Artwork Details
- Title
- Quipu Viscera
- Artist
- Date
- 2017, version 2024
- Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- dimensions variable
- Copyright
- © 2023, Cecilia Vicuña
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase through the American Women’s History Initiative Acquisitions Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- site-specific installation of dyed and unspun wool
- Classifications
- Subjects
- Abstract
- Object Number
- 2023.28A-B
Artwork Description
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. The muted pinks on its exterior give way to more saturated tones toward the center, so that the wool becomes a sort of skin that contains the organs and life within.
The word quipu, meaning "knot," comes from the Quechua language that originated in Peru. It refers to the ancient system of record-keeping using hanging, knotted strings developed in the Andes over 5,000 years ago. When the Spanish colonized the region in 1532, they outlawed the use of quipus.
Originally from Chile, Cecilia Vicuña is interested in quipus as a form of forbidden knowledge, passed through generations of Indigenous culture. Vicuña's quipus are large-scale evocations of the form. Instead of replicating the craft, they resurrect and transform it.