Wickerwork

Different vegetables fibers are used in Peru in the art of straw weaving. Among the soft fibers are the reeds, ichu, bulrush, among others. The hard fibers are willow, laurel, tamshi, rattan, wild cane and bamboo.

Reed and totora plant (local bulrush) are used to construct rafts used on Lake Titicaca (Puno). In the north of Peru, they build caballitos de totora (reed boats), which have been in existence since the pre-Colombian times and are used by fisherman. Nowadays, they are also used for surfing. With these materials the craftsmen weave furniture, stools and different styles of bags. These fibers grow in abundance in several regions of the country, since they are constantly fertilized by the migratory birds that travel throughout the southern Hemisphere. An example of this is the wetlands of Albufera, in Huacho, north of Lima.

In the town of Rioja, near San Martin, bombaje (bulrush), a species of reed, is planted and harvested and used to weave hats, the ones that are used by the chalanes or riders of the Peruvian Paso horse.

Nowadays, all these vegetables fibers allow the craftsman to make ancestral objects, as well as to invent new and original products. We must add that these materials are not only used to make objects for daily applications, but also to create musical instruments, like the quena or Andean flute, native of Peru, and also the zampoña or pan flute.