Hilos sueltos. Los Andes desde el textil. (Loose Threads: Los Andes Through Textile)
Reviewed by Mark L. Grover, Brigham Young Univ., Provo, Utah -- Críticas, 1/15/2008
Denise, Arnold.
Bolivia: ILCA (Inst. de Lengua y Cultura Aymara), dist. by Bolivia Books. 2007. 428p. ISBN 978-99954-1-073-5. pap. $18. SOCIAL SCIENCE
An often overlooked but important expression of culture is the production of traditional arts and crafts, and no appreciation of the indigenous cultures of the Andes can be made without understanding textiles. This book is a collection of essays that focus on different social aspects of cloth production, design, and meaning. Not all are original, but those previously published were either not easily accessible or in English. The primary author is Arnold, a respected anthropologist, ethnologist, and expert in bilingual education of the Andes. She is also director of the Instituto de Lengua y Cultura Aymara (ILCA) in La Paz, Bolivia, where her coauthors are associates. The general thesis of these essays is that textile production is a method of subversion by women against the abuses of society. The essays also provide evidence of the continuation of practices and ideas from pre-Columbian times to the presence. In “De Qeros y constelaciones: algunas relaciones entre las prácticas astronómicas y textuales aymaras” ( “From Qeros and Constellations: Relation Between Aymara Astronomical and Textile Practices”), the authors discuss the role of astronomical observation in conjunction with numerous rites and activities among the Aymara-speaking people of Qaqachaka, located between La Paz and Sucre. They examined three rituals, one being the ceremony of marking their animals, and show the importance of the cycles of the celestial bodies in the timing of the performance of the rituals. They identify the origin of these practices, most of which date back to the pre-Columbian Inca occupation of the region, and show how women have historically incorporated these astronomical elements into the creation of textiles. This volume is the most comprehensive examination available of textiles as an expression of culture in the Andes; recommended for academic collections in anthropology.
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