Living in Peru : your everyday companion

By Barbara Drake

The extraordinary range and beauty of Peru’s artisania tradition shines in “Perú Hecho a Mano,” an exhibit organized by design experts at Saga Falabella. On display now through mid-September at Saga’s Jockey Plaza store, “Perú Hecho a Mano” showcases hundreds of traditional handicrafts made by master artisans, as well as rare antiques and innovative designs crafted especially for the annual event.

But arts and design purists take note:  This isn’t a hands-off, museum-type event. Nearly everything in this exhibit can be admired up close and purchased on the spot – putting what has been made “a mano” in shoppers’ hands.

“‘Perú Hecho a Mano’ is truly a unique exhibit,” explains Milagros Cuglievan, chief buyer for Saga Falabella in Lima. “Our design team worked with the finest artisans to commission items that are inspired by tradition but complement our contemporary lifestyle. The result is something distinctive, created especially for the Peruvian public.”

Items are made by artisans in Ucayali, Iquitos, Pucallpa, San Ramon, Madre de Dios, Lamas, Cusco, Ayacucho, Piura, Arequipa and Chancay.

Thematically “Perú Hecho a Mano” is organized in three collections: crafts from the jungle, the sierra and the coast, reflecting Peru’s main geographic regions.

“El Embrujo de la Selva” celebrates the harmonious earth tones and intricate geometric patterns of the Amazon peoples. There are lightweight necklaces and rings made from Amazonian seeds, carved wooden bowls, hand-woven ponchos, embroidered textiles and modern chairs covered in traditional fabrics. Many items were made by Shipibo craftswomen from San Francisco, a village in the department of Ucayali.

An elegant display of antique Shipibo vases (priced s/.2,999 each) underscores that contemporary Shipibo artisans are heirs to a great design tradition.

Another exhibit highlight is the “Encanto de los Andes” collection, which showcases the vivid Andean color palette and intricate embroidery techniques.

The same eye-popping limes, pinks and reds that grace traditional  polleras (hand-woven layered skirts) and beaded ch’ullos (hats with earflaps) look surprisingly modern when used as accents on Saga-designed lamps, vases and pillowcases.

Stunning embroidered designs transform upholstered benches (s/. 1,789 each) from Ayachucho and contemporary velvet handbags by Susan Wagner.

The “Nuestra Tradición Costena” collection features coastal-inspired ceramics, straw hats worn by el chalán (Peruvian horseman), 19th-century horse saddles and apothecary jars, and modern mirrors and lamps.

Of special interest are reproduction vases and sculptures from the Chancay, a pre-Inca culture that thrived on the coast north of Lima between 1100 and 1440 AD.

“Our reproductions sell for more than the real Chancay antiques that are sold on the black market,” notes Cuglievan. “But it’s illegal to buy the antiques, and tourists can’t take them out of the country.  By buying reproductions like our, customers enable today’s artisans to earn a living and they help preserve Peru’s cultural patrimony.”

Now in its fifth year, Saga Falabella’s “Perú Hecho a Mano” exhibit has become a much-anticipated event on the Lima design calendar.  The July 9 opening night gala was attended by Peru’s minister of foreign trade Mercedes Aráoz, Saga Falabella general manager John Xavier Roca, and members of Peru’s arts and design communities.

Shipibo and Andean artisans beamed with pride as they demonstrated ceramics and spinning techniques that have survived from pre-colonial times.

Up to 8,000 visitors have seen “Perú Hecho a Mano” since it opened, say spokespeople for Saga Falabella, the Peruvian department-store chain. The show was scheduled to close August 15 but has been extended to mid-September, due to enthusiastic public response. Exhibits have been blended within the larger housewares displays on Saga’s third floor, in Jockey Plaza.

On a recent Monday night, Peruvian visitors to “Perú Hecho a Mano” examined embroidered pillows from Ayacucho, turning pieces over to analyze needlework and checking price tags.

Bounding up the escalator to the third-floor exhibit came a small girl with long, dark hair.

She raced to a cluster of colorful ch’ullos mounted on metal stalks, like flowers blooming in a garden.

“Mira! De la sierra!” she called to her mother, who was following behind with a load of recent purchases.

The woman’s tall, dark-haired husband joined her by the hat display.

“I am from the jungle,” the woman explained to me. “He’s from the sierra.”

“She--,“ the woman added, nodding at eight-year-old Jossy, “--is the product of both.”

Jossy smiled. “Yes, the jungle and the sierra.”

So what do you think of this exhibit? I asked the girl.

“These things are beautiful,” said Jossy. “They are made in Peru – like me.”




IF YOU GO

Elements from the “Perú Hecho a Mano” exhibit can be seen on the third floor of Saga Falabella Jockey Plaza, Av. Javier Prado Oeste 4200. Open through mid-September daily from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.  A new exhibit of Andean crafts, from Peru, Colombia and Argentina, opens in mid-August.