#peruvian costumes

[hg-aneh]

I watched Inside Out 2 the other day xd

[cinnamoskin]

Sorpresa 🫢🫣

[dinoperro]

my spidersona!! spider gooper

they can transform into goop

[themakeupbrush]

Miss Universe Peru 2023 National Costume

The Golden Tumi The Tumi, a Quechua word meaning a knife, was one of the most used surgical ceremonial instruments to carry out the cranial trephinations used mainly by pre-Columbian coastal civilizations of the Andes. These operations often allowed the wounded to continue living. Today it is used as a symbol that representa the doctors of Perú specifically in the neurology department, it was also adopted by the peruvian government as a symbol for turism. They say that if you see a Tumi hanging on a wall it is a symbol of good luck.

For context, she recently had to undergo surgery for cerebral AVMs due to a rare disease

[rainbowchewynuggets]

IT'S DONE IT'S DONE IT'S DONE IT'S DONE

I've been grinding away at this for months. I can't wait for people to see it. This project turned out to have a lot of gears behind it, so check out the artist statement below!

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

I love this song. The first time I heard it, I already began picturing a story where a woman stumbled upon a gathering of birds in the forest and became so enthralled by their song that she partied with them until she became a bird, herself. It turns out that isn’t too far off from the singer, Yma Sumac’s, first experiences learning to sing. She would imitate the animals near her home in the hills of the Andes mountains as a very young kid, developing a vocal range that would make her famous later on.

From there, I fell into a montage of research on her life and the Peruvian festival music that defined her early career, as well as the complicated story of the exotica music she became most known for in the United States. I followed that up with a month-long dive into northwest Peruvian culture, mythology, ornithology, flora, and topographical studies. Then, I blacked out somewhere during the drawing phase, and now I’m here.

While I really value what I’ve learned while doing this project, I think it’s important to note that I did it all as an amateur researcher and a foreigner to the subject. I decided it would be a little conceited to try to make a totally accurate depiction of a traditional Peruvian festival, so I instead focused on referencing the regional variation of these traditions. Costumes and music have their own specific designs and textures depending on the area, and dances and festivities reflect local history. Yet, it all shares the same themes of celebrating prosperity and surviving hardship. Common motifs and characters reflect a shared heritage and cultural identity that coexists with individuality. It’s all just very cool to me.

So I asked myself, what if these birds had their own version of these traditions? What would a bird sing a folk song about? What would be new and cool to Yma, but still familiar enough that she could join in? (I got lucky, since Peruvian festival culture is already very reverent of birds and feather patterns.)

What I ended up with pulled a lot from the Carnaval de Cajamarca, which originated in the next town over from Yma’s childhood home of Ichocán. It also references these dances, among others:

Huaylarsh - Los Emplumados - Marinera - Tondero - White Dance / Los Chunchos

It’s also important to know that I took a lot of creative liberties with my research to pull the story together. I hope I haven’t used any elements in a harmful or insensitive way–and if I have, I’d like to know so that I can apologize. (I also missed out on some cool stuff, like the White Dance always having shaker beads on the legs.) I highly encourage you to have a look at some of the sources I did, and to look further if you’re interested. I found it all very enlightening, and I hope you will too.

Yma’s wikipedia, which seems like a mostly accurate overview based on other sources

Her official website, curated by a fan and friend

A segment on NPR about her musical career

The interview I got the opening from

The ornithology archive that saved my ass

I’d like to work on uploading all the frames as an image reel somewhere so they can be looked at individually. Might take a while, though.

Thanks for watching!

(To those using a screen reader, the video description follows this message. I'd like to apologize for putting the description as the last thing on the post. Not only is it extremely long, but this seemed to be the rare instance where the description would benefit from the context of the post's commentary before being read itself. I wrote and formatted this description in a way that I hoped would apply to aid various disabilities that impede enjoying music videos, and I am very interested in getting feedback.)

DESCRIPTION

[The following is presented as an animatic (a series of still images edited into a video) set to music. The art is drawn with condensed yet fuzzy pastel-like linework and full color. The song used is “Chuncho” by Yma Sumac. The song was composed to imitate the various sounds of tropical birds and animals. It has no lyrics, at least in a traditional sense. I, the describer, have tried my best to translate the especially abstract nature of this song into language that can be interpreted through text. Please use the best of your imagination to fill in the rest. An audio description will always refer to the visual description that follows it.

