The Art of Hand-Woven Bolsas

In June 2002 at the new Centro Wanamey in Philcopata, Peru, CECUWA (Centro Cultural Wanamey) conducted the third cultural preservation workshop of traditional Huachipayri arts and crafts, "The Art of Hand-Woven Bolsas", "Jempu" as they are called in Huachipayri, for women and children from the villages of Qeros and Huacaria.

Several of the elder women from Q'eros and Huacaria acted as instructors during the weekend for the younger women and girls many of whom had no knowledge of "how to make" the woven shoulder bags. The bags are very strong and are used to carry fruit from the forest, yucca and other vegetables from the chacras and other personal uses. In addition, the bags can be sold to tourists visiting Philcopata for additional income.

The Course teachings included

• Identifying the correct trees from which to obtain the bark for weaving
• Preparation of the fibrous bark material
• Weaving the baskets utilizing hands, feet and toes!

The Goals

Besides preserving the art of bolsa weaving, the Course increased the baseline number of persons well-trained in the practice. This increases the chances of future survival of this ancient art!

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Project for the Preservation of Traditional Medicine and Arts of the Huachipayri Culture