History in the Round

The talent of an artist, who with their hands, can turn an ordinary object

into something extraordinary is inspiring.

While taping a TV episode highlighting indigenous crafts in South America, our production crew discovered such artistry in a little mountain town called Chinchero,19 miles outside the bustling city of Cusco, Peru.

This quaint hillside village, not far from the Sacred Valley of the Incas, is where we were introduced to a family who keeps the tradition of Peruvian gourd-carving alive. Every day in their workshop, Germán Jaimes Castro and his family carve colorful gourds with intricate scenes of traditional everyday life activities: Andean people, wildlife, birds, llamas and alpacas, designs and devotional motifs. Gourd carving is one of the oldest crafts in South America dating back over 4,000 years in the history of the Peruvian Andes.

You can find generations of families, even entire villages dedicated to producing this sought-after souvenir. But the story behind gourd carving is sometimes lost on modern day tourists. These carved gourds hold the secret to stories passed down from generation to generation. You see many of these indigenous people were not able to read or write, so they carved gourds and by doing so, they told family and community stories with their carvings. These hand-made, one-of-a-kind gourds are not only pieces of art, but you could say they are a history in the round sharing the stories of these mountain people of the Andes.

Germán has been carving gourds since he was 15 years old. Today, he is passing this ancient storytelling heritage to his two sons. Yes, it is folk art, but it’s also the family’s way to earn a living.

Unfortunately, gourd carving is a disappearing art form. It takes a lot of time and most of the younger generation have lost interest in it. The size of the gourd and the complexity of the design dictate the time it takes to carve. A small gourd that fits in your hand may take up to a week to complete. A large gourd, the size of a soccer ball, may take up to six months.

Once the carving process is complete, Germán and his wife accentuate the etchings by burning natural plants and using that black ash to rub all over the gourd so that it seeps into the etched groves. The black ash is then rubbed off with newspaper and oil is applied to set it and finish it off.

Hand-carved Peruvian gourds are more than just a souvenir, they are a way for Peru’s indigenous people to give travelers a glimpse into their country’s unique history. So in your travels, instead of buying a t-shirt at your destination, seek out instead a small piece of hand-crafted art that shares the story of the place you’ve visited, and know that what you are buying is more than just an object…you are buying a piece of heart, a piece of soul…a small piece of someone else’s life.