The Jalq'a Tarabuco Textile Project
(since 1990)

This project entails the production and marketing of high quality weavings, hand-crafted on traditional looms with natural wools; sheep and alpaca wool in Jalq’a weavings and sheep wool and cotton in Tarabuco weavings.  In total there are 800 female weavers from the two regions, organised in self-managed workshops located in rural indigenous communities and peripheral neighbourhoods of Sucre, with democratically chosen boards of directors.

The chief success of this project is that it has been able to combine economic growth with the development of a truly unique aesthetic product.  An estimated 50% to 60% of family cash income for weavers now comes from weaving sales and although there is much more weaving being done, the pieces of traditional dress have not been degraded or “folklorised”.  The intensity of textile work has provoked, on the contrary, an acceleration of the processes of change in the designs (processes always in existence), as part of a living tradition. Weaving has motivated a much more passionate search of how each region can express its own identity. The weavers have not tried to adapt to the tastes of the buyers, and furthermore, are conscious that what they offer is a world vision distinct from the observer’s own experience. 

As textile production constitutes a consistent and secure source of monetary resources for bothtg men and women weavers, weaving has become a fundamental activity, almost as important as agriculture. Without trying to replace agriculture, the weavings have become an important alternative, especially in times of climatic disaster.

The objectives of the project are in no way closed: the future points to expansion to other communities and a more diverse product line, expansion into international markets, together with a deepening of creative ethnic-cultural values.

The Jalq'a and Tarabuco >

Commercialization: ASUR's Store

The Caseron de la Capellania, built in 1635 and declared national patrimony, has been transferred to ASUR by the Governor of the Department of Chuquisaca. In this colonial building, which has been completely restored, ASUR has installed its retail store. Unlike other handcraft shops, ASUR’s salesroom exhibits and sells only products made by the indigenous villagers participating in the of Indigenous Art Renaissance Program.

The profit from the sale of these products not only offers weavers with the opportunity to subsist on highly eroded lands with insecure agricultural yields but also contributes to a weavers’ renewed feelings of pride toward their textile tradition, to their ability to organise and administrate ASUR’s workshops, as well as to an increasing appreciation of their own culture.