Chuspas

Friday 4 April 2008

Ryan and I visited a neat museum full of art made by Andean children today. Since they asked you not to take pictures of the artworks, I decided to put this up instead. In the same museum, they had an incredible collection of chuspas, or purses used only for holding coca leaves, from all different ethnic groups of Peru and Bolivia. These are rarely used any more, due to the popularity of plastic baggies, so are falling into the category of historical interest. Each is unique, however, and always woven for a man by a woman important to him, such as his mother or wife, for an important event, such as his wedding or a festival.