Audio: A male interviewer asks, “Since you are referred to the bird who became a woman in your native Peru, Ms. Sumac, may we hear your exotic voice?”

Visuals: A title card appears with gold lettering on a black background. It reads one word: Chuncho. The word is depicted as if it were carved into a flat surface with loose individual strokes.

Audio: A woman answers, “I will try to imitate the birds, as I did in my earliest years in the mountains of Peru.”

Visuals: Credits appear, also in gold text: Sung by Yma Sumac (Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chàvarri del Castillo. Drawn by Carlie Hughes (rainbowchewynuggets).

Audio: The music begins with the steady four-note strumming of a guitar, which will continue throughout the song. Then, it is accompanied by low ragged notes from a heavy woodwind instrument.

Visuals: A green cicada flicks its wings as it rests on a plant with jagged leaves and a little white flower growing from the middle. Beetles of green, red, and yellow crawl around on trees and ferns among puffy yellow blooms. Yellow humpback beetles huddle together on a cold stone surface as mothlike butterflies cling to hanging purple-grey moss in the background. A cluster of butterflies of black, green, blue, orange, purple, and red flare their wings along stems and vines. A line of spiny cocoons hang from a vine leading up the center of the group.

Audio: A vocalist, the same woman as before, begins to sing in vocables. Her first notes are short, round, and bubbly, like the chirping of a small bird. The lilt of a flute follows.

(“B-bm, bui-bui-buiii…”)

Visuals: A small village sits on the side of a forested and scrub-covered mountain at night. Buildings twinkle with yellow and blue window light through the darkness. At the edge of the forest, a tall lean woman appears with warm orange skin, long black hair, a simple green dress cinched at the waist with blue trim on the neck, hem, wrist, and waist, and a powder blue shawl tied at the chest. She sneaks away from the village into the temperate tropical forest, glancing back to make sure hasn’t been followed. She grows more at ease as she leaves the buildings behind and strides between bushes, deeper into the trees. She passes a flowering plant with orange petals. Its bulbs are held aloft on long, long stems.

Audio: The vocalist sings in elongated threads of notes, wavering in a minor key in a mischievous way.

(“Whu, hu-uuuu…”)

Visuals: The woman grazes her fingers along a bush with little black berries and white spiky flowers. Her hand passes up and down with the shape of the bush, like the rise and fall of an ocean wave. She walks uphill, past pink clover and increasingly frequent stones.

Audio: The vocalist clicks and rolls her tongue with her notes, like drops of water splashing across stones.

(“Dlu, dlu-dlu-dlu-dlu-buiii…”)

Visuals: A voice suddenly gets her attention. The voice passes by as a green line with wide wave forms. The woman follows it. She passes through a stone forest–dense moss-covered rock formations that reach up toward the sky. The ground below is streaked with snake trails. The line of song is now yellow. It leads her forward along a trail through the rocks. She climbs a more precarious formation of boulders, through dense shrubbery and a dramatic rocky landscape. As the voice shifts redder, her colors shift pinker. Even the environment’s colors are shifting to pinks and blues. She climbs a hill, past tall spindly trees and a nearly vertical mountainside. The pink line of song leads her still upward.

Audio: The vocalist belts out the deep throaty call of a tropical bird trying to be heard far and wide. The notes increase in frequency, then widen into a whoop that softens to a murmur. The flute follows her with a few short forceful notes.

