The collection of Andean and Amazonian cultural artifacts was acquired by the Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS) in Autumn of 2015 through a series of donations and purchases supported by Title VI Federal Funds. The collection, which is housed in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese (Hagerty 255), supports a growing curriculum and innovative programming on the Andes and Amazonia connected to the Quechua Language Program and the Andean and Amazonian Studies Minor at OSU. It is part of a developing “Integrated Learning Environment” that features activity-based and experiential pedagogies compatible with non-Western traditions and engages prevailing forms of indigenous knowledge, power, resistance, and self-determination.
The collection includes artifacts from the Andes and Amazonia including “Slice of Life” Tigua Paintings, unique Canelos Quichua Ceramics, etched story gourds, woven tapestries and shigras (net bags), musical instruments, festival masks and ritual items, hunting implements, children’s toys, food ways implements. These items are paired with related literature, music and film CDs and DVDs. Artifacts purchased from Sacha Runa Foundation and donated by Norman Whitten, Curator of the Spurlock Museum, have similar pieces on exhibit at the Spurlock Museum at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.
The collection centers on the ways indigenous communities maintain storytelling, cultural production and oral traditions, passing down wisdom and meaning-making from one generation to the next not through conventional written texts, but rather by way of practice, experience, and applied knowledgeof the processes behind beautifully made things.
The collection goes in hand with several interactive features including SoundCloud recordings and digital story maps that can be accessed through QR codes. These QR codes enable our audience to engage directly with the artifacts and immerse themselves in the culture. SoundCloud recordings feature the OSU Andean Music Ensemble and riddles, poems and stories by Professor Luis Morató of the Quechua Language Program that capture the rhythm, tone, and manner the language is spoken. The digital story map gives viewers an opportunity to see where exactly and how some of the artifacts were made. The use of these interactive features opens a whole new world for the audience and contributes to our goal of creating an “Integrated Learning Environment. Please scan this QR code to access the digital story map.
Below are the links to all of our interactive features. More features will be available Spring 2018.
http://go.osu.edu/LargeStoryGourd
http://go.osu.edu/CoatiMundiCeramic
http://go.osu.edu/QuechuaCeramicCollectionMap
http://go.osu.edu/QuechuaNarratives
All photos credited to Abhijit Varde