I absolutely loved going to the Latin American Art Lecture by the VMFA. Before this talk, I had no idea how important textiles were to Inka art. I really enjoyed hearing about the connection between weaving and the fabric of the universe, meaning that the clothes you wear represent you and communicate your role in the world. Fork kings, or Inkas, they had specific designs called Tocapu that included designs to represent a microcosm of their empire including armies and landscapes with men coexisting with nature. I also found it interesting that there is not much representational imagery like in Islamic art, instead they opt for geometric shapes and patterns. I was super surprised to learn how they got their red die from bugs called cochineals that were eventually brought to Europe during the Renaissance. In addition to the information I learned about art, I learned a lot of about Inka culture in general. First of all, how in Quechua Inka really means king, so they actually call themselves "Tawantinsuyu" or the four parts together (the four regions). Then, I loved the discussion about camay. Camay is the soul of something that brings something into being, the originating force. A Camas is the reciever physically in the world. Artists are seen as bringing Camay into the world. This idea of soul continuing on also relates to the dead, who are seen as still alive. Mummies are continually given food and drink. This idea of staying alive did cause problems for the emperors as each new emperor didn't inherit lands and instead had to find new ones which explains the rapid increase of territory in such a short time.
Huaca is a sacred spot of object. This idea causes the Inka to see all things as animate, even people and rocks are interchangable. In the capital of the empire (now Cuzco) there are radiating lines that have huacas places along them. Lots of this information reminds me of my East and West religions class I took last year. Especially the concept of Ayni or duality, which we talked about a lot especially with the idea of yin and yang. It is the idea that everything is in pairs, and in relationship to art, artists would always craft items in pairs which I found fascinating. Overall, I found this talk to be intriguing and I learned a lot about Inca culture and art.
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June 2021
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