Peruvian Handiwork

When we went to Maryland Sheep and Wool last month, my objective was to only purchase something that really spoke to me. I found it between the funnel cake stand and the ribbon fries.

Turning a corner, I was assaulted by stunning imagery and craft work at the Ayni booth. Peruvian handcrafted textiles of the Ayacucho tradition, which is a tradition that is passed down through families. The families raise the alpaca, process and spin the fleece, dye it with natural plant dyes, and create beautiful art by weaving and crewel type embroidery.



Ayni is a non-profit organization founded by three American woman, a botanist, an anthropologist, and an educator / artist. To quote their mission,"Ayni aims to preserve the cultural patrimony of Peru and promote social welfare in Andean communities through sponsorship of cultural programs, and through sales of Peruvian handicrafts."

The one with the black background reminds me of one of my favorite Josef Frank textiles. It's the black background and the swirls of pattern and color that draw your eye every which way.



I was enamored with this piece, but it was just not in my budget at the time. I took three or five walks around before coming back and seeing it looking at me. The last time I came back, a woman was holding it up in amazement. We started talking and I told her I was so pleased that she was going to have it in her home. She especially loved the bobbles, just so you know.



Although I had my heart set on the one piece, this salmon colored piece also caught my eye. It was in my budget, and was made by the woman in the photograph. Sales of the work help support Los Gorriones Orphanage, ANFASEP, which helps survivors of a violent conflict in the area, and University of Huamanga, which works with a grant to protect irreplaceable artifacts in the region.



I carefully sewed a dowel rod on the back of the top and bottom, with 2 eyehooks screwed into the top rod to mount it.



Isn't it lovely? Even though it doesn't have the chains of bobbles like it's more elaborate sister, it suits my taste just fine.