1 2 3 4 Creating handcrafts is a sublime act combining knowledge and techniques that have remained throughout time. Our artisans’ creativity is as diverse as our cultural wealth.

The historical background and hard work converge in the elaboration of these magnificent crafts, in which- undeniably - the artisans’ soul is embodied.

Their skillful hands and patience transform raw materials that are mainly found in nature into crafts that are admired all over the world.

Such is the beauty of these crafts that we do not know whether we are seeing a handcraft or if we are in front of a piece of art. 5 Therefore while we admire them, we feel breathless with weaving of ecuadorian toquilla straw hat, natural dyes woven in the fibers of the shawls (macanas), as well as the design of molten silver and golden threads.

I invite you to rediscover a piece of our culture through this exhibition that takes us along every detail of the beauty of the crafts done with the sensitivity and love of our artisans.

Rocío González de Moreno CREDITS Lenín Moreno Garcés Constitutional President of the Republic of Ecuador Rocío González de Moreno President of the Inter-institutional Committee of “Toda Una Vida” Plan Patricia Cepeda Vásconez Cultural Management Director Norka Denisse Guevara Sipión Fredy Revelo Vizcaíno María Gabriela Villacrés Martínez Research and curatorship team Alex Carrera Apolo Fredy Revelo Vizcaíno Juan Andrés Sotomayor Ruiz Museography team Carlos Agüero Marrero Pablo Espinosa Crespo Gabriela Lemus Hidalgo Gabriel Ortega García Mario Sánchez Cruz Daniel Velasco Mora Photography Danilo Manzano Vela 6 Video Alfonso Ortiz Crespo Mery Jacqueline Campo Olalla Norka Denisse Guevara Sipión Luisa Martínez Chávez Editorial staff Janinna Cabezas Bucheli Mauricio Mena María Ormaza Cortez Graphic Art team Verónica Arias Palma Augusta Armas Miño Roberto López Fonseca Erick Noboa Santillán Deysi Pacheco Cajas Adriana Paredes Llantui Daniela Puruncajas Jérez David Ruiz Zambrano Fredy Quintanilla Castillo Juan Carlos Sisalema Sevilla Logistics and operations team Don Bosco Printing house

Showroom Artesano Artista Government Palace August, 2019. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To the institutions, artisans and designers who, with great enthusiasm and pride, opened the doors of their collections and workshops, so that we can learn and understand the laborious work behind each handmade piece.

Pumapungo Museum and Inter-American Center for Handicrafts and Popular Arts - CIDAP, Municipal

Museum Casa del Sombrero in Cuenca, Municipal Museum of Chordeleg, Archdiocese of Cuenca,

Anthropological and Contemporary Art Museum - MAAC, National Institute of Cultural Heritage, Center for

Artisan Training of Pile and the Civic Center City Alfaro.

Private Collection of Libertad Regalado Espinoza, factory of Homero Ortega, Andrea Tello, Adriana Landívar,

Juan Neira, Flavio and Manolo Jara, Eloy, Jorge and Wilson Lituma, Carmen Maldonado Pérez, Carmen 7 Orellana Rodas, José Jiménez Ulloa, Johanna Amalia Guillén Maldonado, María Eulalia Mora “Cuka, Art and

Design ”, Jhonny Chávez, Simón Abel Espinal, Cenovio Ídolo Espinal and María Clorinda Espinal.

To the columnists: Libertad Regalado Espinoza, Tamara Landívar Villagómez, María Tommerbakk Sorensen,

Fausto Ordonez, Rosángela Adoum and Francisco Valdez.

To the important support of the Azuay Governorate, Manabí Governorate, Municipal GAD of Chordeleg

Canton, Ministry of Culture and Heritage, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Defense, National Telecommunications

Corporation, Pro Ecuador and Municipal Tourism Foundation for Cuenca.

To the staff of the Cultural Management Directorate of the Presidency of the Republic. CONTENTS

PRESENTATION 1 Rocío González de Moreno

INTRODUCTION 2

THE THREADS THAT WOVE OUR HISTORY 7 Libertad Regalado Espinoza

WEAVING THE FINE STRAW HAT IN MANABÍ Libertad Regalado Espinoza 16

BRIEF HISTORICAL SYNTHESIS OF THE PRODUCTION OF STRAW HATS IN CUENCA 8 María Tommerbakk Sorensen 41

WEAVING DREAMS AND MEMORIES: THE MAGIC OF IKAT TECHNIQUE IN GUALACEO SHAWLS 63 Tamara Landívar Villagómez

GOLDSMITH AND ITS TECHNIQUES 83 Rosángela Adoum Francisco Valdez

AUSTRAL FILIGREE 91 Fausto Ordóñez Almeida

LIVING TRADITION 99

SHOWRROM 100 “Handcraft does not want to last millennia nor is it possessed by the rush of dying soon. It passes through the days, flows with us, and disappears little by little, does not seek death or denies it: it accepts it. Between the timeless time of the museum and the accelerated time of the technique, handcraft is the heartbeat of human time. It is not only the useful object but it is also the beauty; an object that lasts but ends and resists itself to end; an object 9 that is not unique like the work of art and that can be replaced by another similar but not identical object. Handcraft teaches us to die and thus teaches us to live. ”

Octavio Paz “El uso y la contemplación” (fragmento) INTRODUCTION

Ecuador is the cradle of several artisan Artisans and artists techniques, which presents us an inexhaustible ancestral cultural wealth, admired for its history, On this occasion, the Art in Palace project beauty and complexity. presents in the house of all the Ecuadorians, the Artisan-Artist exhibition, focused on these Thus, when traveling through our geography, three techniques: the laborious fabric with the names such as Jipijapa or Montecristi not only toquilla straw, used to make fine hats; the ikat refer to places, but to fine hats of toquilla straw technique, with which beautiful “macanas” fabric, which since an early nineteenth century, shawls are made, better known as Gualaceo have captivated locals and foreigners, who with shawls; and the filigree technique, which with pride began to wear on their heads the tradition thin metal threads achieves delicate jewelry and talent of our artisans. and decorative items.

10 Once we go to the highlands, the skin These techniques have been the subject of suddenly feels a change of climate, which important national and international recognition. requires warmer clothing and yet, our Thus, the traditional weaving of the Ecuadorian 10 sight discovers the exceptional colors of toquilla straw hat was declared an Intangible the Gualaceo shawls, made with the ikat Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in waving technique that include birds, snails, 2012; the ikat weaving technique from canton landscapes, roses, bunches of grapes, Gualaceo was declared an Intangible Cultural even coats of arms and awards, that merge Heritage of Ecuador in 2015. gracefully in free fringes, which together make up garments loaded with symbolism. Likewise, Carmen Orellana´s macanas received the UNESCO Artisan Excellence Very soon the sun rises and gives us heat. The Award in 2014. Similarly, the toquilla straw hat mountains acquire the shine of gold, the lakes of weaver Domingo Carranza gained a place shine like silver, and filigree also emerges, a in the exhibition “Items: Is Fashion Modern?” technique used in the traditional jewelry of MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) of New York, Cuenca and Chordeleg. Metal threads are curated by Paola Antonelli in 20171. On the woven to create earrings such as candongas, other hand, UNESCO and the Mincetur (Ministry chamburos or tendrils. of Commerce Exterior and Tourism of Peru)

1- Editor´s Note: Carranza´s toquilla straw hat was one of 111 items exhibited at MoMA, considered as one of the products that transcended. in time and significantly impact fashion during the twentieth and twenty-first Centuries. awarded the “Filigree comb” of the designer, Ecuadorian artisans live from their creations, goldsmith; teacher and researcher specialized which is their way of living and at the same in filigree, Andrea Tello, as one of the best time transmit the inheritance of their ancestors regional crafts in 2011. to the future.

Artisan-Artist takes place in the Government Despite the accelerated pace of today´s Palace, and presents the history and process society, “we strive to find identities in tradition, in of these three techniques, in which, indistinctly search of cultural aspects that refer to the past woolen threads, toquilla straw, gold and silver and to less valid forms of life”; (Martínez2, 2007: threads are woven. Here you will find the 14)3. At the same time, those identities allow dedication and skill of Ecuadorian hands giving a voice to a task as old as persistent, that carry in them the ancestral tradition of which not only has to do with the visible and each community. The exhibition is presented tangible of a jewel, a hat or a shawl, but above as a journey through the creative endemic all with the complex and unimaginable of some production of our homeland. techniques created in a remote period of time, 11 that represents the realities in constant 11 That is why the creators not only seek the transformation, that have remained throughout practical purpose or contemplate their articles, time and are still alive, as tradition continues, but they wish to market them and receive a recreating itself in memory, in the aesthetic fair price. Although its greatest reward is that contemplation of its art and, without a doubt, in consumers value their work. the hands of each artisan.

2- EN: Juan Martínez Borrero. Main teacher at the University of Cuenca. Master in History of America from the Pablo de Olavide University, Seville, Spain. Doctor of Education Sciences in the specialty of History and Geography from the University of Cuenca. Professor in Education Sciences in the specialty of History and Geography. He is also a specialist in virtual learning environments by the OEI, tutor in virtual education at the University of Mendoza and research fellow of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain. Among his publications are the books: The popular painting of Carmen, identity and culture in the eighteenth century; Popular culture in Ecuador (co-authored with H. Einzmann); Behind the Image, a study on popular iconography in Azuay; He is co-author of the work From the divine to the profane, Cuenca art of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (in charge of the study on the eighteenth century), among others. He has published book chapters as Commemoration of the 10 years of the cultural heritage of Cuenca; and articles in national and foreign magazines on cultural history topics. He currently serves as Director of the DIUC project, in execution “Material culture, imaginary and symbolic boundaries in the Royal Audience of Quito in the context of a globalized proto society. Case study ”(2017-2018). 3- EN: Taken from the article: What about traditional crafts? By the author Juan Martínez Borrero, published in Revista Mundo Diners, September 2007, Quito, Ecuador. 12 13 14

CARLUDOVICA PALMATA ca. 1798 From the Royal Botanic Garden in Madrid AUTHOR AVUERELA THE THREADS 1 THAT WOVE OUR HISTORY

Libertad Regalado Espinoza2

Historical background are found in greater abundance in the cultures of Chorrera, Jama Coaque, Guangala, Milagro- The fine toquilla straw hat woven in Manabi Quevedo, Bahia and Manteña. There are was known until the early twentieth century, as hypotheses that state that the hats worn by the “Jipijapa Hat.” It is a true work of art that was figures were made with toquilla straw. not born overnight; it took time, experience, and skill; having developed ancestral knowledge in There are few archeological studies that botany, in the use of plant fibers; thousands of demonstrate the existence of weaving with years of processes, to produce extreme quality plant fibers, because the weather conditions fabrics, already admired in pre-Columbian did not contribute to its preservation. cultures. An example of this was when Pedro Pizarro, dazzled by the softness of the layer that Estrada, in a corresponding burial 15 of the Atahualpa wore, he asks him about its origin Milagro-Quevedo phase, found remains of and he mentioned that the layer was made for cotton fabrics manufactured in a warped ikat 15 his father by weavers from Puerto Viejo, with technique, used in Ecuadorian weaving, very bat skins. This is a clear allusion to the delicacy rare used in Peru, as mentioned by a study of the fabric and the trade that existed between done by Joan Gardner (1982)3 which is one of these peoples. greatest complexity within textile art.

