Wednesday... Visiting Artisans of The Sacred Valley.

 

 

Wednesday, May 20, 2015..... Visiting the Artisans of The Sacred Valley.

This is the last day of our photography expedition, but we have a few more days here on our own.

Today we will visit the town of Chinchera. It sits at the highest altitude in the Andes at around 13,000 ft.  It was a very religious centre where the religious people lived. The ordinary people were farmers and they lived on their land, Chincero was their centre.
It is called the Potato Centre because they grow 3500 types of potatoes.

They worshipped ecological things in nature like the sun, the stars, the mountains. They respected nature and built without destroying it.

It is a very Catholic culture, but integrated with their traditional Incan beliefs, which are surprisingly compatible. They believe everyone is here for a purpose or a use. That we must love everything and everyone around us. And, that if we have these two, we will be a wise person.


Trivia: In Peru it is necessary for a couple to live together for two years before getting married, usually with the husband's family. At that time the girl must have learned how to look after her family and home and the boy must show that he can support a family. The girl must pass a test. She must be able to peel a special type of potato with many bumps on it without making it smaller. And she must be able to kill and prepare a guinea pig, which is one of their main foods.

This is the potato  the girl must be able to peel.

Families raise guinea pigs in their homes, not as pets but much as we raise chickens, to eat.

Life expectancy in the country areas is only 62 and 68 years, because they do not have access to medicine, just the traditional herbal remedies and shamans.


We arrive in Chinchera and visit the church, Iglesia de la Virgen de Natividad. It is beautiful with a very intricately carved alter in cedar wood guilded with gold leaf and mirror in Andean Baroque style. The Spanish built it on the site of the ancient ruins but in the Spanish style. The ceiling and walls are covered with murals done by Andean painters but replicating Spanish art, with their own twist. (No photos allowed).





The church is located in a courtyard with four arched entries representing the four disciples. It overlooks the beautiful terraced valley farmland.

In the courtyard local woman artisans spread their handmade sweaters, blankets, and other handicrafts.

From there we continue on to Balcon del Inka, a textile factory where 13 families work together weaving beautiful handmade fabrics.

They gather the wool from sheep and alpaca. They wash it with a shampoo they make from the sajta root, which they gather from the hillsides (a 3-4 hour walk).  One of the women speaks pretty good English and explains the process.  "It is necessary, " she jokes, "to wash the wool 3 to 4 times because the sheep and alpaca, since born, they never have take a shower."

They spin the wool by hand onto large spools which dance up and down like yoyos. They are a very cheerful and happy group. "We spin when we walk, we spin when new dance, we spin when we kiss. We always are spinning." she smiles.



They make their own dyes from nature. The purple comes from purple corn which is dried and crushed to a fine powder. Yellow comes from cauliflower, Ochre from lichens, and green from leaves. To make blue they add the urine of children to the green. (True fact!)

They mix the dyes with water and boil the wool in the dye. The colors are fast and do not fade.

This is a family enterprise. Girls begin spinning at 7 or 8 years and weaving at 15.

Outside the women sit and weave with the beautiful yarns they have spun. Beautiful intricate patterns in soft fabrics made predominantly with the soft wool of the alpaca. Some of the best and most intricate hand-woven pieces can take up to two months to make.

They have welcomed us into their world. They all wear their traditional clothing, their children run and play in the yard as they work. It is a family atmosphere and one of peace, contentment and happiness.

  The children run and play and pose for pictures in their Peruvian sweaters and hats.

 

 

Our tour guide, Hugo, dressed in Peruvian garb poses for a picture.

 

In the afternoon we stop to pay a visit to a very famous Peruvian potter and artist, Pablo Seminario. He takes the time to talk to us about his work which is melding of ancient Incan art and modern techniques.





Pablo Seminario shows us some if his recent works where he is using the shape of the ancient arrowhead in his sculpture.

 Both hand molding and wheel techniques are used in his work. He has been doing this for 30+ years and now employees a workshop of about 50 people.

 Pieces are painted with dyes and paints made from natural dyes and pigments and hand painted in the workshops.

 

 

The theatre where Pablo's son meets guests and describes his father's work prior to the tour.

 

It is always interesting and inspirational to see artists in at work in their environments and hear where they get there vision and passion, and to have them share that with us.

 

 

We head back to Cusco to get ready for our farewell dinner with the group before everyone heads home. It has been a good week with some interesting new friends,

 

Shelda and I have 2 more days on Cusco before we head to Lima and then home on Sunday.

 

Come With Me as we wind down and poke around Cusco some more.......