Folk Art of the Andes

The creative accomplishments of the Andean people of the highland region of South America are prominent among the folk art legacies of the world. This wide-ranging publication, examining over 850 works, is the first to present an overview of the religious, textile, costume, utilitarian, and festival folk arts made in the Andes in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, after the Andeans were free from Spanish colonial rule. The author offers an understanding of the development of folk art during the colonial period and shows how much of the work produced after independence reflects the interweaving of indigenous craft traditions with European art forms and techniques. Drawing from the renowned collection at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and other private and public collections in the United States, this book includes religious paintings, sculptures, portable altars, milagros, amulets, and ritual offerings. Traditional hand woven ponchos, mantles, belts, and bags are shown, along with women's skirts, hats, and shawls adapted from the Spanish. Jewelry, wooden trunks, silverwork, majolica ceramics, carved gourds, house blessing ornaments, and toys reveal not only the craftsmanship of the work, but the ways the objects function in everyday life. Also explored are Andean festival cycles with lavish costumes and a variety of masks. With over four hundred color photographs, this monumental book provides a window into the rich spirit and culture of the Andeans.