In the figures of the pre-Columbian cultures, we In the Esmeraldas project, textile imprints, can find that they have very similar forms of little turtles, ceramics and dyeing mollusks of the birds that are elaborated until today with great Atacames culture were found, as well as mastery in the towns of La Pile, Cerro Copetó, in the Jama Coaque culture but with more Santa Marianita and the site of San Pablo de specialized features4. Guinea, clarifies that Manta, known as “Las Chacras”;. These figures these imprints found on the ceramic figures

1- Taken from Regalado, Libertad. The threads that wove our history. National Institute of Cultural Heritage, Quito, 2010. p. 17-30. 2- Jipijapa (1953). For more than two decades she has been conducting research related to the cultural manifestations of the Manabí province. She is a university professor, writer and member of the National Academy of History of Ecuador. She has been also a Curator and consultant; among her works we can highlight, the research for the Declaration of the Toquilla Straw Hat Fabric as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity that she carried out for the National Institute of Cultural Heritage .She has published several scientific articles and books related to crafts and Manabí’s gastronomy, among them: Manabí and its millenary food; Manabi- a story about toquilla; The threads that wove our history; Indigenism and identity in Manabí. 3- Jorge Marcos, Archeology of the Old Province of Manabí, 2000, p. 11. were the result of a manufacturing process, degrees is not prone to wear wool caps, so as Karen Stothert mentions this in 1990, and a we consider that it must have been made of work done by other researchers on textile prints toquilla straw or mocora, which match with of more than 200 hollow ceramic figures from “tree leaves”, "Fiber of a palm", the Ecuadorian coast, of the Late Formative as mentioned by Father José María Cobos, and Regional Development periods, found in who accompanied Benalcázar on his trip different Ecuadorian museums. to the conquest of Quito in the years of 1534, where he recounts that the natives of The use of toquilla straw is linked to Bahía de Caráquez, Manta, Montecristi and the manufacture of hats but also to the Jipijapa, wore strange clothes and on their manufacture of wickerwork, as evidenced heads they had ornaments with shapes like by imprints found in the Japotó site, where "vampire wings" that served them it is possible to appreciate the fabric made as a protection from the sun. there. Also, found in this place, the use of toquilla straw in the elaboration of quincha (o The Indians had told them that they were enquinche) for the construction of the walls. made with bat skin, but later, the Europeans found out that they were made with a fiber Víctor Emilio Estrada observed in an analysis from a palm of this region. of the figures from the Manteño period: “the only garment that is constantly found is a Francisco de Xerez corroborates the use of 16 kind of hat, tight to the skull, short in the back vegetable fiber in hats to cover the head: “… and long on the sides, as certain Indians still there were many towns with a lot of gold, the use it today in the high plateau in Bolivia and land was very flat and humid (…) and that Peru. it was so hot at some time of the year that the Indians could not walk without carrying We have already said that this artifact barks of trees under their feet, because originates in the Chorrera period. Possibly it walking with their bare feet they would burn, was woven with cotton or wool, no trace has and they had hats made from leaves of trees been found so far since it is almost impossible on the heads”6. Pedro Pizarro, also refers to to find archeological fabrics in our area, due the people of Puerto Viejo and Tumbes, he to the destructive humidity”5. describes them as: “these people (…) wear a suit and have some type of little sifters on As inhabitants of these areas we know that their heads; The main Indians have a pair this of four-finger wide gold and silver chaquira climate that changes between 25 and 35 woven belts (…)”7.

4-Mercedes Guinea, Spanish Journal of American Anthropology, 2004, pp. 64-79. 5-Francisco de Xerez, True Relationship of the Conquest of Peru, Concepción Bravo Edition 1985, p. 176. 6-Ibídem. The origin of the fine straw hat steps of the new straw hat model were taken and this famous tradition was inaugurated. About who created the model that today is known as the classic fine hat, two names have Everything shows that the information of been mentioned. Buenaventura Navas8 Prospero Pérez and Buenaventura Navas are more attached to reality. For the natives it mentions the origin of the first straw hat made must have been an impact to observe hats by an Indian named Chóez in Julcuy, former different than from those they wore, and like founder of the parish of the canton. every artisan, apart from being creative, they are curious, likes to see, catch, feel, Próspero Pérez9, historian from Jipijapa, imitate and improve the product Pedro confirms Buenaventura Navas’ information and Chóez decided to make like the one that Mr. locates the town of Picalauseme, today Julcuy, Francisco Delgado used. Jipijapa parish, as the site where Domingo Chóez began to weave the hat, credited as the With this, the possibility that the presence first hat weaver in the year of 1630. He also of this Creole in Manabí has not been ruled highlights that due to his own initiative he would out, since once the Spaniards settled in our make a hat like those used by the Spanish, lands and were part of the environment, in using native materials. their desire not only to conquest, but also to possess and dominate, they inserted in the Meanwhile Domínguez10, mentioned that by natives lives, European customs that covered a 17 the years 1630, Francisco Delgado arrived wide field: from religion to agriculture, clothing, from Panama and settled in Manabí; when he food, education, and crafts. One of them is the saw the ability of the natives using the fabric transformation of the woven objects they used with the palm fiber for the elaboration of covers to cover their heads from the sun, in European- and the famous bat wings, this idea arose by style hats; those who took new aspects seeing the hats, “tocas” like those used by according to the use, ways that over the time the religious, and to improve those that were have become famous and that even carry the shaped like a bell, and of course hats with name of their designers. other shapes. Therefore the natives of Jipijapa began manufacturing this. These hats were To appreciate the value that the Spanish made from “mocora” straw, and “toquillas”; of colonizers gave to weaving and especially a finer and more delicate straw, so much that to the hat, it is convenient to refer to the first it could be stored in bags and pockets like moments of the conquest to extract their a handkerchief. In this way the first weaving admiration for weaving from the chronicler´s;

7-Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño, The Inter-Andean and Western Ecuador before the Spanish conquest. Ecuadorian Edition Volume II, 1941, p. 96. 8-Buenaventura Navas, Historical and Illustrated Monograph of Canton Jipijapa, 1933, Guayaquil Municipal Library, 1933, p. 107. 9- Próspero Antonio Pérez García, Protohistoric and Prehistoric Stories of the Old Province of Jipijapa, Part One and Part Two, 1965, p. 28. 10-Miguel Ernesto Domínguez, 1.995, pp.15-16. relations. Bartholomew Ruiz wrote down in the Mario Cicala, mentions in the “Historic log of his trip; that near the bay of San Mateo description – Topography of the Province of they found an ocean raft. In it the Indians: Quito from Compañía de Jesús”13, that the “Bring many blankets of cotton wool and shirts years spent in these lands between 1748 and (…) and many other clothes, all the rest of 1767, date on which he left the country due to the objects very elaborated with rich shapes, the expulsion decree of the Jesuits; he said colors such as crimson, blue , yellow and lots of that in Jipijapa “a very special kind of straw is 18 other colors, with different patterns, figures produced, very thin and as white as the snow of birds, and animals and fish and trees11. with which they make beautiful straw hats, so fine and strong that they resist the most Ruiz is not the only one who highlights torrential rains without water penetrating them. weaving. Also Diego de Trujillo mentioned this in the “Relationship of the discovery of the They are sold for three, four, five and six shields kingdom of Peru”;, Miguel Cabello de Balboa, and are certainly worth it, because they are Francisco de Xerez, “True relationship of the wonderful to cover from the sun's fiery conquest of the Perú”, Pedro Cieza de León,“ rays, and because they resist rain and water Chronicle of Peru”. very well, and finally because they are long lasting. They gave me one that I used for 9 Juan Antonio Zelaya in his story about: “State of continuous years and on my trip to Europe I was Guayaquil Province”12 mentions that by 1765, asked by a person whom I could not deny… ” 18 Jipijapa was considered the best place for the production and trade of the toquilla straw hat. Manuel Villavicencio describes “… the towns Mentions that at the end of that century, due of Santa Ana, Riochico as places where hats to the continuous volcanic eruptions and the are worked in greater quantity, but ordinary; in modification of sea currents, the province of Portoviejo some are done “entrefinos” (...). The Manabí was affected by drought, destroying Jipijapa Canton industry consists of toquilla many cocoa plantations, which devastated straw hats; 25,000 pesos are imported monthly, the region. which is almost half of the total product of the province (...). The industry of the Montecristi The Olmedo site then becomes the barn and Canton consists of the weaving of straw hats, supplier of the beautiful toquilla straw that is the which fabric is as thin as cheesecloth (...). most considerable trade part for these Indians. From this straw, special hats are made and of The Rocafuerte canton industry consists of greater esteem than those of mocora. some toquilla straw hats”.14

11-Juan de Samano, Samano Relation, 1526, 1985, p.179. 12-Juan Antonio Zelaya, State of Guayaquil Province, 1765, pp. 97-106. 13-Mario Cicala, Historic Description.– Topography of the Provice of Quito from Compañía de Jesús, Ecuadorian Library “Aurelio Espinoza Polit”, Quito, 1994, original 1771, p. 626. SOMBRERO EN PROCESO Cuenca, 1979 Colección CIDAP Fotografía: Gabriela Lemus Hidalgo 19

During the early nineteenth century, young for the toquilla straw hat weaving industry (the baron Von Humboldt gets interested in the famous Jipijapa hats) and for trade attached to fiber with which hats are made. The tireless that industry…”15 German traveler and scientist visited Jipijapa where he received as a gift a straw hat; back to At the beginning of the 20th century, when Quito, he brought some Carludovica palmata Marshall Saville carried out studies of the plants to study and acclimatize them in other archeology of the area, he mentioned that environments and temperatures. Manabí “is famous for its hats, famous for its manufacture of the famous Panama hats, in Dr. Theodore Wolf, when he describes these Montecristi they are very fine and are the most towns, he relates the manufacture of the straw appreciated worldwide, in the market you can hat with the town of Jipijapa, he says: “… the buy them up to $75 first-hand, without town is the largest and most important in the intermediary to the manufacturer, for a single entire province, with 6,000 inhabitants, known hat”.16

14-Manuel Villavicencio, Geography of the Republic of Ecuador, National Publishing Corporation l, 1858, p. 483-492. 15-Teodoro Wolf, Geography and Geology of Ecuador, Quito, Casa de la Cultura Editorial, 1975, original 1888, p.14Temístocles Estrada, 16-Temístocles Estrada, Historical and Geographic Relations of Manabí. Volume IV, chapter. I, p.10. 20 21 22

FINE TOQUILLA STRAW HAT, MANABÍ Photograph Ministry of Tourism FINE TOQUILLA STRAW HAT Libertad Regalado Espinoza

Awake to life in the middle of the I am part of the time I keep toquillal, with the howl of the monkeys a memory of my origins protected by the bamboo impregnated rummage in my past look with the sweet aroma of coffee and the for my secrets brackish breeze of the sea. that chase me through the villages where Skillful fingers on contact I left my trail rediscover symbols They try to save me. with thin rays of tender 23 moon wake up With your hands, sound, sight, the bodies hunched over an hearing, and smell, f easel built with moyuyo. oundations were built where our identity is registered and where Ancestral wisdom travels through its Jipijapa, Montecristi hat was created. neurons, initiating an intense idyll where the hours, They gave me life with days and months multiply in that silent their movements and rites delivery while we plot here in this land of Manabi the lightest hat, where once the birds of imagination Fine and cuddly of the planet. filled our world. THE WEAVING OF FINE TOQUILLA STRAW HAT IN MANABÍ

Libertad Regalado Espinoza

To talk about the fine straw hat is to refer to they would note that they were made with a one of the identity symbols of the province of palm fiber known as “jipijapa”, which over the Manabí, which became one of the artisanal years would be called toquilla straw and not manifestations that contributed to the economic, Carludovica palmata, as botanists sent by the social, cultural and political development of the Kingdom of Spain.1 indigenous people of Jipijapa and Montecristi during the colony and the first decades of the republic, and it was also part of our peoples’ dressing for thousands of years as evidenced by Valdivia figures with their heads covered with objects similar to helmets, caps, which vary in several patterns. 24 24 According to the years that go by and they transform in the cultures with models very similar to the little birds and hats used until today. The attractive figures come from cultures such as: Chorrera, Jama Coaque, Bahia, Milagro Quevedo, Manteña.

