Beyond the Stones of Machu Picchu: Folk Tales and Stories of Inca Life - Paperback

by Elizabeth Conrad Vanbuskirk (Author), Angel L. Callañaupa Alvarez (Other)

Andean village life is vibrantly depicted through folk tales, stories, and art in this compendium of South American culture with a special focus on the famous Andean practice of weaving and other textile arts. The stories and paintings exhibited within take a rare, in-depth look into South American native people, their customs, everyday lives, incidents of change, and profound appreciation and celebration of the natural world, bringing forth Incan rituals and beliefs about the living earth (Pacha Mama), the majestic mountains worshipped as Apus, the sky and its "black constellations," the meanings attached to sacred water, the events of nature and ever-changing climate, and the stages of life and growth. Stories include The Gift of Quinoa, The Bear Prince, and The First Haircutting, all interspersed with distinguished, imaginative, and expansive paintings that vividly illustrate scenes of little-known but time-honored traditions, like the annual Pilgrimage to the Ice Mountain, the ceremony of Qoyllu Riti, Star of the Snow, and other events that mark the life of Inca people in the past and today.

Author Biography

Elizabeth Conrad VanBuskirk is an exhibited fiber artist and award-winning writer who has taught courses on Inca history and culture to university educators. She is the cofounder of the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco, which works to save ancient Peruvian textile traditions from extinction. She lives in Charlotte, Vermont. Angel L. Callañaupa Alvarez is an award-winning Peruvian painter inspired by history, tradition, legends, superstitions, and the Andean vision of the cosmos. In 1970, he created landscape paintings for Dennis Hopper's infamous film The Last Movie, which was being filmed in his hometown of Chinchero.