Vol. 02

16 women who have held on to ancestral wisdom for generations

“WARMI”

Warmi is a group of 16 women that emerged in 2018 as part of the collaborative residencies of mater, our research centre.

One of our first research projects involved traditional dyeing techniques using native plants of the Andes. This ethnobotanical research was a collaborative effort between the mater team and local women who have held on to this ancestral wisdom for generations. What started as an isolated project has grown into a deep relationship that aims to preserve and highlight ancestral wisdom by bringing it to a wider public, as per Masi’s mission.

Warmi means woman in Quechua, but the word expresses much more than gender: it describes a woman with culturally significant skills for Andean communities, with the willingness to learn and the pride of knowing how to do something valuable in the community. How to weave, work the land, cook, raise children, and care for their animals; among many other things, they sustain life. The 16 women who make up the collective are Warmis, and so they decided to name their association likewise.

Together, they collect dye plants on each season, dye the wool of their sheep, spin it, and weave it in such a daily exchange with their natural environment that it is impossible to separate it from their textiles. The water, mountains, plants, their food, animals, and farmlands are also intertwined with the threads. Much more than utilitarian objects, their textiles are tangible manifestations of their culture, environment, and way of understanding life. Through them, the Warmis preserve ancestral knowledge, but they also communicate a dynamic present, constantly moving and updating.

NOSOTROS

Masi es un colectivo de investigación creativa. Colaboramos con una red interdisciplinaria de individuos y organizaciones para desarrollar experiencias, productos físicos y contenido editorial.