From the first moment that the Spaniards stepped on our land they were impressed with the strange objects used by the Indians of Bahía de Caráquez, Montecristi, Jipijapa, Manta to ANTHROPOMORPH WHISTLE BOTTLE WITH HAT cover themselves from the sun, and compared Chorrera Culture, 1000 - 100 a.C. them with “vampire wings”. The natives told National Collection, Anthropological Museum and Contemporary Art, MAAC-MCYP them that they made them with bat skin, then Photographer Mario Sánchez Cruz

1-NE: La expedición botánica al virreinato del Perú, estuvo dirigida por Hipólito Ruiz López, conformada por varios científicos e ilustradores, entre ellos el farmacéutico José Antonio Pavón y Jiménez, y por esto también se la llama expedición de Ruiz y Pavón. En 1784 se unió Juan José Tafalla, en calidad de agregado botánico. Entre 1799 y 1808, herborizaron en el territorio de la Audiencia de Quito, con el objeto de elaborar la Flora Huayaquilensis. Entre los dibujantes estaba el quiteño Xavier Cortés. Los expedicionarios continuaron realizando envíos periódicos de material a España, hasta la muerte de Tafalla en 1811. Este material quedó inédito hasta 1991, cuando fue publicado por el científico ecuatoriano Dr. Eduardo Estrella. The “vampire wings” or touches, as the Spaniards called it, would change from the year 1630, imitating the cloth hats worn by Spanish and foreign settlers who visited our lands. And it would be in Jipijapa where the traditional or classic hat would be made for the first time, since the best weavers were identified in this place by Francisco Delgado, a Creole from Panama, who motivated this innovation.

This novelty in the weaving spread to surrounding towns. The artisans of Montecristi would also enter the “jipijapa” trade, and the management of the straw was increasingly improved until it was possible to perform very fine weaving ANTHROPOMORPHIC FIGURE WITH HAT 25. that could be folded and stored in pockets. Milagro Quevedo Culture, 400-1532 d.C. National Collection, Anthropological Museum and Decades later it would be woven throughout Contemporary Art, MAAC-MCYP the province and with shapes that would be Photographer Mario Sánchez Cruz known as machotes, little birds, openwork, The hat would also change its name from semi-classical, colonial or as usual: thick, thin, “jipijapa” to “Montecristi” and “Panama Hat”; thin, superfine, extra-fine; classification that is 25 the latter would be done by association with linked to the degree: strands per inch, or rows Panama, where people who came from different per centimeter; as well as special models such parts of the planet acquired it, as well as a place as: capone, fedora, borsalino, optimum, planter, of passage to go to California, during that period all named by the most famous designers in the of time famously known as “The Gold Rush”, world. where thousands of hats would shine in unison with the gold nuggets; and as a place of work or It is likely that during pre-Columbian time hats tourism during the time of the construction of the and its fiber have been a trade element with Peru, grand canal, between 1889 and 1910. Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico; places visited by these skillful Manabi navigators, thanks to its From 1843, when permits to export hats and famous mantesa raft. During the colony period, toquilla straw were granted, thus avoiding the Spanish administrators took possession of smuggling, Montecristi merchants installed its commercialization, generating problems for trade houses in Panama. One of these was the native merchants and weavers. Manuel Alfaro in 1849, father of Eloy Alfaro, who from 1864, would personally take over the family By the end of the colonial era, the economic business elated to the import, marketing and problems from the political, economic and export of toquilla straw hats. administrative situation led to the creation of ordinances in other provinces to teach handcrafts, such as in Azuay, which managed to become during the mid-nineteenth century in one of the most important centers for making hats for exportation. The demand generated by people who were going: first in search of gold to California and then to the construction of the Panama Canal, made it possible for exports to grow and therefore, Manabí’s supply was insufficient to supply the international market. By then, it was woven throughout the province of Manabí, in Santa Elena and in the provinces of Azuay and Cañar.

The art of weaving the hat and raw material crossed the country’s borders. Peoples from Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Panama, Guatemala and Mexico learned from the hands of artisans from Manabí to weave hats. In Bolivia, in the sector known as Candelaria, there is an association called Jipijapa, which is women hat 26 weavers with this material, who paradoxically continue to call it “jipijapa”, as in Becal, Mexico; Cocle, Bocas del Toro, Colón, Darién in Panama as in his early years

TOQUILLA STRAW WEAVERS Montecristi, 1905 Collection Ministry of Culture and Heritage 27 What makes this hat different? the artisan makes the weaver’s selection and he will be in charge of each of the phases of the process, leaving the last phases in 1.“Jjipijapa” with which the fine hat are the hands of the merchant or the one who made, are only found in these parts of the commissioned the fabric, who will take the hat country, this is the reason why the weavers to Montecristi, where the specialist finished, in the colony period were opposed to the composed and hatching the hat. commercialization of the fiber to other

places of the Royal Audience of Quito or 4.It has an antique ivory color, which is the Viceroyalty of Lima and Santa Fe. They obtained thanks to a process of boiling the claimed that they could lose their source of straw, smoked with sulfur and dried in the sun. income. 5.The more threads they weave, their texture 2.That the secrets of the cultivation of the is thinner, lighter and at the same time more straw and of each one of the phases of the resistant, that neither cold nor heat can elaboration of the hat were transmitted from bend it. generation to generation. 6.It is subjected to chemical processes and its preparation requires patience, thorough, 3.That over the years the peoples of Manabí constant work that can take three to eight 28 were specializing in the weaving phases months, depending on the degree achieved. becoming settle experts of the cultivation of In recent years, the 60 degree barrier has straw, people located between Aromo, San been overcome. Simón Espinal, weaver Lorenzo, Manantiales, Pile, Los Anegados, of Pile, has made two superfine hats of 62 San José and the Pampas where the degrees, surpassing his own record and toquillales and the preparation and bleaching becoming the best weaver on the planet. of straw, where done in sites such as El Aromo and Picoazá; for thick hats (machotes) 7.It is one of the most important garments in Picoazá, Pepa de Uso, La Sequita, El Chorillo, all four continents and preferred by great Cerro de Hoja, Cerro Guayabal, Los Bajos, El characters from both royalty and the world Aromo, San Lorenzo, Río Caña, Santa Ana, of fashion, cinema, politics, literature, and Colorado, Membrillal; for the weaving of the commerce. extra-fine and fines in Las Pampas, La Solita, Pile, Las Lagunas, Copetón Hill, Camarones; and for openwork hats in Las Lagunas and Cerro Copetón. How do you make a fine hat?

The super and extra fine hats are It starts with the collection of the bud, which concentrated in Pile. These hats, as well as must have the necessary maturity. The amount the fine ones, differ from the others because of buds is cut in accordance with the fineness 29

STRAW TOQUILLA HAT WEAVERS IN JIPIJAPA ca. 1910 – 1920 Photographic Record: Dr. Miguel Díaz Cueva National Cultural Heritage Institute Collection colorized photograph preserves original text of the required hat, considering the finess of color has been achieved, the best strands that the hat, considering the phases of the moon match are chosen from the different straws, and the time of the day. Once the straw is the process is extremely delicate when it moved to the house, the buds should be left comes to an extra or superfine hat, because standing, so that they can finish leaking the the strands resemble a human hair. Once the sap, about two or three days before starting strands are made, they are wrapped in a white the process of chopping, beheaded, cracked, linen cloth and only what is needed to weave boiled, peeled, sun dried, and smoked. in the day will be removed, thus preventing the straw from drying out. The ways to start The process of bleaching the straw can last the crown are known as esterite, chicken ass several days, which depends on the hue of and crab stitch, which is the most common the ivory color required. Once the desired in Pile. Eight strands are required and will 30

SIMÓN ABEL ESPINAL A native of Pile, his fabric has exceeded 60 degrees de Pile, Photographer: Janinna Cabezas Bucheli gradually be added, that is, getting more and Weavers of all ages: men, and mostly women, more strands as the crown advances in its subsist deep pains, keeping in their hands an elaboration and for the template, this process ancient art, extraordinarily complex and can take one, two or three months, then comes the descent of the cup where it is only added to laborious work. These living treasures, that replace a strand. cultivate, prepare the straw, weave the fine hat, are a group of people that in their Then the cup is done and can take two genes bring this ancestral wisdom, love months to make; the wing is woven, where toquilla straw, are happy doing this work of straw will be added again, taking care not to art, and are proud of their history; defended undulate the weaving, this phase can take the commercialization of handcrafts during from one to three months and will end with the colony, contributed to the wars of thousands of straws, between five and eight independence, to get out of poverty to other thousand or more, this will always depend on provinces of the country and towns in Peru, the fineness of the weaving. Bolivia, Colombia, Panama, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico where they shared their Once it has been completed, it is smoked knowledge of this weaving; contributed to before delivering it to the merchant or the the liberal revolution and especially to the 31 person who ordered the hat, who must take economy of their homes. it to Montecristi to carry out the composting process where it begins with the azocado, The toquilla straw hat weaving, a true work topped, shaved, uncorked, beaten, washed, of art, was declared Intangible Cultural Heritage 31 of the Humanity, by UNESCO, on smoked and final ironing to finish this December 5, 2012, this should motivate us to participate more directly in its preservation, Those who weave supporting weaving-holding communities, improving their quality of life, strengthening There are hundreds of fingers that will work to local identity culture, ensuring sustainable make the final details of this handmade jewel, development, protecting their toquillales a human chain that begins at age six until your from environmental and human threats, eyes can see the tiny strands with which the so that the hats continue to be elaborated “jipijapas” and the “montecristis” weave. A and their knowledge transmitted to the new whole human group, many times unknown, but generations. In this way, we will be keeping without them it would not be possible for us to this handmade jewel for posterity; otherwise, it would be useless to have fought for this admire this delicate work of art. international recognition. 32

TOQUILLA STRAW PLANT. Photographer: Carlos Agüero Marrero Scientifically known as “Carludovica palmata”, it was called “jipijapa” and over the years, toquilla straw.

The process of making the toquilla straw hat begins here, after harvesting the buds, the artisans take them to their workshop and detach them, and after this they will bring them to a boil.

The toquillales of great quality production are those of Pile, Aguas Frías, Las Pampas and El Aromo.

33

FIBER UNRAVELING. Photographer: Carlos Agüero Marrero 34

TOQUILLA STRAW COOKING PROCESS. Photograph: Ministry of Tourism The toquilla straw hat made in Manabí achieves an antique ivory color, which is obtained thanks to a boiling process, smoked with sulfur and drying the straw.