(“Ah, bya bya bya-bya-bya-bya-bya-byaaa, whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-wi, wa-wa-wa wiii…”)

Visuals: When the woman reaches the top of the hill, a light shines up at her from the other side, returning her original colors. Below, she sees a gathering of human-sized bird people celebrating on a leafy platform. They’re dancing in different sized circles around a tree at the center. Rainbow colored ribbons of different lengths have been tied to the branches of the tree and hang down to form the silhouette of a condor. More ribbons and colorful bulbs hang from the leaves above. The line of song (now light blue) travels in a circle around the tree trunk. The camera zooms in, revealing details of the birds and their costumes. The birds are pigeons, hawks, cuckoos, seedbirds, and corvids. They’re all dressed in colorful hats, vests, slacks, and dresses with patterns that reflect those of their feathers. A circle of spotted woodpeckers closest to the trunk wear purple gowns and party hats. The party’s singing expands the blue circle of light. A wider circle of yellow, green, and white birds sit and watch the celebration from the edges of the platform. As a line of bright manakin birds zip by with their hands clasped together, the woman approaches from a nearby branch. She’s enticed by the party and joins the dance, clasping hands with a green parrot and leading the line with a broad smile on her face.

Audio: The vocalist makes a quick sudden series of escalating notes, then makes a hard sound with her teeth and returns to a low whoop. The flute echoes her.

(Ba-bana-baba-cht!,  waw waw waw waw waw waw waw wiii…”)

Visuals: The birds switch to individual dances. A short red woodpecker and a tan long-necked bird with ribbons in her hair dance and sing together, their lines of song intertwining. The woman and three pigeons in red and black dresses stomp their heels in a quartet dance. She follows their steps flawlessly, familiar with the type of dance. When they begin to sing and whistle, she joins them–though her voice isn’t as strong as theirs and her line of song is thin and brittle.

Audio: The vocalist makes a low growl, at first imperceptible, that grows to a steady rumble. The flute follows.

(“Rhhh…, rhh, rhh rhhh…”)

Visuals: Then, the lights darken and redden. The woman stops to notice all the other birds heading to the back of the platform. They climb and flutter up to sit in fruit-bearing branches that grow just beyond. The woman finds herself a spot and picks a piece of fruit to eat. She takes a bite as a show begins. A band of various birds wearing ponchos and cloth hats sit down by the show platform. They play their instruments (flute, guitars and a drum) and count in the performance.

Audio: The vocalist makes more short bubbly chirps. They grow higher in small strings of notes until the phrase ends with a low long note.

(“Bom-bom, t-bom-bom-bom, mbom-bom wiii…”)

Visuals: Five owls appear, bathed in magenta spotlight before the center tree trunk. All of them have their yellow-spotted wings wrapped to mostly cover their black and gold-trimmed dresses. The four owls on the sides are short and red, while the one in the center is tall and bright purple. As all five begin to sing a golden song, they operatically open their wings and extend their feathers. As the light darkens to violet, the black and gold patterns in the folds of their wings leap out as if exposed to blacklight. They extend their arms upward and then double over to kneel on the stage, fully splaying their wings in a dramatic display. The woman watching is transfixed.

Audio: The vocalist rolls a noise from the back of her throat. Once, twice, three times–before hitching the roll up and down and letting it trail off. The flute makes a low hollow arc of a note.

(“Ghhh, ghhh, ghh gh-gh-gheee…”)

Visuals: Cut to the next performance. Two teams of blackbirds with long waving feathers compete, standing on each other’s shoulders to form two pyramids. The one at the top of each team lunges forward to try to strike the other with a long stick, propelled by their team. Their feathers glow with yellow light from above. The team on the left—with orange vests and red sashes—strikes first, only nearly missing. They gloat as the lime vest and green sash team on the right recoils and protests. Then, it’s the green team’s turn to take a confident lunge, forcing the red to frantically pull back in time to dodge. On the next strike, the red team buries the stick in the top of the enemy pyramid (actually tucked under the green leader’s arm). The victim feigns a mortal wound, and the entire team flies away. The red team poses, victorious. The red leader gets down to the floor to greet the widow of the green team, wearing a green dress. She peers at him from behind a silky black wing. As soon as he lands, she whacks him over the head with her own concealed stick. He is surprised. She is unamused.

Audio: The vocalist lets out a ghostly wail that wavers wildly like an eerie wind, higher and higher. A shaker instrument rumbles beneath her voice.

