Color, Structure and Meaning in Ancient Andean Fiber Arts

Color is among the most notable visual features of the material world of every society, from manufactured objects (e.g., textiles, ceramics, paintings, etc.) to the landscape. This symposium focuses attention on color as a meaningful element in the material world of the Pre-Columbian Andes. The central problem will be to address the modes of production, uses, and the meanings of color in fiber arts (textiles, khipus, wrapped sticks, etc.) and other media. This symposium aims to develop a broad understanding of how color differences and color patterning may have constituted a domain of signs and symbols that were drawn on and manipulated by crafts persons from the archaic through the early colonial period in the Andes. Ultimately, the goal of this symposium is to take interpretations and conclusions outside the narrow field of textile studies where they can be of importance for the understanding of social organization and structure, ritual, and other social practices.