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DRYING TOQUILLA STRAW. Photograph: Ministry of Tourism 36

DRYING TOQUILLA STRAW. Photograph: Carlos Agüero Marrero 37

SELECTION TOQUILLA STRAW. Fotografía: Ministerio de Turismo 38

CENOVIO ÍDOLO ESPINAL, PILE ARTISAN. Photographer: Janinna Cabezas Bucheli 39

MARÍA CLORINDA ESPINAL, PILE ARTISAN 40

TOQUILLA STRAW HAT IN PROGRESS Photographer: Carlos Agüero Marrero 41

TOQUILLA STRAW HAT IN PROCESS Photographer: Janinna Cabezas Bucheli 42

UNIFNISHED HATS WTIHOUT CUTTNG THR RIM. Colección privada REMATE DE SOMBREROS DE PAJA TOQUILLA. Fotografía: Janinna Cabezas Bucheli

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IRONING TOQUILLA STRAW HAT. Photographer: Carlos Agüero Marrero 44

TOQUILLA STRAW HAT Photograph: Ministry of Tourism La confección del sombrero de paja toquilla requiere de un trabajo paciente y minucioso. Este puede puede llevar de tres a ocho meses según el grado que se alcance. En los últimos años se logró superar la barrera de los 60 grados. Simón Espinal, tejedor de Pile ha elaborado dos sombreros superfinos de 62 grados, superando su propio récord, convirtiéndose en el mejor tejedor.

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FINE TOQUILLA STRAW HAT Photographer: Gabriel Ortega García 46 47 48

WOMEN WEAVING HATS Cuenca, 1905 Ministry of Culture and Heritage Collection BRIEF HISTORICAL SYNTHESIS OF THE PRODUCTION OF TOQUILLA STRAW HATS IN CUENCA1

María Tommerbakk Sorensen2

In the first half of the nineteenth century, the international demand declined, the hat came southern region of Ecuador experienced a to occupy an increasingly high place in the sharp reduction in economic activity, reflecting regional economy. the vulnerability of the area to the political and economic changes that were experienced The elaboration of the straw hats in the from military clashes with Spaniards, Peruvians Austro, was born due to the initiative of the and different local fractions. Armed conflicts then government minister, Benigno Malo, who involved the consumption of pack animals, promoted the creation of a school to teach this. food and metals, and the destruction of communication channels, thus nullifying the To start the learning process, six children were basis of commercial activity. The result of this chosen from the schools in Cuenca and six process was that in the middle of the century, from Azogues, and he brought a teacher from the commercial relations of the region with the the province of Manabí4, place with a long 49 abroad were almost null and also the internal tradition of hat weaving. mercantile activity was reduced 3. From this same province the raw material This trend would not change until the second was provided, the straw, this is only grown in half of the nineteenth century, with the that area. When the craft of hat weaving was export of the shell, a product required for the generalized, a considerable number of people quinine production and the production and were engaged in this work. The weavers were exportation of the toquilla straw hat. The shell not specialized people, as in the case of apparently formed the most important product silversmiths, shoemakers, chair makers, etc., for the region for several decades, but as the who were subject to labor regulations and

1- EN: Partial reproduction of the book Weaving dreams, from Casa del Sombrero Museum. Cuenca, 2018. Small corrections have been made to the text, some punctuation marks have been added or removed and unnecessary capitals have been lowered. 2- EN: María Tommerbakk Sorensen,Norway,1976.She has a Bachelor of Visual Arts and Master of Arts with a major in Theory and Philosophy of Art (University of Cuenca). She has several historical investigations for restoration projects of heritage buildings in Cuenca, such as Casa de las Posadas, Quinta Bolívar, Casa de la Bienal, Iglesia Antigua de Sinincay, municipal property houses in the sector of the Cruz del Vado, The Broken Bridge, The New Cathedral among others. In collaboration with Arch. Lourdes Abad, she published the chapter on Cuenca for the book Republican City and Architecture of Ecuador, 1850-1950 (Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador). She is currently coordinating the Research Department of the Directorate of Historic and Heritage Areas of the Municipal GAD of the Canton, Cuenca. She has collaborated in the publication of Central School: Historical research, compilation of texts and studies (2014); Passage Leon and neighborhood of San Francisco: Historical research and architectural intervention (2015); Vernacular architecture and San Roque neighborhood (2017). 3- Silvia Palomeque, Cuenca in the nineteenth century: Articulating a region, (Quito: FLACSO- Abya Yala, 1990), p. 123-135. 4- Paul Rivet, ”The hat industry in Ecuador and Peru”, Journal of Anthropology, no. 11, (1991), 28, 29. quality controls, but they worked individually in Exhibition of 1904, in which they exhibited their homes making their product intended to and rewarded hats, among other industrial be sold at fairs. products. In the speech of Councilman Luis A. Loyola, we read the following comment: Many weavers in the nineteenth century were peasants who combined this work with their If you go through the section corresponding agricultural work, while others were peasant to hats, you will have the opportunity origin people who had immigrated to the city to observe extra-fine hats, made in our of Cuenca or the town of Azogues, a place province, with toquilla straw grown in the that became the main producing center of the Western region of the republic, and others, region. The occupational census carried out in made with the raw material of our East. This 1875, shows that 60% of the people employed article constitutes, as for today, one of the in Azogues were dedicated to hat weaving and most important exports, and you know that that 53% of them were women5. its manufacture and commerce provide comfort and lucrative trade to thousands of The actual volume of production is unknown in fellow citizens, who have been making and this first period of hat making, but it is known selling hats for years (...) that it tended to rise permanently. Initially, 50 the production was destined for the regional Also, in 1907, Paul Rivet, a member of the domestic market, but by 1870, hats began second French Geodetic Mission, published to be exported out of the country. However, an article that analyzes the hat industry in it was not until the first years of the twentieth Ecuador and Peru. The data and descriptions century that exports increased to such an provided are interesting as a contemporary extent that it could solve the economic crisis, testimony of this production. as a result of the lack of demand for the husk in the international market, and thus reactivate We found that, by that time, the craft of commercial relations generating a capital weaving had become widespread, so that both that allowed investments in other areas of men, women and children were dedicated production6. to this work in their homes, but Rivet, unlike the speech cited above, where it is stated The value that the people from Cuenca that weaving provides a “lucrative trade” to recognized in the toquilla straw hat and their thousands of citizens, refers to the low pay eagerness to improve and promote production received by the weaver who were pleased were clearly reflected in the first Azuaya with a “ridiculous” amount of money. Rivet

5- Silvia Palomeque, Cuenca in the nineteenth century: The articulation of a region , 50, 51. 6- 6- Ibíd., 50, 52, 68. 51

FABRICACIÓN DE SOMBREROS DE PAJA TOQUILLA Cuenca, 1908 Colección Ministerio de Cultura y Patrimonio

concludes that labor is “excessively cheap” in recent years their work had begun to be done the Ecuador7. with measurements and also to elaborated “women’s headdresses”8. In the same year, Definitely as a result of the export and the Cuenca’s exporters estimated that 1,000 influence of foreign fashion, in this period, dozens per month were sent abroad and that production diversifies. Rivet mentions that they manufactured 400 or 500 dozen hats a short time ago, artisans were guided by per week. Before sending the product they one or two invariable models, and that in were folded and packed inside one another,

7- Paul Rivet, “The hat industry in Ecuador and Peru”, 33, 39. 8- Ibíd., 35. work that had to be performed very carefully, the 20th century. In an article by Luis Monsalve making sure that the hats were completely dry Pozo from 1946, it mentions that the majority of to prevent them from reaching their destination weavers were middle-class and “proletarian” with mold spots. The transfer was made with women, from Cuenca, Azogues, Gualaceo mules to the port of Naranjal, then by sea to and Biblián or peasants from the provinces Guayaquil and then sent to other countries. of Azuay and Cañar. In lesser numbers there In other countries this product was known as were women from the upper classes who the “Panama Hat”, because the hats passed wove “... ladies who need savings for their through Panama before reaching their final shawls ...” Many of the women did not have destination. At that time there was no tariff to this job as the only income source; they export the product and in countries such as wove during their “free” time, after finishing Germany, England and Belgium no import tax, domestic or agricultural work, but not working- while in the United States, the most important class women, who had this as the only job. market of the Cuenca hat, customs charged The production chain and the distribution of 35% of the price declared on the invoices. resources were studied in detail by Mr. Luis Monsalve: Another testimony that reflects the importance of this production, just over a After finishing the hat the weaver was forced 52 decade after Rivet’s analysis, we found in the to sell it to a reseller popularly known as Monograph of the Canton Cuenca, written by “dog.” This character went from house to Octavio Díaz and published in 1919. Here, house through the fields or to the urban the author states that all social classes have market to buy the hats, the same that he been dedicated to the making of straw hats, managed to obtain at very low prices (6 to estimating that there would be around 15,000 10 sucres). Then the purchased hat passed weavers in the city alone. This industry also to the “commission agent”, he was one of provided support to other operators required the exporting houses, who bought it in 12 in the production process9. For his part, in - 15 sucres, to deliver it to the exporting the Monograph of Azuay, published seven house in 18 - 20 sucres, so that the weaver years later, Luis F. Mora described the obtained less than half of the real value of production of hats as “... the first and great their hat, this because they could not sell it industry not only of the Canton Cuenca, but directly to an exporting house. of the entire province of Azuay ...” After the hat was acquired by an exporter, The low remuneration of the weavers remained it was sent to the house of workers, known a problem throughout the until the first half of as azocadores who were responsible for

9- Octavio Díaz, Monograph of the Canton of Cuenca (Cuenca: Tip. Municipal, 1919), 36. 53

TOQUILLA STRAW HATS CLASSIFICATION ca. 1930 - 1940 Pumapungo Museum Photograph Collection National Institute of Cultural Heritage tightening and securing the rims. Then, the product passed to the composers who generally worked on centralized works of the export houses or in free workshops that received orders from them. The composers did the work required for the finishes such as washing, ironing, shaping with sulfur to bleach the hat and potting them to obtain a uniform and flexible finish. In the export houses the classification of the product was also made by the quality of each hat and the graduation and measurement before the final packaging10.

Once the product reached its destination abroad, it was again subjected to a finishing process. In recognized factories, the hats were washed and bleached again, to finally give the final shape according to fashion 54 and decorating them with ornaments and ribbons11.

CASA DE MIGUEL HEREDIA CRESPO, EXPORTADOR DE SOMBREROS DE PAJA TOQUILLA ca. 1930 - 1940 Fondo Fotográfico Museo Pumapungo Colección Instituto Nacional de Patrimonio Cultural

10-Ibíd., 100. 11-Ibíd., 101. 55 Export houses emerged at the end of the 19th The revaluation of artisan work is important Century and by the middle of the 20th Century and necessary, which, for decades, has been there were around twenty. The partners one of the engines of the national economy, were often relatives or close friends, whose and an inexhaustible source of cultural capital. economic power became of great importance. Moreover, with their work, which can take In 1953, there were eighteen export houses in weeks or months to achieve a fine finish, they the city of Cuenca, of which ten were large or give us one of the greatest treasures and, wholesale, and the remaining, were smaller. however, not always fairly valued: our identity Of the largest, five were owned by several and socio-cultural memory, through traditional families of Jewish origin12. In these years, techniques, such as toquilla straw weaving, shortly before the definitive decline in demand which thanks to its flexibility and ability to adapt for the product abroad, the production had a to the new demands of the market today, the major increase. toquilla straw hat made in Ecuador continues to be a product well appreciated and admired According to the author Luis Monsalve, almost worldwide. five and a half million units had been exported in that year with a value of more of 94 million sucres.13 The “boom” of the toquilla straw 56 declined a few years later and by 1954, it barely represented 1.6% of the total value of the country’s exports, while ten years earlier it had represented 23%14 .

