PCSNY January Lecture – Elena Phipps

Andean Textile Traditions: Materials, Materiality, and Culture

Elena Phipps
Lecturer, World Arts and Culture, UCLA;
Senior Museum Scholar, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Detail from panel with stepped design. Peru, North Coast. Late Intermediate Period, 1150–1450 CE. Camelid hair warp and weft (S-spun), discontinuous warp and weft, plain weave with interlocking joins. 146 x 145 cm. Fowler Museum at UCLA. Gift of the Neutrogena Corporation, X94.27.11. (Photograph by Elena Phipps)

ABSTRACT

The development of rich and complex Andean textile traditions spanned millennia, in concert with the development of cultures that utilized textiles as a primary form of expression and communication. Knowing the importance of textiles in the Andean world, we can examine elements of their genesis and look at the trajectory from the earliest developments of fiber-made items to the extraordinarily complex masterpieces of textile arts. Understanding the processes by which this was achieved, challenging enough in their material and technical features, is part of a larger cultural dialogue about the relationship between textiles as objects of use and function, and their physical and material qualities. These represent cultural choices and constitute systems of knowledge and values, underscored in the material and materiality of the media.

Thursday, January 30, 2020
6 PM in the Lecture Hall
The Institute of Fine Arts
1 East 78th Street

Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.
RSVP to the Institute of Fine Arts HERE

Followed by a reception with wine and cheese in the Loeb Room