(“Woaaa… woaaa… woaa–”)

Visuals: Next, it’s dark. Three colorful birds in masks and costumes tread the air at an angle on the left side of the screen against a blue and green background. There’s a yellow spiky one, representing lightning. A blue round-feathered one, representing rain. And a spade-feathered green one, representing trees. Long beaded threads tied to their wings and tails wave and tangle across the screen as a group of five hummingbirds in shades of red struggle to survive the “storm” raging around them. The colored ribbons of the central tree are muted and flutter with the power of the wind. Two other birds hug the trunk, nearly out of sight. There’s a prop on the floor to the right made to look like a stone alcove, where more hummingbirds are hiding. The storm bringer birds beat their wings hard, casting the strings of lightning, water, and leaf shaped beads in huge chaotic waves. The five hummingbirds in vests and dresses wince and tumble against the wind, flying together in a tight circle. The threads crisscross behind them, an overwhelming force on the tiny birds’ scale. A red line of song floats up to reach them, guiding them down to the nest.

Audio: When her wail is at its highest, the vocalist pushes it further into the voice of a shrill songbird. The note hangs high in the air, then takes a few steps down and up. The segment ends with the sudden interjection of the low round voice–as if in surprise–and a trailing mumble.

(“Haaa, aa-aa aa-aa aa-aa, hoa? Ah, bw-huh…”)

Visuals: Those in the stone nest finish singing and reunite with the others, pulling them down to safety. A blackbird hiding behind the trunk spreads its wings, sitting on the shoulders of a brown woodpecker. The blackbird’s vest and wingspan are covered in yellow, signaling the coming of daylight. The storm birds retreat and sit still on a nearby branch. The wind is suddenly gone.

Audio: The guitar plays alone.

Visuals: After the stage performances, the audience members move back to the platform. They’re gathered off to the far left side of the central tree trunk, standing in a circle around a single figure. The light of the gathering area is deep plum-purple in far off areas and warm dull pink over the crowd. The empty space around the single dancer is salmon red, and the figure herself is blue.

Audio: The vocalist perfectly mimics the sound of a flutter, of delicate waving in the wind.

(“W-w-w-w-w-w-w”)

Visuals: The camera zooms in on her hand as it flits a pink handkerchief in the air.

Audio: The vocalist belts a pair of bold staunch vocables. The second note is held for several seconds before fading out.

(“Kyen, kyen…”)

Visuals: The camera pulls back to reveal the rest of her. She’s a blue eagle with wings that grade from red at the arms to pink to blue at the wingtips in a wavy pattern. Her smiling beak is bright pink. Her dress is royal blue with reddish-pink trimmed ruffles on the hem of the skirt, waist frill, neck frill, and the flower decoration on the side of her head. She stands with the hem of her dress in one hand and the handkerchief extended in the other in an open invitation to dance. A pale pink spotlight frames her head and shoulders against the darkness, and a dark pink line of song passes behind her. Her partner, an eagle of the same coloration with a blue vest and pants, pink shirt, pale orange sash, a blue hat in one hand, and a pink hanky of his own raised in the other, is calling to her. He puts his hands behind his back and takes high steps toward her. When the two are close, they turn and walk parallel to each other in a slow circle. The male’s back is to his partner. He looks at her over his shoulder with a smile and abruptly splays his feathers to be cute. There’s a layer of pink under his outer coat. She grins, entertained.

Audio: The vocalist repeats the two vocables, twisting the end of the second up into a high wavering trill that eventually soothes and disappears.

(“Kyen, kye–eee, ee, eee, ee…”)

Visuals: The two turn to face each other, circling tighter and tighter in unified song until they’re face to face, looking deep into each other’s eyes. With another turn, they’ve passed by each other and out of sight.

Audio: The vocalist makes a whisper, a ghost of the two vocables. Then, a few quick whistles, barely loud enough to hear.

(“Hyo, hyo”)

Visuals: The woman, who has been captivated by the dance, suddenly notices that the crowd has dispersed around her. Partners are walking off in all directions, leaving her alone. The dance is over.

Audio: The guitar picks up, getting faster and louder for a bit.

Visuals: The woman walks alone in the blue night air along a tangle of tree branches that form a pathway. She walks with her hands behind her back, her face looking preoccupied and a little disappointed. Bushels of soft leaves pass by in the background.

