Hidden Threads of Peru: Q'ero Textiles - Tapa dura

Q'ero is an isolated indigenous community on the eastern slope of the Andes. In this harsh environment, a rich and complex textile tradition has endured from pre-Hispanic times. Woven from the hair of local alpacas, the colorful shawls, ponchos, bags, and other textiles produced are worn daily and form part of the rituals and ceremonies of Q'ero. Hidden Threads of Peru combines ethnography, anecdote, and textile art to offer fascinating new insights into a culture that can trace its traditions back to the Inca empire. The Q'ero people themselves discuss the significance of the fabrics they make and the nature of their Andean life, while photographs taken from the early twentieth century to the present day illustrate their daily life and rituals, as well as -- in sumptuous full color -- the textiles themselves, revealing the evolution and range of patterns over a one-hundred-year period.