Andean textiles competition, La Paz 2010

The Andean textiles competition was organized by the Vice-Ministry of Cultures of the Bolivian government. The first prize for the 'best' textile (a tractor to be donated to the community to which the weaver belonged) generated great interest and a large number of entries. The judging panel, which did not include any textile experts or weavers, adopted the following criteria:

• grade of fineness of the textile
• use of traditional materials (sheep, alpaca, llama)
• preference for the period 1940-1980, when traditional materials were used

The outcome of this competition was that extremely sophisticated and beautiful textiles made with acrylic yarn and bright colours (below left) were cast aside in favour of technically far simpler pieces with traditional materials and designs (below right).