Woman’s Dress

This large woven cloth was made to be wrapped around the body as a dress by a woman of the Chuquibamba region in the southern Andes of Peru. Its red ground is crossed by diagonal rows of small stepped motifs in white, blue and gold, all marching in the same direction, while a band of tighter pattern runs along the top and bottom. The cloth is made from camelid hair, the fine soft wool of alpacas and llamas, dyed in rich, lasting colors. The diagonals give the whole thing a sense of steady movement. Imagine it worn and in motion, the stripes shifting with each step of the person wearing it.

Look closely

1. Follow one diagonal row from one side to the other.
2. Look closely at a single motif. What shape is it built from?
3. Notice the bands along the top and bottom. How are they different?

While you sit

Rows and rows of small shapes, all going the same way. Let them carry you along.

Your seat in the galleries: a set of stepped red wool blocks with pale stitched tops.