Santusa Quispe

Bolivia

Year(s) attended: 2008

Unay Pallay Asociacion de Tejedoras Indigenas de Candelaria

Weaving with Handspun Wool

The Tarabuco Indians of the Highland Andean region of Bolivia are renowned for their centuries old weaving tradition which incorporates detailed patterns, figures, and symbols drawn from local myth and legend. Santusa Quispe, a master weaver in the Tarabuco tradition, learned the art of spinning and weaving from her mother and grandmother in the small farming village of Candelaria, in the high Andes of Bolivia. She is currently the president of a local weaving cooperative and local museum--the Museo Centro Cultural de Candelaria-- which she founded two years ago with the help of a Peace Corps Volunteer from the United States. Today, there are 43 village women and men who are members of the cooperative, which sells to the local museum as well as folk art galleries in the capitol of Sucre, 70 miles away.