The number of export houses also decreased, but still today the craft of manufacturing and exporting hats persists - on a small scale -, a production that keeps the legend alive of our toquilla straw hat.

12-EN: Luis Monsalve Pozo, in his article The Toquilla Straw Hat (1953) refers to the houses: La K. Dorfzaun (1939), La Ernesto J. French (s / f), La Emenco (s / f), La Lukaiser Corp. S.A. (1939) and La Brandon Hat Co. (1950) that, at different dates, began with toquilla straw hats trades in association with Cuban citizens 13-Luis Monsalve Pozo, ““The straw hat”, p.30, 37. 14-Diego Jaramillo, “From the checkpoint plan to the city of the migrant”, in: Cuenca Santa Ana de las Aguas (Quito: Ed. Libri Mundi, 2004). 57

CHOLA CUENCANA WEAVING A HAT Photograph: Ministry of Tourism 58

TOQUILLA STRAW DYE. Photograph: Ministry of Tourism 59

WOMEN WEAVERS OF AZUAY 60 61

CHOLA CUENCANA WEAVING A HAT. Photograph: Ministry of Tourism 62

GIRL WITH TOQUILLASTRAW HAT. Photograph: Ministry of Tourism 63

HATS IN PROCESS. Photographer: Gabriela Lemus Hidalgo The Export houses were in charge of classifying the hats, according to the quality, graduation and measurement, before the final packing.

64 Weavers work in their homes, mostly women and children.

Their hands create one of the greatest treasures and yet not always fairly valued: the cultural memory. 65

REMATE DE SOMBRERO DE PAJA TOQUILLA Fotografía: Ministerio de Turismo 66

TOQUILLA STRAW HAT, CUENCA Photograph: Ministry of Tourism BIBIOGRAPHY

Díaz, O. (1991). Monograph of the Canton of Cuenca. Cuenca, Ecuador.Tip. Municipal.

Cárdenas, M. (2005). Region and national state in Ecuador: Progressive Azuayo of 19th Century (1840-1895). Col. Centenario (5). Quito, Ecuador: National History Academy of Ecuador y Universidad Pablo de Ulavide.

Jaramillo, D. (2004). From the checkpoint plan to the city of the migrant. En D., Jaramillo (2004), Cuenca Santa Ana de las Aguas (pp. 86-143). Quito, Ecuador: Libri Mundi.

Lloret, A. (1990). From cast to cast.. En A., Lloret Bastidas (1990), Cuencanerías (T. 1 y 2) (pp. 215- 242). Cuenca, Ecuador. Ecuadorian Culture House Monsalve, L. (1946). The industry of toquilla Straw hats. 67 In L., Monsalve (1946), Indigenous issues in Ecuador, (1) (p. 96- 67 125). Quito, Ecuador. Ecuadorian Culture House

Monsalve, L. (1953). The straw toquilla hat. Annals of the University of Cuenca, 2. (pp. 21-77). Recovered from: http://dspace.ucuenca.edu.ec/ handle/123456789/4494

Mora, L. (1926). Monography of Azuay. Cuenca, Ecuador: s.e.

Palomeque, S. (1990).mCuenca in the nineteenth century: Articulating a region. Col. Thesis- History (2). Quito, Ecuador: FLACSO-Abya Yala.

Rivet, P. (1991). The hat industry in Ecuador and Peru. Anthropology Magazine 11 (pp. 28-35).

VV.AA. (1904). First Azuay exhibition. Cuenca, Ecuador: s/ed.

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CHOLA CUENCANA ca. 1930 - 1940 Pumapungo Museum Photograph Collection National Cultural Heritage Institute Collection TEJIENDO SUEÑOS Y MEMORIAS: La magia del ikat en los paños de Gualaceo WEAVING DREAMS AND MEMORIES: The magic of Ikat technique IN GUALACEO SHAWLS

Tamara Landívar Villagómez1

Introduction

The artisan consumed the miracle of culturally empowering humanity to adapt to all climates and the contingencies of nature. The story of such an extraordinary adventure is the story of the artisan of yesterday and of the contemporary artisan.

Daniel Rubín de la Borbolla 71

There are several men and women who dedicate their complete or part time to the production of shawls, through a very complex technique, design, dyeing styles and weaving, in which each piece is unique, and reflects life and characteristic identity of their culture.

Shawl weavers have survived due to the artisan of yesterday and the ones who inherited their wisdom creating an indissoluble chain that ties them to the memory of the past and a future full of social and cultural memories.

1- Cuenca, 1966. Anthropologist, researcher and curator of the National Ethnography Fund of the Pumapungo Museum - Ministry of Culture and Heritage of Ecuador Gualaceo shawls and sometimes served as a shroud. The fine shawls are the most appreciated, they are In the Gualaceo canton of the Azuay province, known as: white field, Peruvian imitation, southern part of Ecuador, we find Bulzhún and shiro or cashimira. Those who have a greater Bullcay, places where the shawls are made, economic possibility have four to six shawls in ancestral waist looms, with the mooring of the best quality that can be acquired, while technique (Ikat), therefore known as “Gualaceo those with lower resources exhibit the pacotilla shawls”. shawl (of low quality).

“(…) they were not only made in Gualaceo Elaboration: gender complementarity (…), but also in other parts of Ecuador, in the Its manufacturers are mestizos known province of Cotopaxi, for example. And in other as macaneros. It is a family art tradition, parts of the world: in Peru, in Mexico, although transmitted from parents to children who have they are not called, of course, “Gualaceo specific tasks. Today migration and the lack of shawls” (Moreno, sn). macaneros tend to disappear the division of tasks. The use of Gualaceo shawls “The workplace is usually their house that 72 The Gualaceo shawl is a typical element of the serves also as a workshop. Women sit down traditional dressing of the Chola Cuenca, which to untie and tie the warp threads, in the warp has become an identity symbol of the southern (stool), to make the fringe and starch; On one part of Ecuador. The origin of her dress dates side, tied to two posts is the ahuano (waist back to the second half of the 17th century. loom), in which men weave the shawl.

For the cholas or mestizos of urban and rural Near the garden, women carry out the dyeing areas, the use of the Gualaceo shawl on process, among the smoke that comes from the the shoulders is a fundamental part of their crackling of firewood, the smell of the flowers dressing. It is related to the various socio- of rue and guántug and see that the dye does cultural activities, as well as the social position not get dizzy (damaged) and that the threads, of the person who uses it. during the process, take the color of the dye and the magic of the ikat technique comes Those of greater detail are used to attend alive in the design of flowers, plants and birds religious celebrations, visits and social parties printed on the “background” with blue, white or (cheerful colors or peas, snail, plot of colors), black colors creating a beautiful shawl” . ( for mourning (white with black-indigo or blue) Pesántez de Moscoso, sn). or for sporadic trips to other towns or cities,

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GUALACEO SHAWL ikat technique Gualaceo, 1977 Pumapungo Museum Collection Ministry of Culture and Heritage

PAÑO DE GUALACEO Técnica ikat Gualaceo, 1977 Colección Museo Pumapungo Ministerio de Cultura y Patrimonio Gualaceo shawl technique

Ikat (tied weaving) technique that produces designs in the fabric by dyeing the areas of the warp threads with waterproof fibers. The moored areas of the design must be precise or the desired design will not be achieved (ikat is a Malaysian term).

Woven shawl

Weaving is made up of the warp, which are longitudinal threads placed on the loom that intersect and intersect with the weft threads.

Weft is the thread that passes horizontally on the loom, intertwining with the longitudinal threads of the warp. Once the warp threads have been dyed and untied, the weaver puts 74 them on the loom, adjusts the warp tension to pass the weft threads found in skeins until they are perpendicular to the warp which is manually tuned. The shawl constitutes a long process due to the fineness of the threads used and the necessary precision required for this work.

Fringe

“Once the shawl is finished, the fringe is done by hand, with the knotting technique (knot or tagline), designs are transferred from flowers, plants, animals, birds and coat of arms inspired by old coins from Ecuador, Peru, Chile

DETAIL OF ECUADOR’S NATIONAL COAT OF ARMS IN A GUALACEO SHAWL Pumapungo Museum Collection Ministry of Culture and Heritage Photographer: Gabrie- la Lemus Hidalgo and Spain; others, with flowers and leaves embroidered on a simple knotted net; they also used crochet, animals, plants, birds, names, love legends, geometric figures, etc. In the oldest knotted shawls, needle fillings or hand- embroidered elements were made; currently many elements are made in an industrial way.

The complexity and length of the fringed starch makes up almost a third of the shawl, which gives more beauty and status to the garment, women create with great neatness and patience, with decorative motifs that the cultural memory of their people has accumulated, they learn this art since they are a child and they work until “their eyes let them” (Pesántez de Moscoso, sn).

Wick 75 They are threads that are grouped at the lower end of the fringe, they work in several styles, the most common, are the straight ones and the crushed (wavy) ones. They are starched, so that, in addition of being fancy, they give movement and balance to the weight of the Gualaceo shawl, allowing a complete understanding of the elaboration that includes hard work and design.

Market

The main trade centers are Cuenca, Gualaceo and Paute, and in a lesser amount in Loja, Otavalo, Guamote, Riobamba and Ambato. The

CHOLA CUENCANA WEARING A SHAWL( MACANA) Photographer: Carlos Agüero Marrero 76

SHAWLS (MACANAS) Photographer:Carlos Agüero Marrero decrease in their purchases is remarkable BIBLIOGRAPHY compared to previous times; the main cause Aguilar, M. (2004). Filigree. In Cuenca’s Identitities (p. is the acculturation of the dress, as well as 35-43). Cuenca: Inter-American Center for its cost. Crafts and Popular Arts, CIDAP.Recovered from: http://documentacion.cidap.gob. ec:8080/handle/ cidap/303 Despite this, the Gualaceo shawl is still an De Lavalle, A. y De Lavalle de Cárdenas, R. (1999). Ancient essential part of the costume of the Cuenca textiles of Peru (APU series). Perú: cholas, but today they have been stylized and Integra AFP. adapted to new designs, which is why a new Malo, C. (2004). Cultural Popular and Identity. In Cuenca’s market has opened. Identities (p. 5-20). Cuenca: Inter-American Center for Crafts and Popular Arts, CIDAP. Recovered from: http://documentacion. cidap.gob.ec:8080/ With various proposals of colors and shapes, handle/cidap/303 scarves, shawls, ponchos, sweaters and Malo, G. (2008).Embroidery. Threads that blend tradition. In contemporary dresses are made for a new Cuenca artisans city (pp. 193-213). group of local, national and foreign customers. Cuenca, Ecuador:Inter-American Center for Crafts and Popular Arts, CIDAP & I. Municipality of Cuenca. Recovered from: http:// Artisans documentacion.cidap.gob.ec:8080/handle/ 77 77 cidap/301 The macaneros are anonymous artisans. This work done by men and women was born in the Moreno, J. (2008). A mixed garment? Questions on Gualaceo shawls. In Cuenca artisans city (pp. 131-144). heart of their villages. They keep intact from Cuenca, Ecuador: Inter-American Center for their own silence, the memory of their roots Crafts and Popular Arts, CIDAP. & I. Municipality of and the secrets of their art. They have been Cuenca. Recovered from: http://documentacion. kept by their wisdom and ingenuity, because cidap.gob.ec:8080/handle/cidap/301 with their calloused hands they have produced Penley, D. y Moreno, J. (2004). Gualaceo Macanas Cuenca’s in the workshop located in their houses, in the Identities (p. 21-29). small waist loom of their ancestors, exquisite Cuenca: Inter-American Center for Crafts and shawls, with designs and elements that Popular Arts, CIDAP. Recovered from: http:// documentacion.cidap.gob.ec:8080/ present parts of their lives. handle/ cidap/303

“May their minds and hands continue to create Pesántez de Moscoso, G. (2009). The Magic of Ikat in and recreate (…), because by reacting to the Gualaceo shawl weaving. Unpublished. growing uniformity making this revalued with Researchers: a different flavor, that identifies the peoples” Donoso Cordero, María Dolores Guerrero, Ximena Pulla (Moreno, sn). 78

ARTISAN SPINNING COTTON. Photographer: Carlos Agüero Marrero The steps prior to weaving are the preparation of the cabuya, the warp ikat and dyeing threads, 79 which determines the design of the garment. 80

RAW MATERIAL FOR THE ELABORATION OF THE SHAWL (MACANA) Photographer: Carlos Agüero Marrero The raw material that is used to make the shawls (macanas) is essentially natural threads and dyes. The traditional thread used is sheep wool.

