You may recognize Bob Miller’s name. He is one of our regular blog authors, providing his perspective on Andean-related books and delving into amazing textile techniques such as four-selvedge cloth. He also does a lot for Andean Textiles Arts (ATA) behind the scenes, researching and writing textile descriptions for our auction and helping to select topics and book titles for our Andean Textile Talks and Andean Book Club meetings. Bob grew up in Virginia and graduated from Virginia Tech with an an engineering degree. Afterwards he headed to Colorado, where he spent his entire thirty-nine-year career and raised three children with this wife, Jean. He’s retired now. “Colorado was just about perfect for Jean and I, with plenty of nearby … Read More
Acopia Young Weavers: Bringing Weaving Traditions Back to Life
Not long ago the tradition of weaving was disappearing in Acopia, a small community located on the shores of Acopia Lago, eighty-seven miles south of Cusco, Peru. Only the older women of this lake-side village were weaving, and their traditional techniques and designs were quickly dying with them. All of that has changed in recent years thanks to the efforts of the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco (CTTC) and their ATA-supported Young Weavers program. Working with Acopia elders, CTTC staff encouraged them to pass on their weaving knowledge to the youth of their village—young men and women such as Paola Medina Condori Nina and her friend Rocío Gonzales. “I heard the call from a speaker, ‘People who want to … Read More
Sallac Young Weavers Interweave Textile Traditions into Their Lives
This is the third in a series of blog posts based on interviews with young people throughout the Peruvian highlands who are reviving their traditional textiles through the Young Weavers program of the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco (CTTC), an important effort your ATA donations help support. Hermelinda Espinoza Mamami and Ana Maria Huamán Qori wear the dress of their ancestors as they talk about their weaving and its importance in their lives. Their fringed monteras (hats), juvunas (short jackets), and polleras (wide black skirts) with brightly colored borders reflect their people’s past and showcase the extraordinary local artistry these two young women want to carry into the future. “Years ago we weren’t remembering the old dress,” Ana Maria … Read More
Young Weavers Honor Past While Working Toward a Better Future
In January, we introduced you to Lourdes Sullca Gutieerez and Nery Condori Layme, two young weavers from the Peruvian highland village of Accha Alta. In this post, these two amazing women tell us more about what weaving means to them, including the difficulties they face and the future they envision. For young weavers Lourdes Sullca Gutieerez and Nery Condori Layme weaving is a natural part of their lives. It is a way to honor and pass on the wisdom of their grandparents and the ancestors before them. “I feel proud,” says Nery about her weaving. “I want to learn more to pass on to other generations.” Lourdes agrees. She enjoys weaving and her passion is apparent as she points out … Read More
Volunteer Profile: Cindy Weinstein
Cindy Weinstein’s first connection with Andean textiles was in her mid-twenties, when she was apprenticing with a tapestry weaver at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, Virginia. “Everyone was going to The Textile Museum in Washington D.C. to see a weaving demo by a Peruvian woman,” she recalls. “When we got there, we saw this young woman sitting next to a big tree in the museum’s courtyard demonstrating backstrap weaving. As soon as her hands started to weave, I was so moved that I just wept.” Decades later, Cindy met that weaver again on an ATA Textile Tour to Peru. The young woman from The Textile Museum’s courtyard, she found out, was Nilda Callañaupa, founder and director of the … Read More
An Unbroken Thread: Accha Alta Young Weavers Carry On Valued Traditions
In 2020, ATA and the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco (CTTC) completed interviews with several young weavers from communities throughout the Peruvian highlands. This is the first in a series of blog posts based on those interviews. I hope you enjoy meeting these remarkable young women as much as I have enjoyed summarizing their stories. Lourdes Sullca Gutieerez and Nery Condori Layme are young weavers from Accha Alta, a Peruvian village high in the Andes Mountains. Nestled on a steep mountain slope close to the ruins of an ancient Incan granary, the village is the home of the Munay Pallay Awaqkuna weavers, an association in which Lourdes and Nery are members. Like many young people in Peru’s highland villages, … Read More
Volunteer Profile: Stefanie Berganini
Andean Textile Arts (ATA) runs 100% on the efforts of dedicated volunteers—individuals like Stefanie Berganini, who was the driving force behind the recent launch of our new and improved web site. Stefanie is no stranger to web design as well as the textile arts and their importance in the world’s cultures. She spent several years at Interweave Press, first as an intern with Fiber Arts magazine, then assistant editor of Spin-Off, and finally as managing editor of Stitch. After she left Interweave, she worked in the non-profit world until she opened her own freelance marketing and graphic design business. Today, Stefanie is pursuing a new career: she recently completed her master’s degree in anthropology and is now working on a … Read More