MARY MORALES BARRIENTOS
Mary Morales Barrientos( b. 1961, Isoseño-Guaraní community of the Amazon, Bolivia) is a renowned weaver and artisan from the Isoso region of Cordillera Province in the department of Santa Cruz, Bolivia. She is recognized for her fundamental role in revitalizing Guaraní textile art. As the founder and departmental president of Artecampo( Fieldart), she has played a key part in consolidating collective spaces for Indigenous craftswomen across the Bolivian Chaco. Her leadership as production manager within her association has been crucial in promoting creativity, improving the living conditions of craftswomen, and radically reappraising ancestral knowledge.
Barrientos employs a warp-faced structure in her weaving, applying two traditional techniques: moesi and q ' ara q ' ara pepo. Moesi is based on a one-to-one mathematical sequence to create precise, rhythmical compositions; q ' ara q ' ara pepo uses pairs( two-to-two) to create complex figurative motifs.
She uses both techniques to depict symbols like the toborochi tree, a reference to the oral narrative of Araverá. In this account, the toborochi tree serves as a refuge and protector for Queen Araverá as she flees the hostile spirits known as Añas. Finding shelter in the tree, she gives birth to the territory’ s legitimate heir.
Through such representations Barrientos weaves mythical and archaeological narratives that keep the Guaraní and Andean-Amazonian worldview alive.( ELVIRA ESPEJO AYCA)
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