Once the threads are arranged in the warp, the process of tying the cabuya begins in those parts where the dye does not need to get stained.

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THREADS FOR DYING PROCESS Photographer: Carlos Agüero Marrero 82 83

TRADITIONAL POTS WITH DYES. Photographer: Carlos Agüero Marrero 84

DYEED AND WEAVING THREADS IN A (MACANA) SHAWL LOOM Photograph: Municipal Tourism Foundation for Cuenca 85

JOSÉ JIMÉNEZ WEAVER Photographer: Carlos Agüero Marrero 86

CARMEN ORELLANA WEAVER WITH A SHAWL (MACANA) LOOM . Photographer: Carlos Agüero Marrero The loom has several elements: the “major mass”, “minor mass” and “comb mass”, which allows to strength the threads; the “pigchi”, used to separate the strands; as well as the “caillahua”, which is used to hit and adjust the weaving, from the bottom up.

87 88 89 90

ANTHROPOMORPH PECTORAL La Tolita, 400 BC - 600 AD National Collection, National Museum of Ecuador, MUNA -MCYP Photographer: Gabriel Ortega García

Piece made in filigree with platinum and gold. High ranking character representation in a hieratic position with open arms. Icon piece of metal technology from La Tolita culture GOLDSMITH AND ITS TECHNIQUES1

Rosángela Adoum y Francisco Valdez

In pre-Columbian America, the oldest the territory traditionally occupied by its evidence of metals has been discovered in the inhabitants. southern highlands of Peru in Waykara, Muyu Moqo complex. The context of these evidence González Suárez (1908) Verneau and Rivet has been dated around 2,500 B.C. (Several (1912) report a gold figure from El Ángel, hammered gold sheets appeared, as well as province of Carchi, which characteristics the instruments to elaborate them). are, no doubt, typical of Tolita. This piece is currently found in the Museum of Man, in Paris. In the Northern Andes (Ecuador), despite the fact that metallurgy appears almost 1,000 years More surprising, due to the distance, is the later than in the Central Andes, the specialized discovery (in the 50s), in the department of studies carried out will undoubtedly yield Frías, Lambayeque, Peru, another figure, previous dates. In any case, it is important almost identical to the previous one and today to note that, in our country, copper weapons it is part of the Brüning Museum of that country. 91 appear very late in relation to a previous We can mention that the reign of La Tolita abundant production of body ornaments and island exceeded the limits of what is actually ritual objects. now as Ecuador, proving that this culture was a key site in South American ceremonial Exchange was one of the most important conceptions and activities. The close links activities developed by the pre-Hispanic between the inhabitants of our three natural inhabitants of Ecuador. This trade, in the vast regions are known and it is not risky to state majority of cases, was aimed for «export» that long-distance contacts of La Tolita were and «import» luxury goods at short, medium made thanks to navigation, which reached a and long distances. In La Tolita2, goldsmiths remarkable development from early times. occupied a relevant place in these activities, as evidence found in two pieces of gold in this culture outside

1- Taken from “Our Past: La Tolita” Series, Didactic Guide N ° 3, Central Bank of Ecuador, 1989. p. 21-26. 2- EN: La Tolita Regional Ensemble (400 BC - 600 AD) was developed in the territory we know today as the province of Esmeraldas and the northern part of Manabí in Ecuador; and part of the southern Pacific coast of Colombia. Metallurgical production belonging to this regional group is possibly the most varied and complex of this territory, the handling of alloys and metalworking techniques, characterizes La Tolita. In the exhibition “Artisan-Artist” you can admire some of the objects worked in filigree. Copper and gold All objects made of gold and copper begin from heating, either to soften them or eventually melt them, in order to give them the desired shape. Copper is in its pure state (native copper) or in Once this was softened, different techniques ores. It is not known what type of reservoir the were done to elaborate pieces. one found in La Tolita comes from. The objects are made of pure copper and, in the absence of natural deposits near the site; it is presumed Laminated and hammered that they were obtained by exchange. Body ornaments, bells, needles and chisels are This consists of hitting the metal piece, common. reheating it, cooling it in water and hitting it again as many times as necessary until a sheet Although its melting point is 1,084 ° C (in of the desired thickness is obtained. its purest form), when gold is bonded, the necessary temperature drops to 900 ° C. It is Embossed common to find the two naturally mixed metals, an alloy that was widely used in La Tolita. Embossed designs were done with this technique. Once the sheet is done it “printed” The gold worked in the island is of two kinds: using strokes by hammering or pressing on native and alluvial. Native gold is found in the the back with the help of various instruments, 92 veins and must be purified from its mixtures on a soft bed (leather or fine sand). Then, with other metals or minerals. the embossed were retouched, to give them greater enhancement, from the front part. The alluvial, as the name implies, is taken from the rivers by the “washing” of muddy water in bowls and was the most used in this culture. In Filigree its pure state, it requires 1,063 ° C to melt. With the help of thin wires they made countless objects, or decorated solid and laminated The analysis of the Andean goldsmith traditions shows that from what is now Colombia to the pieces. The thread was made by a thorough north, there was a preference for metal in its and prolonged hammering, and then used liquid state, which is why hollow and molten alone (forming spirals, for example) or wounds. pieces are found in that region. The miniatures made with this technique are the most outstanding feature of La Tolita. However, from our country to the south there was a greater importance of metal in solid state, exhausting the possibilities of its handling to the Cast and empty point that the most modern research methods have not yet been able to clarify precisely the They melted gold, with the simple help of fire, techniques used. directly on coal or in melting pots. Once liquid, they proceeded to empty it into a mold. Usually, they did not use pure gold, but mixed naturally or with specific alloys.

Welding

Perhaps this has been the most discussed and researched technique, not only because of the mastery that is required to not destroy the tiny pieces that joined together, but also because, in many cases, welding is almost imperceptible in the goldsmith’s shop at La Tolita.

Initially they used gold that had impurities from other metals, especially copper. Thus, the small particles of this mixture were melted together by joining the pieces as glue. Later, goldsmiths discovered that they could add copper to gold to use as a welder and continued using this technique. 93

A more refined method is called “Sweat welding”. It consisted of coating two or more OREJERA CÉFALO - ZOOMORFA FELINO pieces of pure gold with a film of this welder CON FILIGRANA La Tolita, 400 a C.- 600 d.C. to ensure continuous contact of the different Colección Nacional, parts throughout its surface. They heated the Museo Nacional del Ecuador, MUNA -MCYP Fotografía: Gabriel Ortega García entire piece to the melting point of the welder, which was lower than that of gold. When this film melted, the pieces adhered to each other due to the “sweat” of this mixture. Once the copper alloy object was made with Golden gold, it was heated that oxidized the surface. With the help of oxalic acids, urine or brine, Extremely frequent technique used in the pre- that oxide was cleaned and the process was Hispanic cultures of the country, it is also known restarted. With this method, the outer part of as “mise en couleur”, “gilding” or “surface the piece always exposed the gold particles enrichment”. In La Tolita it is more common to giving the appearance that the entire object find this in the late stage of this culture. was solely done with this metal. Complementary techniques

To enhance some objects or to provide them with other elements, the following procedures were used:

a.Cutting As the name implies, laminated pieces were cut, using chisels and some type of drills, among others.

b.Articulate The gold work of La Tolita is characterized by the use of movement in the pieces with the intention of causing the play of light reflected in the metal. To achieve this, they used small wire hooks that kept the elements suspended in the air, thus allowing the desired mobility.

94 c.Join To join two sheets or wires they proceeded to bend their edges or ends. In several cases they used the so-called “cold pressure welding”, which consists of joining two extremely thin sheets thanks to tied folds. Hammering the joints disappear to the human eye. This method is the most used for pure gold laminated parts. Two surfaces could also be joined by tiny metal nails. This was the the most popular technique used for coating objects such as bone, wood, etc.

(From top to bottom)

EARMUFF FILIGREE RING WITH FILIGREE DECORATION NOSERING FILIGREE WITH EMERALD PIECE

La Tolita, 400 BC - 600 AD. National Collection National Museum of Ecuador, MUNA -MCYP Photographer: Gabriel Ortega García d.Inlay During La Tolita, the presence of small elements such as gold and other materials is very common in ceramic pieces, bone, shell, etc., thanks to the use of resins that acted as glue or while the material was malleable like clay.

Once the pieces were finished, they polished and burnished their surfaces as a final detail.

Platinum

It is extremely rare to find platinum in the native state. In the province of Esmeraldas and in southern Colombia it is associated with gold.

While it is true that the objects made with this metal found in La Tolita are the first intentional works in the world, today it is known that they did not melt platinum because it requires 95 1,770° C.

However, countless studies have been carried out, from Paul Bergsøe (1937) to Heather Lechtman (personal communication), in order to explain what technique the goldsmiths of La Tolita used to make certain objects look like they have a platinum color surface, achieving the same effect of a true alloy.

