Sabine Hyland

I am an anthropologist who studies the Andean textiles known as “quipu” (“khipu”), collaborating with elders in remote Indigenous communities with living quipu traditions. Quipus are a knotted cord writing system which villagers have described to me as a tapestry with a warp and a discontinuous weft.   

To better understand quipus, therefore, I have begun to weave tapestries, inspired by ancient and colonial South American tapestries.  I learn by examining fragments of Inca and colonial Spanish tapestries, finding inspiration in how their makers played with colour, texture, form, and symbolism.  The earlier designs and techniques have lessons for our contemporary world, especially in regard to the sacred nature of the Sun, Moon, Stars, Mountains, Oceans, and Plants.  

The BTG 20th anniversary event, Picking up the Threads, is my first juried exhibition.