One World, Many Voices

Kallawaya medicinal experts Walter Álvarez and Ramon Álvarez prepare a ritual table in a sacred place in Bolivia called Canlaya. UNESCO proclaimed the Andean Cosmovision of the Kallawaya a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2003.

Photo by Patricio Crooker

Lola Palluca de Quispe is a Kallawaya textile weaver and traditional medicine practitioner from the Upinguaya community of the Bautista Saavedra Province in Bolivia. She learned her medicinal knowledge and weaving skills from her mother and grandmother, and has been involved in the care of plants and animals since childhood.

Photo by Beatriz Loza

The Kallawaya are renowned for their traditional medicinal practices and their distinctive textile weavings. High in the Bolivian Andes, the ancient Kallawaya tongue has survived the millennia by being passed down within families and kept mostly secret, known only to the initiated few. Quechua, the dominant indigenous language of the Andes, is used by the community for everyday talk. Kallawaya serves as a vessel carrying something of value to all of humanity: knowledge of how plants can heal us, and of how to maintain balance, harmony, and well-being. The entire Kallawaya community relies on their rituals to sustain their environment, social relations, subsistence, and good health.

This presentation was made possible by the U.S. State Department Fund for Innovation in Public Diplomacy and the United State Embassy in Bolivia, with additional support from the Inter-American Foundation.

Festival Participants:

Walter Alvarez Quispe, medicinal practitioner
Max Chura Mamani, medicinal practitioner
Lucio Cuba Quispe, medicinal practitioner
Fernando Huanca Mamani, medicinal practitioner
Lola Palluca Nina de Quispe, weaver, ritualist
Yola Martina Quispe de López, weaver, ritualist