Textiles today have inherited a legacy of an ancient pre-Hispanic tradition developed across the country. Striking examples are the Paracas blankets and Inca and Wari weavings from Ayacucho. The oldest textiles to date were found in the Huaca Prieta temple in Chicama, dating back more than 4,000 years. The departments best-known for weaving include Ayacucho, Puno, Cusco, Junín, Apurímac and Lima. Cusco decoration includes elements such as the tika, representing the potato flower, and the sojta, a geometric design that symbolizes the harvest cycle.
For thousands of years, weaving has played a central role in Peruvian society. During pre-Columbian times, textiles were the most sought-after trading commodity in the Andes. They were also used to strengthen political, social and religious ties. Gifts of woven cloth were offered at marriages and funerals - an Indian's most precious piece of cloth became, at last, his burial shroud. That Peruvians became weavers without peer and sustained that tradition to the present day is partly accidental. They have always had access to a wide variety of fibers - Peru is home to sheep as well as llamas, alpacas and the now rare vicunas. Moreover, the dryness of Peru's coastal desert helped preserve many weaving, enabling each succeeding generation to study the ancient masters' techniques. Today, this heritage is in evidence all over Peru. Indeed, the country appears to be awash in textiles. Ponchos, rugs and wall hangings of every shape and size, in a rainbow of colors and a riot of patterns, seem to hang in every doorway and decorate every paving stone. It's a democratic skill: every Indian weaves, from toddlers to town elders, using either a horizontal loom fixed to the ground or a backstrap loom, called a baticola. It's also portable: the Indians ply their craft while walking, working in the fields, even while lugging their babies on their backs. They sell their wares on the fly, too, so be prepared: a display of rugs may suddenly be laid across the dirt floor of a ruin, or a blanket may be tossed into one's lap through the window of a slow-moving train.
One item that is a cultural icon is the wide woven belt (chumpi in Quechua, the native language) finished with long braided tassels. Many rituals of daily life involve the chumpi - women give birth lying on one - and the type worn may indicate social status or designate the wearer's community. Also llicllas are important weavings in Andean communities. Women bundle their children and is a social status symbol as well. Old llicllas adorn several textile museums in Peru and this style of garment along with the poncho dates back to Inca ruling times. In the Andean tradition, a wife weaves for her husband, for her son on the occasion of his marriage, for her daughter when she is pregnant with her first child.
In recent years, Ayacucho, home of the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path), a group of Maoist-inspired rebels, became a center of political unrest and was more or less off-limits to visitors. Now Ayacucho has flourished as the new capital of weaving in Peru. The suburb of Santa Ana holds a great number of weavers and some of them renowned world wide. A wooden frame loom (flatbed) is typically used to weave in this region. All weavers use 100% sheep wool and pima cotton warps. Traditionally most of the weavers utilize natural dyes from the region. Most of the fine designs are geometric inspired by their ancestors from the region. Sanyork Fair Trade features several one of a kind pieces made by weavers from Ayacucho working and living in our Lima studios. We also work with six families from Santa Ana who produce our fair trade textile. Curi, Coronado, Vallejo, Gutierrez, Sulca and Yurivilca are among our weavers originally from Ayacucho. All of them mentor younger weavers to continue their weaving tradition away from their village.