ECHOES OF YESTERDAY

Tapestry. Author: Hector Cruz. Amaicha of the Valley. Tucuman. Second half of the 20th century.

Piece woven on a horizontal pedal loom, with the weft face technique. The artist used aniline-dyed sheep's wool for the background, while the figures were made with wool dyed with natural dyes from the region. This tapestry reflects in its beautifully balanced aesthetics, the glorious past of the Diaguita culture. Measurements: 116 x 68 cm.

Its author is Héctor Cruz, from Salta, who has lived since childhood in Amaicha del Valle, province of Tucumán. Prestigious textile craftsman and creator of the Museum of the Pachamama, at 72 years of age, turned painter and sculptor, his tapestries are found in selected cultural spaces in the country.

In this work of his early production, he wanted to leave a testimony of the Santamarian culture -through the urns and the guard- settled in his land of origin ten centuries ago. “(…) The Santa María culture settled around the year 1,000 in the Yocavil or Santa María valleys, del Cajón -Catamarca- and Calchaquí -Salta- up to the snow-capped Acay, unfolding in all the magnificence the agro-pottery culture in the Argentine Northwest (…) They made large highly decorated ceramic vessels. Funerary urns for babies are characteristic.” (1)

Note:

S.O.XIX - BDM