Cecilia Vicuña
Quipu Viscera
ongoing
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C., USA
Cecilia Vicuña’s site-specific installation Quipu Viscera is made of hanging skeins of red, brown, and pink unspun wool. As its title suggests, it evokes the body, specifically the female form. Like a living being, the wool structure is at once delicate and hearty.
The word quipu, meaning "knot," comes from the Quechua language that originated in Andean region of South America. It refers to the ancient communication system based on knotted colored strings developed in the Andes over five thousand years ago. Shortly after the Spanish colonized the region in 1532, they banned the use of quipus.
Originally from Chile, Cecilia Vicuña is interested in quipus as a form of knowledge, passed through generations of Indigenous culture. The artist has described her monumental quipus as "poems in space."
