ArtCultureCustomsFolkloreHandicrafts

Andean Queperinas

The peoples of the Andes of Peru maintain ancestral traditions that range from food, to drink, clothing, dance, music and many others. It is a living culture that can be appreciated in the different fiestas that take place throughout the year.

The queperinas or llicllas (woven shawls) are part of the traditional dress of the Peruvian Andean peoples. They play an important role in daily activities, helping to make them easier.

The work to make a lliclla is arduous, the weavers use camelid wool such as llama, alpaca, and they also use sheep’s wool. It is a long process that to convert the wool of these animals into fine threads, then perform the dyeing to obtain threads of different colors, and finally make the fine fabric with designs of figures representative of their people.

There are several uses, they are mostly used for carrying things since they are very resistant. The queperinas help the mothers to carry their babies on their back while they do their daily activities without interference. Likewise they are also used for the hualtado, wrapping, of the babies.

Another of its uses is for the work on the farm. In the sowing, it takes in it the seeds and from it seed are put in the fieñd’ earth. They are also used for the harvest and transport of the different products such as potatoes, corn, coca, coffee and other crops.

As the queperinas are made of wool, they are very warm, so they are also used to keep the meat or lunch food warm.

We can see the queperinas as part of the clothing of a variety of typical dances, nowadays the fashion trend is using the alpaca wool shawls for their exclusive designs.

However in the villages they are being used less and less, since the influence of fashion and the use of other elements that are foreign to their customs make people prefer to use articles made with artificial materials, which is why the use of queperinas that makes us different from other cultures of the world is declining

Brayan Coraza Morveli

Soy completamente cusqueño. Mi profesión es analista de sistemas. Me encanta escuchar y tocar la música andina tanto como bailar break. Me gusta también compartir mi experiencias como cusqueño con gente de otros lados. Una de mis metas es llegar a conocer mi cultura más profundamente y compartirla ampliamente con gente de otras generaciones tanto como con hermanos y hermanas de otros lados de nuestra planeta.

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