(since 1990)
This project entails the production and marketing of high quality weavings, hand-crafted on traditional looms with natural wools; sheep and alpaca wool in Jalq’a weavings and sheep wool and cotton in Tarabuco weavings. In total there are 800 female weavers from the two regions, organised in self-managed workshops located in rural indigenous communities and peripheral neighbourhoods of Sucre, with democratically chosen boards of directors.
The chief success of this project is that it has been able to combine economic growth with the development of a truly unique aesthetic product. An estimated 50% to 60% of family cash income for weavers now comes from weaving sales and although there is much more weaving being done, the pieces of traditional dress have not been degraded or “folklorised”. The intensity of textile work has provoked, on the contrary, an acceleration of the processes of change in the designs (processes always in existence), as part of a living tradition. Weaving has motivated a much more passionate search of how each region can express its own identity. The weavers have not tried to adapt to the tastes of the buyers, and furthermore, are conscious that what they offer is a world vision distinct from the observer’s own experience.
As textile production constitutes a consistent and secure source of monetary resources for bothtg men and women weavers, weaving has become a fundamental activity, almost as important as agriculture. Without trying to replace agriculture, the weavings have become an important alternative, especially in times of climatic disaster.
The objectives of the project are in no way closed: the future points to expansion to other communities and a more diverse product line, expansion into international markets, together with a deepening of creative ethnic-cultural values.
