ceremonies: purples, greens and blues. Certain patterns also have their own names and designs much like quilt patterns today! It's hard to describe them, so you'll just have to believe me and/or go see for yourself! Also, all the colors can be made using natural elements -- although today many indigenous groups actually use chemically produced dyes. But in case you're curious here is a list of items you can find in nature to make all your colors.. unfortunately most of them are in what I think is Quechua (one of the 37 recognized indigenous languages found in Bolivia) but just know you can make all the colors of the rainbow (especially red)!!!
eucalipto (Eucalyptus) = red-orange to red
chima t'ula
ch'akatiya
molle t'ula
carmín de conchinilla (Carmine) = crimson
misuk'a
cochinilla molida (Crushed Cochineal) = crimson
q'ilkikhichka
añil = indigo
cochinilla (Cochineal Insect) = crimson
And to make it even more confusing, each group of people has their own imagery and patterns for their tejidos. Around Sucre alone there are seven distinct groups! But, the types still fall under broad categories and usually abide by the same color rules. One of my favorites is from the Jalq'a group. They are one of the largest groups around Sucre and their textiles look like the red and black one below. It's called "Rompecabeza" which literally means "head breaking" and when you see it you'll see why! They are very dark with all different animals (real and imaginary) and often times include Supa (the devil). It's a very mysterious and diabolical pattern and you have to look very closely to determine what you're looking at because nothing is oriented the same way nor is it the same size!
| Jalq'a Rompecabeza |
| A woman weaving a Rompecabeza PS. I bought this postcard so someone will probably get this in the mail! |
There was also a large exhibit on the Tiwanaku culture. The center of Tiwanaku is situated near La Paz (and we'll be visiting in a few weeks!!!) but the culture extended throughout many parts of Bolivia and Chile. They were a huge influence on the culture of Andes -- and it makes sense as the civilization existed from 300 AD - 1200 AD! They are well known for their ceramics and the fun little hats! The exhibit itself was a burial they excavated somewhat close to Sucre and the artifacts on display were incredible! I learned a lot about Tiwanaku in my South American archaeology class so it was so cool to see the items we talked about at length in class! (Yay for being able to apply knowledge!!) There were silver pins, ceremonial baskets, earrings, jewelry and a mummy (well a representation of it)! It was incredible to see and just made me even more excited for Tiwanaku!! (Expect my Tiwanaku post to be very long and detailed!)
 |
| Tiwanaku hat |
| Traditional Dances |
And one final word about male weavers! The men have a completely different way of weaving. It used to be that both men and women would weave, but once the Spanish entered and work in the mines began mining became the 'manly' profession and male weaving fell out of practice. But today, one of the goals of ASUR is to re-promote men's weaving. They offer after school programs for young boys and classes for men to reintroduce the art of weaving and they make quite beautiful tejidos, albeit distinctly different from the detail of the women's. You can see for yourself below. Also, they tend to be smaller tejidos with larger images and have lots of things hanging from them -- I'm not sure if there's a reason for this, I either missed it at the museum or we didn't talk about i!
| Tejido de un hombre |
Okay, that was a lot... I really did love the museum! Honestly I could have stayed there all day! I tried to draw some of the images, but it really doesn't do them any justice. I'll end this post with the one picture I could take at the store of a woman weaving. She was very sweet and I think she liked that I asked to take her picture and then showed it to her! I also am in love with her hat!
Here's hoping I get the chance to learn how to weave,
Carly
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