HERITAGE OF HUMANITY / THE TEXTILE ART OF TAQUILE / Declared Masterpiece of the Oral and
Intangible
Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in November 2005. / A recognition to the silent, humble and laborious work of the inhabitants who have transmitted their cosmic vision of the world and of the community to children for generations through weaving and symbols in their unique textiles that deserve to be preserved and promoted at an international level. They generally use llama, alpaca and sheep wool; plants called ZULINA, CHILLCA (green) for example and a stone called YANACUIPA to take the color. The people from Taquile learn how to knit since they are very young. It is not strange to see an inhabitant walking and knitting at the same time. A person only stops knitting when he dies. One can affirm that their lives, their history, their vision of the world and their experiences are recorded on their calendar waistbands. Women learn how to knit after they have learned to count. Sometimes, when they turn eight they begin with the TISNU that is a narrow ribbon. It is said, “They can’t count because they know how to knit”. On their 10 to 15 cm wide belts (chumpi) they knit braids and symbols that represent their daily lives and the magic of the island; the six “suyos” or areas, their agricultural system, the CHASKA that is the star that predicts the farming weather (rains); they knit their hierarchies, their beliefs, their thoughts, feelings, the leqe leqe bird that if found under the ichu or wild grass it means there will be frost, if it is under stones there will be hail, if its eggs have spots there will be plagues. These beliefs are fixed into the textiles of the URAYQARI (man from below) and of the HANAN QARI (man from above). “The textile art of Taquile is manual or hand made. It is internationally known as a Living Museum. These people coexist with visitors and these latter ones publish what they have seen”.
. Taquile is a community of looms and knitting. Their typical clothes do not come from the INCA period. Their short jacket and black hat come from the Spanish, from Castile, as they say. That’s the way they have kept it adding the waistband and their “chullo” or knitted caps with earflaps.In the XVIII Century the inhabitants of the island were considered the best of the altiplano or high Andean plateau. The women use pedal looms with floor wheels. The men use knitting needles. The Calendar Waistbands show greater richness of figures and symbolism as compared to other knitting. They are worn by men and are a valuable source of information through the curves, cubes and diamond shapes and the color contrasts make up a unique language. The usual colors are red, black, grey, white and cream.