Traditional Peruvian Weaving

Streaming video - 2015

Intended to provide a complete and permanent record of surviving traditions and skills in textiles and crafts, the Ends of the Earth unique series show the processes in full, in detail and with all the clarity and colour made possible by modern video cameras. In many ways they are better than being there - pausing and replaying gives the possibility of checking again where the quickness of the hands has eluded or deceived the eye. High in the mountain valleys around Cusco some of the Peruvian textile traditions dating back thousands of years are still being carried on. This film goes into the villages to see men and women spinning, dyeing, warping up, weaving and finishing with woven braids. The contents include spinning on a drop spindle, ...dyeing with cochineal, scaffold warp and complementary warp weaving, woven tubular edging and beaded ribbons. This film has been made with the cooperation of Nilda Callanaupa and the Centre for Traditional Textiles of Cusco and visits the villages of Chinchero, Accha Alta, Chahuaytiri and Pitumarca. more