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Iscayo (shawl)
This striking, striped textile is an Aymara woman's shawl from the high plains of Bolivia. The elegant simplicity of its design belies a complex interaction of environmental affinities, cultural meanings, and construction techniques. The resonant striped designs of Bolivian textiles may be inspired by the landscape of broad plains intersected by blue rivers, with glowing snow-capped mountain ranges in the distance. In fact, the wider brown background stripes are called pampas, or plains, by Aymaras. The color palette is derived from naturally-occurring plants and animals in the Bolivian environment, such as the rich brown and clear white of alpaca hair, deep indigo blue, and vibrant pinks and reds from the cochineal insect. Cultural messages are also conveyed through the stripe patterns. For example, this shawl, with its several blue stripes on each side flanked by pink stripes at the center and edges, is a style worn by high-ranking women throughout Bolivia for religious ceremonies in the 19th century and before. Stripes also naturally follow from the way the textile was made; since the textile is warp-faced, its striped pattern emerged from the layout of the brilliantly colored warp yarns as they were wound onto the loom in preparation for weaving. alpaca hair, warp-faced
plain weave |
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