Las Manuelas - Art Series is the newest edition of the Las Manuelas Project supported by IED
Date
22 December 2022
Las Manuelas - Art Series is the newest edition of the Las Manuelas Project supported by IED
Las Manuelas - Art Series is the newest edition of the Las Manuelas Project created by the Peruvian organization Movimiento Manuela Ramos in 2012, with the goal to empower Peruvian women in rural areas. IED has supported its mission since the beginning,creating a co-design platform and with the constant collaboration of its Students and Alumni.
Based on an unprecedented collaboration between Las Manuelas, the collective of Peruvian alpaca herders and artisans from Puno, south of Peru, and eleven contemporary artists, Las Manuelas - Art Series collection came to life from the collaboration between opposite worlds that also seem to complement each other, such as urban and rural, artisan and artist.
Eleven textile pieces were co-designed and realized with the precious natural wool of alpaca, hand-dyed and knitted, with soul and care, based on the artwork of the following artists, an exciting selection by David Lapof, Curator and Project Manager in IED Centro Ricerche.
"Lines of division are blurred today, especially in fashion. Luxury brands are fascinated by the culture that once upon a time may have seemed to contradict them. Things can get exciting when you juxtapose two forms of expression that have never been fused before. When I first learned about Las Manuelas, they had already incorporated the work of some contemporary designers. Yet the idea to blend a rural, traditional process with raw urban culture was tempting to say the least. We could breathe new life into the term Streetwear!"
David Lapof, Curator
Digital Pattern by IED Students on Lakwena artwork
Each artist gave us one of their works and the students Blanca Gomara, Sonia Caliani, and Fangni Hu Lu transformed them into digital designs by using the co-design platform developed by IED.
Hilaria Juliana with Broken Fingers digital pattern, scarf and alpacas
The digital patterns were sent by email to the artisans in Puno. There they printed out the patterns on paper on A4 sheets using ordinary printers and then glued them together. Then it was time to knit!
Flora Hualpa with HuskMitNaven scarf
Each piece is made by a female artisan who is also an alpaca breeder. They use the wool of their own alpacas, which they spin, dye and weave by hand, following the pattern, and then they add their “signature.” That is the philosophy of the Las Manuelas project: inclusive design.