GOLDEN AND PLATINUM LONG DECORATED EARRINGS WITH FILIGREE La Tolita, 400 BC - 600 AD. Nacional Collection National Museum of Ecuador MUNA -MCYP Photographer: Gabriel Ortega García This ingenious method is known as These are precisely the main trade elements “sinderization” and can have two variants: maintained by La Tolita.

a) When gold and platinum particles are heated, Therefore, it is not risky to affirm that one of the but still in a solid phase, the atoms of each reasons of its importance was mainly used in diffuse and join tangentially. While hammering the cultural area due to its strategic situation for and reheating are alternate methods, the areas the supply of metals, since the sources of raw of each metal extend and gradually join. material are very close to the island, mainly at the headwaters of the Santiago, Cayapas and Thus they achieved a compact mass of pale Onzole rivers. coloration similar to platinum. Many of the examples of goldsmiths found in the b) When the particles of the two metals come surrounding areas such as Manabí present the together at a temperature higher than 900 °C, symbolic elements characteristic of La Tolita. the surface of each particle “sweat” which Future systematic excavations reveal contexts appears as melted, and allows mixing between with clear associations of worked metals, this them. During the hammering and subsequent will be able to ratify our idea that the “export of reheating an apparent alloy is produced. This beliefs” of this society was carried out mainly variant is known as “liquid phase sintering”. through the ceremonial objects made of gold, copper and platinum. 96 There are laminated pieces that have another modality: one gold side and the other platinum color. Apparently, the process used was through welding: they put together a sheet of gold and sintered platinum, with another of gold. When put to heat (more than 900 ° C) the latter “sweated” and adhered to the former. Thus, the same gold surface was used as a BIBLIOGRAPHY welder to join the pieces. Bergsøe, P. (1937). The metallurgy and technology of gold and platinum among the pre-Columbian It is important to emphasize that in La Tolita, Indians (F. C. Reynolds, Trad). Copenhagen: Danmarks Naturvidenskabelige Samfund. as in the other societies which developed at the same time in the northern Andean area González Suárez, F. (1910). The aborigines of Imbabura (Ecuador), the metal was not much used as a and Carchi: archaeological investigations about work tool. For the most part, the objects found the ancient settlers of the provinces of Carchi and Imbabura in the republic of Ecuador. Quito, are sumptuary, intended both for personal Ecuador: Salesian typography and binding. decoration and for ritual and ceremonial purposes. Verneau, R. y Rivet, P. (1912). Ethnographie ancienne de l’Equateur en Arc méridien équatorial en Amérique du Sud (T. XI). Premier fascicule et deuxième. Paris : Gauthier-Villars. 97

SILVER EARRING Juan Carlos Jara, Jorge & Wilson Lituma & Juan Tacuri 1,85 x 1,00 m Chordeleg, 2004 Municipal Museum of Chordeleg Photograph: Ministry of Tourism 98

METAL FOUNDING PROCESS. Photographer: Carlos Agüero Marrero AUSTRAL FILIGREE

1 Fausto Ordóñez Almeida

Art, creation, trade and inheritance: this Julio Segovia Andrade, is one of the most goldsmith technique of great complexity famous exponents, and was declared as arises from the delicate work of preparing the “Goldsmith of the twentieth century” by noble metals, from its foundry to the the Cabildo of Cuenca in 2000, thanks to design of pieces and jewels. It was his amazing goldsmith techniques. practiced by several ancient peoples such as the Etruscans, Greeks, Egyptians, Chordeleg, part of the Creative Cities Mesopotamians, who worked the threads of Network, designated by UNESCO in 2017, gold and silver around 3000 B.C. has positioned itself, for three decades, as the city of the watermark. The image of this Its precise and delicate details make the city of great artisan tradition is an earring, filigree a true work of art, because as in all the main jewel that identifies the work of the branches of jewelry, aesthetics, technique goldsmiths of Chordeleg and is a symbol of 99 and work are mixed. the Azuay canton; currently decorates the entire touristic downtown city. In the territory of what is known as Ecuador, there are samples of its elaboration in pre- This is the cradle of creative hands Hispanic cultures, however, the Spanish and great artisans who work the filigree presence since the sixteenth century, technique; among them we can mention brought its development as a craft work. the brothers, Ernesto and Gilberto Jara, who have left us an artistic legacy of the That is why today we can find jewels and highest quality in their jewelry elaboration. filigree objects of great quality as a result of this process and cultural mix. Filigree jewelry is the identity of the southern villages of our country, a clear example of In the Ecuadorian Austro there are localities this is Saraguro, in the province of Loja, that have been characterized by the where the daily dressing of the indigenous elaboration of jewelry; Cuenca has a large woman of this town is composed of “half- number of artisans dedicated to this trade. moons”, with large filigree jewelry.

1- Cuenca, 1970. Filigree artisan, He is Executive Director of the Inter-American Center for Crafts and Popular Arts -CIDAP since 2016. The elaborations process them a shine that contrasts with the matte color of the filigree. To make a filigree piece , first you must melt gold or silver, which will be transformed into For silver, the pickling process must be fine threads, so fine that they can be ripped repeated at least five times in pure sulfuric with a simple pull, since its thickness can acid, to achieve a perfect bleaching that will then be stabilized with bicarbonate. The be up to 0.15 mm, which allows preparing filigree jewel finishes today have several a filigree of great beauty due to its delicate alternatives, among them we can name: texture, when making the fillings on the sulfur liver patina to accelerate the silver guides; These are the frames or molds that oxidation, known as Antique style; the use define the figures, with which they are going of stained glass paints to give the jewel a to shape in jewelry pieces with the guides chromatic composition; and the traditional that are filled with different details, with finish form, which is the soft color contrasted names such as: canes, flakes, carnation, with the silver edges. snails, etc., to get contrast between the shapes that enhance each one of them.. Thus, the process of making jewels in filigree is one of the most complexes and is ceasing Because they are such fine threads, the to be practiced, partly due to the lack of welder must be prepared in “limalla” passing this to others and, on the other 100 (workshop name), which are small particles hand, due to the low commercial valuation similar to sand and prepared with fine limes, that is not equitable with the amount of work which will then be mixed with borax to be that is required for its elaboration. used as a brush. It is our duty to give filigree the importance After this, the welding process continues that corresponds because few are those and must be done by a very experienced who have the ability to do this amazing master, who must be very careful, without jewelry technique. damaging the thin threads, with excess of fire or fill them with the welder, thus losing their delicate shape.

This process is followed by pickling, which REFERENCIAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS is to return to the natural color of the metal, Segovia Solano.Family (2010). Julio Segovia Andrade history and art. either gold or silver, with sulfuric acid or Homage in its hundred-year birth 1910-2010.Cuenca, citric acid, to finally give a finish using a Ecuador: s.e.

metal brush called grata, or a burnished, Decentralized Municipal Autonomous Government of Chordeleg which is a handmade polished steel tool, Canton (2018). with which the guides are burnished to give Recovered from: http://chordeleg. gob.ec/ Filigree pieces start from the fire, to soften or melt the metal, which transforms into fine threads to create the desired shape.

The guides are filled with details called canes, flakes, carnation, and snails, among others.

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METAL FOUNDING PROCESS Photographer: Gabriela Lemus Hidalgo 102

THREADS FILL THE DESIGN GUIDES. Photographer: Carlos Agüero Marrero The welder is prepared in “limalla”, small particles similar to the sand and prepared with fine limes.

Welding is done and then pickling, which is to return to the natural color of the metal with sulfuric or citric 103 acids. A metallic brush called grata, or a burnished, is what allows the final finish and shine. 104 105

FINISHING AND FINAL JEWEL GLOSS Left: Municipal Tourism Foundation for Cuenca. Right: Pro Ecuador 106

EARRINGS AND PURSE DONE IN FILIGREE Andrea Tello Photographer: Jovi Acosta LIVING TRADITION1

Tradition is the transmission of fire and not the worship of ashes. Gustav Mahler

From a purely theoretical perspective, the This is why each person has been building a concept of tradition encompasses everything very personal memory on some tradition, taking that is transmitted and learned socially, from with them the powerful spark of a memory generation to generation, and therefore or the light touch of a custom, accompanied persists over time (Marcos, 2010). It is perhaps by elements, colors, flavors or melodies that 107 for this reason, because it is such a broad and continually awaken it. subjective term, that the word tradition has the capacity to evoke endless images, memories, Now, we can say that the term tradition has emotions and affections, not only individually had different meanings, connotations and but collectively. valuations, according to each generation, as well as to the diverse historical and cultural In the course of our lives, most of us will have contexts; therefore, it is no longer something heard this word, usually linked to customs, static or outdated, but rather, from the clothing, parties and celebrations, around perspective of the theory of cultural change, which the family, the neighborhood, the city tradition is the result of an evolutionary and even the whole country gather. In that process, always unfinished that, paradoxically, sense, it is very common that tradition is also has in itself elements of continuity and also of associated with the universe of religious and transformation (Sánchez, 2002). Javier Marcos sacred. These are all representative examples Arévalo, professor of anthropology at the of tradition. University of Extremadura, Spain, mentions:

1- EN: Corrections have been made to the text, added or deleted fragments, reviewed some punctuation marks and lowered unnecessary capitals. The tradition would be, then, the permanence and artistic crafts, the word tradition takes on of the living past, the collective memory, a special, extremely daily and intimate sense. in the present. It involves a process and They live the tradition, they practice it day by an outcome (...), memory vehicle, adapts day, they and recreates; because tradition due to its fluidity and permeability characteristic links They are a form of expression that is attractive people with its history (2010, s / p). when easily understood, producing emotion by evoking a beautiful place or culture from which the receiver is terrestrially distant. live from her and keep her alive. They are the They are art in the sense that they are a holders of ancestral knowledge that have been human creation (Salas Hernández, 2010, p. transmitted and perfection from generation 8; in Freitag, 2014, p. 135). to generation for hundreds of years, and until today, enjoy enormous aesthetic value, I insert We can say that the work of the artisan and the circuit of the arts (Freitag, 2014). the artist represents the renewal of traditional ways of life and the conservation of knowledge We see that the past is revitalized through and customs that, ultimately, are elements that tradition, which comes from a constant exercise make up the legacy and memory of a territory. of revaluation and cultural selection. What we That is one of the reasons why the agencies select are elements of the past that continue to 108 responsible for the conservation of both national make sense, utility and beauty according to the and international heritage, have declared some present society. However, the most important artisan techniques as Intangible Heritage of thing about this selection is that, through the Humanity and Ecuador. transmission of ancestral knowledge and practices, it makes cultural continuity possible, Since 1980, we can find national publications, and with it, collective memory and identity. which begin to highlight the importance and the transcendent heritage value of the ikat In that way, every tradition is an expression of a technique or the traditional toquilla straw worldview and living conditions that are proper weaving. These facts have been significant for to people or to a nation. These characteristics the conservation, as well as the innovation of recognized as testimony of existence and these cultural expressions. permanence, are what give rise to the construction of our identity. The relevance of this knowledge is especially symbolic. Currently, due to the industrialization Creators with tradition of production processes, maintaining artisanal forms of work can be impractical. So, the Among the different ways of preserving tradition importance of conserving this knowledge is are handcrafts and their innovation. For those related, in the first place, to what these forms who dedicate themselves to create handcrafts of life, knowledge and techniques mean for DRAGON-FLY FELIGREE. Andrea Tello

TOQUILLA STRAW HAT , MACANA AND FILIGREE EARRING. Private collection

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FILIGREE FLOWER. Manolo Jara

HANDPAINTED TOQUILLA STRAW HAT Private collection our memory and identity as Ecuadorians and would be distancing themselves from the true Latin Americans, and with what they bring us sense of tradition, which must emerge as a as humanity (Malo , 2001; 2008). creation to remain alive in the present. .

We previously saw that the new conceptions Preserving or perpetuating, without innovating regarding the tradition show us that it is a or creating, implies the death of a vital process of continuous flow that incorporates knowledge, since it involves only repeating. changes and innovations constantly recreating. In turn, trying to create or innovate without the When considering this, we can realize that the foundations of knowledge and experiences of work of artisans is not the mere automatic and the past, is similar to building a house on the unconscious repetition of a way of doing, but sand, lacking support to stand up over time a process that, in addition to the skill, requires (Marcos, 2010). Crafts and artistic creations creativity, while it must integrate new elements are a perfect example of this, Also, traditional 110 to renew them. techniques - such as toquilla straw weaving, ikat or filigree - offer us a starting point for In that sense, the image of tradition is similar new designs. The main issue would be to to the shape of a spiral, where each new turn preserve and rescue tradition by updating and incorporates innovations, which are related to transforming the handcraft profession, with the present reality. Faced with the limited notion which, the artisans used their skilled, talented that has existed about tradition, the Guatemalan hands and are autonomous. poet, Luis Cardoza y Aragón wrote: “Tradition: unceasing creation. Tradition was never within Each object that an artist makes is unique the reach of traditionalists”. and unrepeatable piece - due, in part, to the very characteristics of the processes The poet points out that the true tradition is, in of manual elaboration, but also thanks to fact: a creation. He also points out that those creativity -, which has in itself the germs of who simply intend to reproduce a static past continuity and innovation. 111

FILIGREE JEWELRY CREATION PROCESS Andrea Tello 112

FILIGREE PURSE Adriana Landívar Photographer: Carlos Agüero Marrero BIBLIOGRAPHY Freitag, V. (2014). Between art and crafts: elements to think about the craft trade today. The artist, (11), 129- 143.

