We share a very interesting video about Peruvian textiles, their wonderful colors and careful workmanship. In this video you can learn, among other things, a little more about the process of creating the Ethnic Carpets, their origin and the great significance of this work.
The wool of sheep, llama or alpaca, animals that they raise themselves, is dyed by hand with natural pigments. The reddish colors are very common because they are extracted from the cochineal, an insect very common in the pencas that abound in the high Andes of Peru.
This video also shows the looms with which the Peruvian rugs or frazadas are made, how they tie them at one end to a stick and at the other to their waists and gradually weave the rugs. These looms are not very wide because the arms do not reach more than 80-100cm approximately and because they need to be carried from side to side. They weave at home but also in the field while tending the herd.
But the part I like the most in the video is where they explain the designs and what they mean to them with great enthusiasm. How small details and colors are symbols of identity of different peoples. The ethnic carpets or blankets tell stories, they dedicate many hours of work and the artisans put their souls into it. A symbol or an irregularity is not there by chance or by mistake. They are all unique ethnic rugs, rugs with soul!
I end by underlining how impressed and how I admire how proud Peruvians are of their culture and how young people strive to learn and transmit it. No wonder, Peruvian handicrafts are wonderful, from them come out authentic jewels!
