On September 13, Andean Textile Arts had the honor and the pleasure of hosting Wade Davis in a Zoom presentation entitled “Coca: Divine Leaf of Immortality?”. Davis comes to this topic not only with great passion, but with an impressive background and list of credentials: author, photographer, filmmaker, cultural anthropologist, explorer-in-residence for the National Geographic Society, and of particular relevance to this topic, holding a doctorate in ethnobotany from Harvard University. The leaves of the coca plant have been in use in South America for thousands of years, pre-dating the arrival of the Spanish. Rather than a drug, coca is a mild and benign stimulant with exceptionally high nutritional value. It is held in reverence by Indigenous peoples of the … Read More
Scaffold Weaving: A New Life for a Remarkable Ancient Art
Scaffold weaving, also known as discontinuous warp, or ticlla in the Quechua language, is a remarkably complex and time-consuming ancient weaving technique. It originated in the Andean region of South America—the only place in the world where it existed—during the Middle Horizon and Late Horizon periods (AD 400-1535). We are fortunate that a number of examples of pre-Columbian scaffold weaving can still be seen in museum collections today. This technique has now been revitalized and is being practiced in Pitumarca, Peru, one of the ten weaving communities that comprise the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco (CTTC). In most weaving techniques, the warp threads are continuous lengths from the top end of the backstrap loom to the bottom. In scaffold … Read More