Away Pacha: Weaving Andean Thinking
Away Pacha is a textile project developed by Sofia Hott, a Chilean textile artist and designer whose work explores the intersections between craftsmanship, design, and cultural sustainability. With over a decade of experience researching rural textile traditions and collaborating with women’s artisan communities across South America, her practice is deeply rooted in Andean heritage.
Wari-Tiwanaku Four-Pointed Hat, 600-1100 AD South coast of Peru, Camelid and plant fibres. Photo courtesy of the Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art.
Inspired by the ceremonial headwear found in the collection of the Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art, she draws on the sacred and symbolic role of pre-Columbian hats and helmets - objects once used to cover not only the head but also the thoughts and memories of Andean ancestors. Hott translates their form, texture, and meaning into a series of contemporary woven textiles...
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Further Information:
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Image Credits:
LEAD: Piece No. 2: Away Allpaqa, inspired by the Pica-Tarapacá Helmet Cap, 900-1470 AD Northern Chile. Camelid and plant fibers. Sophia Hott.
All photography and video: Chris Chierego.