“Living Quipu” by Cecilia Vicuña, January 9, 2019 @mfaboston
“Living Quipu” by Cecilia Vicuña, January 9, 2019  @mfaboston
Uploaded July 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Chilean-born, New York–based artist Cecilia Vicuña stages a participatory, meditative performance inside her exhibition “Cecilia Vicuña: Disappeared Quipu.” Her performance “Living Quipu” represents a rebirthing of the quipu, an ancient Andean system of knotted cords that served as a mode of writing, record keeping, and remembering that was banned by the Spanish in colonial times. Vicuña weaves and wraps the audience in raw wool, poetry, and song, channeling the power of the quipu as a vehicle for connection. For Vicuña, each person becomes a knot and vessel for memory in her “quipu for the future.”

“Cecilia Vicuña: Disappeared Quipu” is organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Brooklyn Museum.
Generously supported by the Museum Council Artist in Residency Program Fund.
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Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |

“Living Quipu” by Cecilia Vicuña, January 9, 2019

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