Salasaka Tapestries - Chismosa

CHISMOSA

This tapestry is a popular one in the Salasaca design vocabulary. It is commonly referred to as "Chismosas" meaning "Women sitting around making jokes."

Much of the large amount of daily work the Salasaca woman is responsible for is done in the company of other women. This makes the work and time pass faster and provides many of the information linkage points which define the community as an integral whole.

The women (or "Warmikuna" in Salasaca) are dressed in traditional Salasaca costume and are seated next to a series of "barros" or water containers. The mountain depicted in the tapestry is the Tungurahua volcano “mama Tungurahua” which is the very active volcano that daily spews out stones, ash and looms over the Salasaca horizon.