Audio: A high, light pleasant note from the vocalist overtakes the guitar. It grows until it fills the soundscape.

(“Aaa…”)

Visuals: An orange song reaches her from the direction she came, and she stops. When she turns, she sees a blue swift standing on the branch path, far behind her in an opening in the trees. The underside of his feathers is dingy orange, and he’s wearing a black vest, white pants, a rusty red sash around his waist, a bright green kerchief around his neck, and an orange rectangular accessory tied around his neck like a necklace. His face is obscured by a white hat with an orange band. He bows low with a hand on the hat. The hat comes off, revealing inviting eyes and a smiling orange beak. The woman grins and accepts the invitation with determination.

Audio: The vocalist draws long high vocables that resemble a wail. They trail off with a low note.

(“Whoa whoaaa…”)

Visuals: She and the swift untie the fabric around their necks and step toward each other as the line of song forms a ring above them. The woman holds the ends of the shawl in her hands and her hands at her hips with the body of the shawl hanging behind her waist. The bird holds his kerchief out in one hand with the hat in the other, held behind his back. He takes measured winding steps along the branches. The woman mirrors his steps, then pushes off of the main path and lands on an outcropping branch.

Audio: The vocalist’s song wavers back up and demurely bobs up and down, intertwined with tweeting from the flute.

(“Hoa…  ohee…”)

Visuals: Her voice, seafoam green and a little stronger than before, trails behind her. She darts back onto the main branch and ducks behind the bird, then circles around to face him, the two only a few feet apart. They exchange steps pushing the other forward and back and flicking their garments in time with their movements. The woman’s voice grows stronger, nearly matching his. The bird quickly catches up as she moves backward, dancing beside her. The two dancers then leap from the main branch and fall down into the rocky forest below, passing by grassy plateaus and vines creeping through stone. Their song follows all the way down. They leap across boulders in the moonlight, side by side. The swift suddenly stops and folds his kerchief around the center of the shawl, hitching the two together. 

Audio: The vocalist belts a complex series of syllables that mimic the heavy majestic cawing of a large bird or hawk. The flute makes itself known a little as the voice fades out.

(“Hlau-lau-lau hau-au-wau-wa-wiii…”)

Visuals: The woman, at the receiving end of the momentum, is swung wide and lets out a vibrant complex line of song that could match any bird’s. The two pull closer to each other and end their song on a low steady note. Then, they bow to each other as the camera pulls back. They’re standing on a rock that rises above a basin of  water among huge formations of rock. Pairs of birds dance all around them in the shallows.

Audio: The guitar takes over for a bit.

Visuals: The camera cuts to an upward view of a varied group of birds sitting in branches, staring downward with interest. The light from the moon coming down through a break in the trees above is now cool green. The light coming up from where the birds are looking is orange-red. 

Audio: The vocalist lets out the aggressive growling of a cat.

(“U-wau, wau-wau-wau-wau”)

Visuals: Below, the woman is dancing in a line with three reddish woodpeckers in a greenish clearing in the trees. They wear intricately detailed dresses in different combinations of bright green, yellow, red, and black with geometric and floral embroidery. The dresses are cinched at the waist with a piece of fabric covered in colored bands. Their heads are covered in scarves with the same colors and patterns. They sing and step aggressively toward the left of the screen. At the other side of the clearing, a line of four red and white faced woodpeckers with green beaks and wings face right. They wear bright green hats, kerchiefs, and sashes, yellow and black striped vests, and dark red pants with yellow tassels at the ankles. Their black shoes tap against the ground as they make quick little dance steps and flutter yellow handkerchiefs. They hold onto the brims of their hats and then lean down with a flourish of their arms, exposing the red crests of their heads sticking up underneath. The dance then changes formation. The girls dance in a line to the left as the boys step in a line to the right. 

Audio: The growl hushes down to a wavering whisper, like wings beating in the dark.

(“Tchwahh-cwah-cwah-cwah-cwah-cwah-cwah-cwah…”)

Visuals: Out on a cliff by a waterfall, the scene is bathed in cyan. The line of dancers–alternating male, female, male, female–do a hopping dance from partners on the left to those on the right and back again as they move along the cliff, passing behind the waterfall as it disappears into the greenery in the foreground.

