19 May: This was a quiet day for us back in Cusco, as Abby was busy with interviews for her research. We took a load to a local laundry and did some more exploring of old Cusco on foot. A door labeled as a tapestry museum caught Amy’s eye, so we went in to investigate. This was an unexpected treasure: the gallery displaying tapestries designed by world-renowned contemporary Peruvian artist Maximo Laura. We were both hugely impressed by the magnificence of his work. Although modern in style, he incorporates a wealth of traditional Peruvian imagery. The colors and shading are exquisite, and several of his tapestries have won international competitions. Some of his tapestries are hanging in places like the World Bank and some corporate headquarters. These are large, often floor to ceiling and several feet long, and each one can take many months to weave. As a museum attendant was showing us around the 30 or so tapestries on display, he introduced us to Maximo Laura himself, who happened to be in his Cusco gallery for the day although his main studio is in Lima. Mr. Laura generously took the time to talk with us, despite clearly being a busy man. We were excited to bring Abby to see his work when she was free in the evening. The quality and style of Maximo Laura’s designs reminded us of some of the winning entries we had admired at the Paducah quilt museum—in both cases, modern artists had selected a type of fiber art as their medium of choice to display their colorful and creative designs.
For dinner, we tried something new to us, cuy (guinea pig). It is a traditional Peruvian treat. There isn’t really much meat on them.
