Analysis of Peruvian Archaeological Textile Structures
Includes a Live In-Person Event on 02/11/2025 at 9:00 AM (PST)
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Register
- Non-member - $594
- Member - $495
February 11-13, 2025
The Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Instructors: Elena Phipps and Nilda Callañaupa Alvarez
Peruvian textiles are composed of diverse and complex structures—ranging from simple and complex braiding systems, looping and cross-looping, linking and sprang, plainweaves, supplementary weft and warp weaves, double-,triple-, quadruple- and quintuple-cloth, among others. In addition, traditions follow warp and or weft emphasis in the weave structures, all of which represent particular cultural practices. The workshop will focus on examining close-up a selection of Precolumbian textiles in the Fowler Museum, UCLA to understand their technical features. This will include identification of yarns spin directions and composition (though not fiber identification at this time), selvage types (warp or weft) and structural features including non-woven and woven constructions, both simple and complex.
Understanding the construction of Peruvian textiles enables conservators, curators and others who work with archaeological collections, to document the physical textiles. The information gleaned from this practice can contribute to decisions regarding conservation treatment and preservation initiatives, exhibition potential and systems of support, as well as contributing to studies of cultural context and association. Most Peruvian textiles in museum collections do not have provenance and documenting their physical features, normally the work of textile conservators, can help to provide invaluable information about the object.
The workshop will incorporate hands-on examination with low level magnification (ie 5-10x) as well as some higher levels (ca. 100-150x) of a selection of textiles from the Fowler Museum. To enhance the learning process, students will, in addition, practice making some of the structures, including 4-8 strand braiding, warp-faced plainweaves and doublecloth, among others. Nilda Callañaupa—master weaver from Chinchero, Peru will lead the weaving practice and provide her contemporary perspective to the textile traditions of the region.
Interested individuals must apply to participate. The registration fee for the workshop is $495 for AIC members and $594 for non-members. Financial support is available for a few workshop participants. Support can be requested in the workshop application.
Funding for this program comes from a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional support comes from the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation (FAIC) Endowment for Professional Development, which was also created by a grant from the Mellon Foundation and is supported by donations from members of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC) and its friends. Workshops are made possible with the assistance of many AIC members, but no AIC membership dues were used to create or present this course.
FAIC relies on your contributions to support these and its many other programs. Learn more about donating to the foundation.
Interested individuals must complete an application by November 26, 2024. Applications are submitted through our online application portal. When you enter the portal, you will be prompted to login to the system using a login ID and password. Please note that this system is not connected to your F/AIC profile on our general website. Notifications will be made by December 20, 2024.
Funding to support registration plus $1,000 travel stipend is available for three workshop participants. Applicants can indicate their need for funding in their workshop application. The request for funding will not be visible to the reviewers or effect the participant selection.
Criteria for review:
- Need for the content; priority will go to individuals currently working with Peruvian textiles.
- Plan for dissemination of information gained.
- The program seeks to support a diverse set of participants and will consider geographic location, place of employment, profession, and career level.
Nilda Callañaupa Alvarez
Nilda Callañaupa Alvarez is an indigenous Quechua weaver from Chinchero in the Cusco (Cuzco) region of Peru. Along with other Quechua weavers from Chinchero as well as international supporters, she helped to establish the Centro de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco (Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco) in 1996 as a non-profit organization. Since 1996, Nilda has served as director of the Centro de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco or CTTC. She has written two books on Peruvian weaving, and has co-authored a third on weaving elders of the Peruvian Andes.
Nilda holds a degree from the National University of San Antonio Abad in Cusco, 1986. She was one of the first women from her community to attend university, as during this time only men were expected to continue on to higher education. Nilda has taught internationally at museums and universities in the US and Canada, including Cornell University and the Smithsonian.
Elena Phipps
Dr. Elena Phipps is former Senior Museum Conservator in the Textile Conservation Department, Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA), where she worked for over 34 years. She is an independent textile scholar and curator, and currently teaches technical and cultural history of textiles in the Department of World Arts and Culture, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). She has a doctorate in Precolumbian Art History and Archaeology from Columbia University (1989), and was President of the Textile Society of America from 2011-2014. During her time at the MMA Elena worked on conservation and technical analysis of the museum collection, and developed a strong interest in the nature of material and technical issues in the context of culture history. She was a major participant in the development of the Antonio Ratti Textile Center, the Museum’s textile study, storage and conservation facility which opened in 1995. In addition, she was a special curator of several textile exhibitions, including The Colonial Andes: Tapestries and Silverwork 1430-1830, (awarded the Alfred Barr Jr. Award for best exhibition catalogue 2004-2005 from the College Art Association, and the Mitchell Prize, in 2006) and The Interwoven Globe: worldwide textile trade 1500-1800 (MMA, 2013). In 2013, she was Guest Curator for the exhibition The Peruvian Four-Selvaged Cloth: ancient threads/new directions at the Fowler Museum (UCLA) and was a curatorial consultant for the Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe’s 2015 exhibition The Red that Colored the World, inspired in part by her publication Cochineal Red: the art history of a color (MMA 2010). Elena has numerous publications on textiles focusing on the relationship between materials and techniques, and culture history.
