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Nilda Callañaupa Alvarez is the founder of the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco, which supports indigenous weaving, spinning, and needlework artisans in the Andes. She first organized an informal project in the 1970s with weaver friends in Chinchero, an Andean village near Cusco, Peru. As the traditional skills and distinctive styles of indigenous weavers declined in her village and others like it, the project grew into the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco. CTTC organizes groups of elder, adult, and young weavers to develop and pass on their skills; the organization also has a marketplace of handmade products on their website and on the Avenida del Sol in Cusco.
Nilda spoke with us from her home in Cusco, Peru. In the middle of their second winter of the pandemic in the Southern Hemisphere, we talked about what COVID has meant for weavers there and how textile lovers can still have a relationship with weaving communities.
To help the weavers of CTTC buy cochineal and indigo and the village children, the sister organization Andean Textile Arts is holding its Bid for the Future 2021 online textile auction from August 25th through August 28. The auction will feature seventy handwoven and knitted items, such as bags, braids, hats, shawls, table runners, and more from Bolivia and Peru.
This episode is brought to you by:
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Links
Read Linda Ligon's article about weavers in a CTTC village
View and take part in Andean Textile Arts Bid for the Future 2021 auction August 25–28
The CTTC online store is open at textilescusco.org.