Malo, C (1991). The crafts in Ecuador. Artesanías de América Magazine, 35. Cuenca, Ecuador: Inter-American Center for Crafts and Popular Arts , CIDAP. Recovered from: http: // documentacion.cidap.gob.ec:8080/handle/ cidap/1290

Malo, C. (2001) Cultural Heritage and Globalization. Artesanías de América Magazine, 51. Cuenca, Ecuador: Inter-American Center for Crafts and Popular Arts,CIDAP. Recovered from: http:// documentacion.cidap.gob.ec:8080/ handle/ cidap/515

Malo, C. (2008). Crafts, the useful and the beautiful. Cuenca, 113 Ecuador: Universidad del Azuay & Inter-American Center for Crafts and Popular Arts CIDAP.

Marcos, J. (2010). Heritage ascollective representation The intangibility of cultural property. Gazeta of Anthropology, 26 (1), Article 19. Recovered from:http://www. ugres/~pwlacG26_19Javier_ Marcos_ Arevalohtml?affid=b 521622dc42f464d377382b732e0e81f

Sánchez, M. (2002). Review of “Causality, culture and nature: a reflection on The theory of cultural change” by Julian Steward. Nueva Anthropología, 18 (60) 2002. Mexico: Asociación Nueva Antropología A.C. Federal District, Mexico Recovered from http://www. redalyc.org/pdf/159/15906008.pdf

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115 GOVERNMENT PALACE “Artisan-Artist” is a cultural project promoted by the Presidency of the Republic of Ecuador, to promote national artisanal production, its elaboration techniques and the cultural richness of the different regions of the country, as well as facilitating the commercialization of handcrafts done by artisans to local and foreign tourists.

As part of the project, a permanent exhibition room –showroom- has been set in the exterior part of the Government Palace, where artisans have the opportunity to present their creations. In addition, they receive training in various themes and benefit from cooperation networks to exhibit their products in different spaces. 116 The project was presented during the inauguration of the first Ecuadorian Cultural Center in Madrid (Spain) in December 2017, and then in Quito, in August 2018, with the exhibition “Artisan-Artist” and recently, with the opening of the showroom, which was held on May 29, 2019. Then, the foundations were set for what is nowadays “Artisan-Artist”.

The proposal seeks to make visible the work done by Ecuadorian artisans, who work in one or more of the nine techniques presented below:

PRESIDENT LENÍN MORENO Y ROCÍO GONZÁLEZ DURING THE SHOWROOM OPENING Government Palace, 2019 117 Metalwork

The uniqueness of Ecuadorian jewels made of gold, silver and other not so noble metals, originates in the pre-Hispanic period. The Tolita and Cañari cultures proved to be great goldsmiths mastering several techniques, which

118 were innovated with the arrival of the Spaniards.

Objects: Precious metals: jewelry, goldsmiths; Ferrous metals, tinsmith, ironwork. Musical instruments, filigree, wrought iron objects, goldsmiths, handcrafts done with mollusks, amber, mother pearl shell, black coral, tinsmith and coal tinsmith and metalwork in general. STEEL AND EMBROIDERY BRACELETS. Photographs: Carlos Agüero Marrero

ENAMELED JEWELRY FLOWER. Adriana Landívar 119 Photograph: Eduardo Flores

JEWELRY IN FILIGREE AND VEGETABLE FIBERS. Isabel López Wood, balsa and others related

During the colonial era, wood carving acquired significance. The religious communities taught, in the Americas, several works to indigenous and mestizos, who with their ingenuity and carving skills in polychrome and gold, creating large religious sculptures, giving rise to the so-called Quito School. 120 These works are found and admired in churches and museums.

Objects: Wooden utensils, bowls, toys, musical instruments, wood carving, replicas of archaeological figures, miniatures in wood, wood carving, wooden masks, mates, pambil, pumpkin, damagua, guadua cane and wood, as well as balsa in general. CHEST WITH TARACEADO TECHNIQUE. Mauro Contreras Photographs: Carlos Agüero Marrero

JEWELRY WITH TARACEADO TECHNIQUE.

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CHESTS WITH TARACEADO TECHNIQUE. Mazapán

The colorful mazapán figures have their roots in pre-Columbian funeral rites. Thus, on the Day of the Dead, “bread rolls” were prepared with a traditional dark purple drink known as “colada morada”. Over the time, the famous bread 122 rolls stopped being edible and became decorative figures that represent the folklore of indigenous peoples of the country, such as dancers, yumbos de pilche, capariches, among others.

Objects: Decorative figures and crafts in general. ELABORATION FIGURES IN MAZAPÁN Photographs: Carlos Agüero Marrero

123 Weaving and textiles

The textile craft of Ecuador is diverse and of great quality. It is made in traditional looms of European origin and in pre-Hispanic form, with the waist loom. The largest textile production is concentrated in the highlands. Weaving with the 124 124 ikat technique, which creates unique designs in the mooring process, is one of the most outstanding one, especially in the Austral region.

Objects: Traditional clothing, embroidery, weavings, cloth hats, loom-made fabrics, textile crafts in various techniques. Religious clothing, tapestries, (macanas) shawls and indigenous weaving in general. COLLAR TEJIDO CON MULLOS. WOVEN PONCHO WITH ALPACA WOOL Francisca Vargas Daniela Quiñonez Photographs: Carlos Agüero Marrero

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MACANA WITH FILIGREE BURNER. Macana:Johana Guillén. Prendedor filigree: Eloy Lituma

CLOTH HAT WITH TYPICAL EMBROIDERY OF ZULETA Hat:Teresa Casa. Embroidery: Eloy Lituma Clay, stoneware and porcelain

Traditional pottery with ancestral techniques has remained in the country. The cultures of Valdivia, Machalilla and Chorrera, in the Coast and the Cañaris in the Highlands, already made clay and mud objects. With the arrival of the 126 Spaniards, the techniques of the lathe and glaze with varnish were introduced, which until now are maintained in some areas of the southern part of the country.

Objects: Pots and clay dishes, pre-Hispanic replicas, clay figures, clay pipes and other utilitarian objects, mortars, ceramics in general, pottery in general. 127 ELABORATION OF POTTERY OBJECTS Lilia Ochoa Photographer: Carlos Agüero Marrero Leather

The natives were experts in the art of tanning animal skins, and it is with the arrival of the Spaniards that saddlery is established. Interesting creations arise in Cotacachi and Azuay; and an extensive production of articles in leather and 128 sole are distributed throughout the country.

Objects: Leather, leather painting, musical instruments, and objects combined in leather, saddlery, as well as the use of bull horn. Leather and related objects in general. PRODUCTION OF LEATHER PRODUCTS. Andrés Mayorga Photographs: Carlos Agüero Marrero

129 Vegetal fibers

Weaving vegetable fibers is very rich in Ecuador. In the Highlands they use reed, the straw of moor, cabuya and totora; in the Amazon, bejuco, with which baskets, bags and hammocks are made. In the Coast, especially in Manabí,

130 the toquilla straw is used to weave hats which are recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Objects: Chambira and seeds, totora, pampira straw, banana chanta, mocora straw, seeds and pepas, cotton, bijao, achira, abañín, zapán (cocoa fiber), páramo straw, and vegetable fibers in general. UTILITARIESIN ROSE PETALS Judith Campaña Photographs: Carlos Agüero Marrero

SONBRERO DE PAJA TOQUILA CON APLIQUES TEJIDOS EN MULLOS Hat: Tesya Wall Lamp: Francisca Vargas

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H HAND-WOVEN SHIGRA WITH VEGETABLE FIBERS. Mary Cano Marble, stone and others related

The stone work in Ecuador became important as a result of the European contribution; the facades of churches, richly ornamented and sculptures demonstrate perfection in stone carving during the colony time. In the country 132 there are areas that are dedicated to the carving and sculpture of stone and marble, with the elaboration of utilitarian and decorative pieces at the stroke of a chisel and combo.

Objects: Carved in utilitarian stone, marble, stone crafts and others related. ELABORACIÓN DE PRODUCTOS PIEDRAS Y AFINES Fotografías: Carlos Agüero Marrero 133 Tagua and others related

Tagua is the seed of the Phytelephas macrocarpa palm and is known and 134 appreciated in the artisanal world, such as the ivory nut or vegetable ivory. The artisans use it to make beautiful decoration figures, as well as locally and internationally admired jewels.

Objects: Tagua, coconut shell and other related crafts. TAGUA JEWELRY. Photographs: Carlos Agüero Marrero

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TAGUA JEWELRY. Edison Valencia At the moment (September, 2019), “Artisan- of the artisans in his community are dedicated Artist” showroom has been the window for to weaving because it is the only source of more than twenty exponents of the different employment in the sector. craft techniques from Ecuador, such as: Eloy This artisan, who works independently, was Lituma, Johana Guillén, Édison Valencia, part of the exhibition “Artisan-Artist” with its Teresa Casa, Mauricio Contreras, Mauro headquarters in Quito. He considers that this Contento, Rodolfo Galván, Daniela Quiñónez, project led by the Presidency of the Republic Andrés Mayorga, Adriana Landívar, Tesya and is a positive initiative of great importance for Simiatug Llacta. There are many stories that the artisans of the Pile community, since it can be told, such as Graciela, Francisca and recognizes and appreciates artisanal work. Andrea: Judith Campana exhibits her products made Francisca Vargas, originally from Pastaza with rose petals and stems that go on a tagua, province, applies her skills in the elaboration wood or metal base. “Participating in Artisan- of necklaces, bracelets and earrings that she Artist” exhibit is a dream that I had, so that my makes with colorful beads. product can be seen, because it is the only way to promote our work and to reach to the 136 hands of the client at a fair price,” she says. Francisca learned to knit as a child, watching other women, and has worked as an artisan for more than fifteen years, which has allowed her to support her nine children. “No other government has cared so much for us. I am proud to be an artisan,” she said during her participation in the showroom. ARTISANS BENEFICIARY OF THIS PROJECT

Exhibition showroom - Government Palace

Simón Espinal is an artisan from the Pile a.Opening of the showroom. community, in the province of Manabí, “where b. Francisca Vargas, Shuar necklaces with mullos the best straw hat in the world is woven,” proudly says this 51-year-old manabita, He has c. Products woven with cobuya, Rosalía Jeifo. dedicated 36 years of his life perfectioning his d. Cleotilde, shigras and products woven in cabuya handmade work. He started very young and e. Edison Valencia, Products tagua

gradually acquired the skill until he became a Photographs: Carlos Agüero Marrero teacher of his three children. He says that 70% a. b.

c.

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e.

d. 138 139 140