What type of textile is this?
A virtual, mind quipu. A woven idea, the matrix of works to come.
Was it produced for a specific use?
It is a reimagining of a forbidden art: quipu making, destroyed by European colonization in Peru in the sixteenth century.
What material(s) is it comprised of?
It is immaterial—only an idea.
What are its dimensions?
It is an abstraction without dimensions. It can be realized as a miniature, or on a monumental scale.
What year (or date range) was it made?
Late 1960s
Where was it made (geographical location)?
Santiago, Chile
Was the textile handmade or mass-produced?
Neither
Can the textile be attributed to a specific designer, craftsperson or artist or a company that produced the item?
The quipu concept and object were created 5,000 years ago.
This particular quipu is one that I imagined and it was my sole creation.
How did you come to own this particular textile?
I am its author.
How would you describe the status of this textile in your lived environment (i.e. do you wear it, store it, display it, use it, etc.)?
I remember it, I name it, it exists as a note, a drawing, a page in a poetry book.
Do you recall what drew you to this textile initially?
Its strangeness. A quipu was unlike anything I had seen before. Like the insides of a body: innards.
What further information (if any) would you feel important to add about this textile, either in relation to your interview or more generally?
The historical background and cultural context of quipus can be found in my books, such as Chanccani Quipu (2012), and The Precarious/QUIPOem (1997), as well as on multiple websites, including Harvard's Khipu Database Project.
