Contacts. Colonial Fabrics of the Andes | Museo de Arte Precolombino(MAP)
Exhibitions
In the heart of the Andes, colonial textiles weave a story that transcends time and space. Their beauty, technical sophistication, and diversity of uses and materials both conceal and reveal processes of cultural transformation and redefinition during the colonial period. The exhibition Contacts: Colonial Textiles of the Andes presents works that illustrate the effects of colonization and interbreeding, and highlights the role of textile art in shaping Andean society between the 16th and 19th centuries.
By offering the public a collection of pieces of extraordinary value, the Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art seeks to show that these contacts were more than a simple encounter between Spaniards and Indigenous peoples. In colonial America, these contacts were complex, involving imposition and resistance, sometimes violent and sometimes creative, generating a new social, political, and cultural reality.
Colonial textiles are a testament to this and reflect Andean creativity. They are the result of the introduction of new materials, tools, and techniques, along with the preservation of a rich Indigenous textile tradition. These works, which interweave designs from diverse origins, not only capture the reality of this period but also celebrate the resilience and rich Andean cultural heritage that endures through the centuries.