A Demonstration by junge1
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
These Chinchero women are demonstrating the process of making traditional Peruvian wool products. The Chincheros are living in the Sacred Valley and these demonstrations are encouraged by the Peruvian government to preserve this ancient art.
The process begins with the washing of the Baby Alpaca wool with soap made from a plant known as Sacha Paraqay. Baby Alpaca is referred to the first shearing of an Alpaca, whose wool is finer than the wool from subsequent shearing. The quality of the products produced at these government sponsored demonstrations is guaranteed, but in the markets of the small towns in the Sacred Valley and elsewhere this may not necessarily be true.
After the the washing and drying of the wool, colors are added. Colors are made from locally available natural ingredients, such as specific plants, leaves, flowers, bugs and other insects, and sometimes salt and lemon is added. At one point urine of children aged 6 to 15 years old, which has been kept for a month to ferment, is then used to set the colors into the wool.
Then the wool is spun into yarn on small spindles . The spinning motion winds the fibers around each other forming a continuous strand that can then be woven into cloth.
A shawl about 1.5-ft wide and 5-ft long takes about 2 months to complete, weaving 5 hours each day.
This picture was taken on 25 August 2014,
Sig...

Comments (25)
Marvelous capture and fantastic people... Very great view also!!!
amazing information and I like their native dress
very interesting. an early happy bday bro just in case i forget lol,getting old.
A beautiful shot !!
Toller Schnappschuss lieber Siggi und auch von mir noch nachträglich alles Liebe und Gute zum Geburtstag, pass' gut auf dich auf bei deinen vielen Reisen!!!!
How fun! Great shot.
Lovely picture sig and interesting reading.
Exellente Photo.
That is cool, outstanding capture!
Beautiful demonstration
Superb capture my friend. God bless.
Very interesting informations and image! Great capture! :)
Wonderful capture and thanks for the info********
Very colorful shot and interesting story!!!!
Very well done!
superb shot
A very interesting photo and information. Hopefully this tradition will continue for a long time.
beautiful
Very interesting and colourful.. Nice to see in its proper 'home'.. Not on our streets selling expensive CDS of fake Peruvian pipe music recorded in a studio in London or somewhere. There, rant over, but you should live here mate.. Well you saw Heathrow.. What did you think? Nice shot, I like! Rob
Lovely pic
There's something about handmade things that makes everyone ask "how long did it take you to do that?" It's always mystified me, but ... there you have it. Being a person who makes things by hand frequently, I'm always at a loss to know what to say, since I never keep track. I've tried, but I always forget the answer, because it doesn't interest me in the slightest! It's the process that's important. Anyway ... that's all well and good since I'm not making a living from it! This is a fascinating shot. Seeing how they spin with that loose bobbin is so interesting!
I don't really understand the spinning process (by the way my mother did that as a young girl in a factory in the 1930's in Sudetenland) but what fascinated me was how they derived the different colors, all from local, natural sources. They demonstrated that too.
marvellous image
Excellent information and photo Sig - I thank you for both!
Very nice! It is good to remember the old ways.