I have not totally absorbed or believed that David VanBuskirk is gone, but sadly I have to accept the truth. I am so happy that I got to see him and his wife Libby during our visit last year to their home in Melbourne, Vermont. Since I met them in Cusco in 1984, they have been part of our family. David and Libby were very important supporters in providing for the continuation of traditional textile practices by the weavers in Chinchero. In those years, I was just starting to work with the weavers older than me. David and Libby generously provided the first budget for the development of the project to work with the weavers, through the U.S. nonprofit Cultural … Read More
Bolivia: A Textile Adventure Steeped in Tradition
Bolivia has a rich Andean textile tradition, borne of its history as the center of the ancient Tiwanaku empire and later as part of the Inca empire from the 15th to early 16th centuries. The idea of an ATA tour to Bolivia came about during the last Tinkuy in Peru, in conversations with Andean Textile Arts (ATA) board member Betty Doerr and Kevin Healy. Early in his life, Kevin was a Peace Corps volunteer in the Lake Titicaca region along the border between Bolivia and Peru, and then he worked for years as a grant officer for the Inter American Foundation (IAF). Who better to introduce our ATA community to Bolivia? This August, 15 intrepid tour participants joined our favorite … Read More