Two years ago, I left my country, Peru, to do a MFA in Fiber and Material Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The experience of living abroad for the first time was completely revealing for me and brought up multiple questions around my cultural identity. While at the Fiber Department, my art practice was deeply influenced by textile processes, and by weaving in particular, which led me to connect with my indigenous heritage, ironically, outside my country.  The art and cultural legacy that we Peruvians have inherited from our ancestors, especially related to weaving, has been completely erased from our artistic educational system. That is how I ended up studying painting at college, without knowing not … Read More

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 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

Imagine an entire day where you could spin, weave, dance, sing, and play—all devoted to sharing your traditions and bonding with other communities. That’s exactly what 225 young weavers from the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco (CTTC) did this past August. Last year, a few young leaders from each of CTTC’s ten weaving communities came together to plan their first official cultural gathering. The young weavers enthusiastically wanted this event and were ready to lead the charge. So why not? With the assistance of CTTC’s education department and funding from an Andean Textile Arts (ATA) grant, they made it happen. Their day started early as most traveled hours to the town of Pisac, the designated location for the event. … Read More

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

Welcome to the shiny, new ATA website! Our new layout is designed to make it easier to learn about ATA-sponsored programs and to see our latest blog posts, tours, news, and events, plus lots of new photos for your enjoyment. To the right of the navigation buttons, you’ll also find translation buttons – the tiny flags – so you can view content in English or Spanish.  (Yes, that is a Mexican flag. Sadly, the translation software doesn’t currently offer the flags of any Andean nations for the button.) The other good news is that the underlying web platform is now WordPress. This means even more of your donations can go into supporting Andean textile communities rather than into operating costs. The cost of our donor management software … Read More

ATA is always looking for ways to grow our support for Andean textile communities. Over the years, we have been successful at raising funds through textile tours and direct donations. But with plans to expand our programs from Peru to Bolivia and Ecuador, we need to grow donations. Online “crowdfunding” sites and social media offer nonprofits a powerful new tool in the quest to expand their fundraising and their impact. Many nonprofits begin their end-of-year fundraising on Giving Tuesday (the Tuesday following Thanksgiving and the Black Friday and Cyber Monday holiday shopping promotions). So, in November 2018, we launched a Giving Tuesday campaign to raise money for the Young Weavers Groups program and to learn more about online fundraising. We … Read More

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

Can you imagine recreating a textile technique of the Nazca people who lived on the southern coast of Peru from 100 BC to AD 200? I recently saw an example of this technique in a detailed border fragment at the Art Institute of Chicago exhibit “Super/Natural: Textiles of the Andes.” The stitch used to make the three-dimensional plant and animal forms (shown in the picture above) is a complex looping and cross-knit looping technique. There is an ATA link to this pre-Columbian technique. For the past two years, your donations have been supporting weavers at the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco (CTTC) in revitalizing this cross-stitch looping. They have spent hundreds of hours bent over tiny needles, working with … Read More

An amazing exhibit of work by the Andean weavers of the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco (CTTC) was recently on display (May 3-June 30) at the Museo Inka in Cusco, Peru. The exhibit, “Reclaiming Ancient Paracas: The Struggle to Recover a Textile Technique” (sponsored by Andean Textile Arts), showcased pieces the weavers created using the pre-Colombian Paracas and Nasca tubular cross-knit looping technique. Recovering textile practices of one’s ancestors takes time and dedication. The exhibit originated nearly three years ago when 20 Andean weavers from CTTC-associated weaving communities attended a workshop at the 2017 Tinkuy conference (also sponsored by ATA). In a unique union of academic and indigenous descendants of the Nasca,  professors Soledad Hoces de la Guardia and … Read More