The region of Ayacucho is located in a wide valley in the South and Central Andean region of Peru at 9058 feet above sea level. It is crossed by two mountain ranges which divide it into three geographic units: high plateaus in the south, abrupt mountains in the center and a tropical area in the northeast. It has a rough topography and a varied climate. The word Ayacucho derives from the Quechua words “Aya” which means “dead” and “Cucho” that means “corner” or “dwelling”, consequently the term Ayacucho translates to “dwelling of the dead”.
This territory experienced many important social, economic, political and cultural events. For example, the presence of the oldest civilization in South America at Pikimachay (20.000 years B.C.E.), the first Andean Empire (the Wari from 400 to 1000 AD), even the Battle of Ayacucho that took place in 1824 in the Quinua pampas (lowlands) which sealed the independence of Peru. These historical facts are representative symbols and pillars of Peruvian identity and memory.
Ayacucho, its capital city, is well-known as the city of the churches as you can literally find a church at almost every corner. It is one of the most beautiful and pleasant cities in Peru. You can find majestic colonial houses as well as numerous archaeological sites that reveal their historical past along side the colonial Churches from the 16th to the 18th centuries. These exquisite cathedrals have plenty of gilded altars, jewels and paintings.
Ayacucho is a very privileged region due to the quality, variety and excellence of its crafts and it’s the cradle of many popular artists. Ayacucho’s artists have a very strong artisan tradition that is practiced from the beginning of the Huarpa and Wari cultures, which settled down in this land. Its artwork expresses their feelings, their society and their culture, with great dedication in each one of their works, achieving through the years an incredible professionalism and a creative talent, which is shaped in the world-wide well-known Ayacucho’s Crafts.
They are small portable altars that represent in their interior diverse kind of characters, scenes and traditions from the Andes. It has the form of a small wooden box divided in levels: the upper level or hanan and the bottom level or hurin. In the upper division, the artisans usually represent their patron saints, along with domestic animals, and in the bottom floor, they usually represent musicians, dancers or the Andean daily life. The figures are elaborated with a mix of flour and plaster and the box has also a door of two leaves decorated with bright colors.
Ayacucho altarpieces come from the box of San Marcos. San Marcos is the patron saint of the cattle, according to the Catholic religion, and they were used in the celebration of Santiago to invoke the spirits of the mountains; through them, the countryman requested protection and aid to the saints and spirits so the cattle can reproduce. They arrived to America and Peru brought by the Spanish evangelists, like an instrument of catechizing. These boxes contained saints and other sacred effigies. This tradition was adopted by the Andean community from colonial times, where they designed not only religious or biblical scenes but also the daily life or peculiarities of the Andean region.
Nowadays, Ayacucho’s artisans make the altarpieces or boxes for decorative purposes. The themes are varied but most of the time they represent their traditions, beliefs and religious feelings. The Craft works of old style are still called box of San Marcos; however, the new style boxes are called altarpieces. Each of these beautiful artworks can take weeks or even months to be finished. They are a sample of the wonderful creative and artistic capacity of the artisans of this region.
Quinua is a small Andean town near the city of Ayacucho, in the province of Huamanga at 11482 meters above sea level. It is very difficult to know since when these artisans make utensils and works in ceramics, but the influence of the Wari culture is remarkable which flourished in this place from century V to century XI.
The ceramics from Quinua is elaborated mostly with clay, and for the decoration the artisans use a white, cream-colored, dark red or brown ocher paste that is applied to the ceramics with bird‘s feathers. In order to model the clay a pre-Hispanic technique was used; it consisted on a plate that rotated on a great flat stone. Later this technique was replaced by the potter’s wheel.
The clay churches are the best known products among the Quinua ceramics. The native people place these churches above the ceilings of their just built houses “to move away the bad spirits”. The artisans of this region also elaborate utilitarian objects like the typical jugs, clay characters like the musicians and other works full of religious expression, like the nativity scenes. Producing these ceramics is the primary source of income for most people in this region.
