Textiles

I specialise in Bolivian Textiles, original modern and original.

The textiles I stock that are currently being produced in Bolivia are machine woven and come in two types and many colours and patterns:

Original textiles are mostly ponchos, awayos and aksus.

They are nearly all made by sewing two pieces of handwoven textile together.

The cloth is spun on a simple drop spindle and woven on a portable backstrap or stake loom.

A Poncho has a gap in the middle for the head to go through and is a male garment in Ayamara culture.

Awayo" is Ayamaran (the language of the Indigenous people of the Bolivian altiplano*) and translates as "general purpose piece of cloth". Common uses are as a; shawl, baby sling, bag, mat i.e. a general purpose piece of cloth.

More ornate and used exclusively for clothing by women is the Aksu. The cloth is spun on a simple drop spindle and woven on a backstrap loom, a portable loom where the tension is generated by the weaver who attaches one end of the loom to a fixed point and the other around their back (using a strap) thus one leans back and the threads go tight enabling weaving to take place.