100% ALPACA WOVEN BAG (Sml) Parubamba Weavers ~ Peru

About the artists: 

The Parubamba's Weavers Association is located in Cusco, Peru.  It was established in 1997 as a way to create work for Quechua speaking weavers who could no longer support their families with traditional agricultural and herding practices.  It was created by Dr. Gail Silverman at the request of the Parubamba Mayor in 1996.  Dr. Silverman is a Social anthropologist, she is considered an authority on the Cusco textile tradition and thanks to her support the association has created a succesful economic alternative for the weavers who have improved the quality of their lives. 

The weavers have recuperated ancestral and dyeing techniques that they apply now to all their exquisite weavings which are made of genuine alpaca or sheep wool.  They have also recuperated the small pocket ("nunu") woven in the bag to create a new bag with a big pocket woven right on the loom.

The original project has grown from 65 weavers living in the community of Parubamba to the incorporation of 6 new communities who live around the areas of Paucartambo, Huancarani, and Ampares, as well as other regions.  There are 7 weaving and dyeing workshops and the project benefits approximately 1050 people.  Several guide books, embassies and others consider their textiles as "the best textiles currently being produced in Peru".

My husband and I visited Juvenal Pimentel at his home in Calca, Cusco, in January 2009.  Juvenal is the president of the Parubamba's Weavers Association, we talked long (surrounded by the quietness of this town) about how they are doing, my husband is a savvy business man and gave them good business advices, they showed us many weavings made by different weavers and we bought many of them.  They used to have a shop in Cusco but that is no longer the case and sadly it is very hard for these fine weavings to find their way to conscious customers who appreciate good quality and want to pay a fair price for them.  They are building a weaving workshop and took us to see the place, it is among green mountains, it will be a fantastic place when it is finished.

I started a blog for them at their request, Dr. Silverman gave me the photos and text and I created the posts.

You are welcome to visit their Parubamba Weavers Association Blog .

My husband with Juvenal and his son David at their home in Calca