Additional resources for Aymara Weavings: The Indigenous Andes

Aymara Weavings: The Indigenous Andes is the first exhibition of highland weaving at the Saint Louis Art Museum in nearly a decade. Learn more about these works—their histories, materials, and techniques—through the following online resources published by museums and foundations in the United States and in Bolivia and its neighboring countries:

• A collection catalogue from the Museo Nacional de Etnografía y Folklore (National Museum of Ethnography and Folklore) in La Paz, Bolivia, details Andean weaving materials and techniques. Additionally, images of collection works provide a broad view of weaving styles in Bolivia.
• An exhibition catalogue from the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University includes an essay by curator Shelley Burian, “Capturing the Rainbow: Bolivian Textiles from Ancient to Modern Times.” In the essay, Burian outlines the tools and processes used in weaving production, the structure of warp-faced weaving, and historical changes in dress styles and materials.
• An exhibition catalogue from The Metropolitan Museum of Art places colonial-era textiles in dialogue with contemporaneous silverwork.
• The Museum of Modern Art magazine features an interview with the Bolivian artist and scholar Elvira Espejo Ayca by art historian Horacio Ramos. Espejo Ayca describes how engaging with the process of Andean weaving allows an understanding of the personhood of textiles.
• In this video profile of Aymara weavers Jessica García, Simona Choque, Juana Flores Mamani, and Albina Choque, the artists demonstrate spinning and weaving and discuss the transmission of weaving knowledge.