Audio: The guitar asserts itself again.

Visuals: Everything is suddenly red. A guitarist in a blue poncho and a red neck sash frets the neck of a guitar with a brown feathered hand. Rainbow ribbons are tied to the headstock. A deep orange song emanates from the strings.

Audio: The vocalist quickly accompanies the guitar with a harmonized version of the growl that revs up climatically, taking steps up the scale until it’s at its absolute height.

(“U-wa-wa ee-ee eh-oh! Oh-oh-oh-ohh!”)

Visuals: A congress of the partygoing birds stand in lines facing each other, all wearing blue outfits with red kerchiefs with rainbow tassels on them. The group jumps up and down in unison as part of a dance. The party breaks into smaller dances, and the woman dances by herself. She’s wearing a green skirt and flowy purple top with red underskirt, waist cinch, and scarf. Rainbow tassels are attached to the overskirt, and they swish with her movements. Beside her are a hawk woman and a pair of long billed bird men dancing in a circle with their ankles locked. A pair of red birds with white streaks on their wings suddenly hoist the woman into the air, as other birds are hoisted in the distance. As she’s held aloft, she sings and spreads her arms, revealing more tassels on her top, resembling wings. Her song is immense and beautiful. The camera focuses on one of the hoisted birds in the background, who has executed a handstand with the person who threw them. The blackbird’s feathers are all sorts of bright colors. The song passes by behind him. The excitement of the party disguises the presence of a looming pair of yellow slitted eyes peering out from a dark spot between the leaves nearby. A trio of purple pigeons dancing in a line with twigs and colored strings in their hands dip and weave together. The one in front balks, noticing the threat at last.

Audio: The high energy of the music suddenly cuts out. The shrill call of a small bird climbs up out of the silence.

(“Eee…”)

Visuals: A striped short legged pampas cat pounces into the center of the dance field. It misses the birds, but the illusion is shattered. The bird people are just birds again. They fly in a frenzy up through the trees to the safety of the early morning sky. The hilltop erupts with silhouettes of wings.

Audio: When the small bird’s call is at its highest, it tumbles back down and transforms into a low disquieting wail. The guitar re-enters.

(“Ee-ee-ee-ah-ahh ahh oohhh…”)

Visuals: The pampas cat has retreated into the dim tawny forest. It stands on a bent tree branch among bushes and hanging moss and stares into the camera with glowing yellow pupils. A tiny rodent scurries by and into a bush. The cat notices and darts after it. Nearby, dozens of bats hang from the underside of a rock formation that extends over a field of berry bushes. Their sleepy heads are tucked into their folded wings. A straggler flaps up to join the rest as the sun continues to rise. Elsewhere, a hive with wasp-like insects resting on the outside hangs over a rock. Sunlight gleams over the scene from a break in the trees in the background. A large brown mouse climbs up on the rock, backlit by the sun. It grabs a wasp in its teeth and leaves before the rest of the hive can wake up.

Audio: The vocalist makes a low steady murmur. A couple shakes from the shaker instrument follow.

(“Hoo…”)

Visuals: A colony of green and brown frogs with purple eye ridges, yellow faces, and orange bellies are asleep on dewy ridges of rock. A green cicada hangs out on a leaf off to the top left corner. The mouse jumps down through their resting spot, waking them all up. The frogs croak a green song as the cicada hangs on for dear life on the swinging leaf. The wind moans through the crevices of another stone forest. The little flowering shrubs that grow on the rocks bristle in the breeze. A variety of green, yellow, and blue lizards poke their heads out of the rocks, into the morning light.

Audio: The vocalist repeats the murmur. The flute follows this time.

(“Hoo…”)

Visuals: The camera pulls back to view the entire rock formation. The still rising sun shines only on the top half of right-facing stones. Long spindly tree trunks grow from the top left, out of sight. Long grass waves on the ground below. An alpaca-like vicuña raises its head from the long grass, facing the light. In the branches of the trees above, various birds perch facing left.

Audio: The vocalist makes a mysterious sound that begins as a harsh sound between her teeth and ends as a whisper. It echoes in the background.

(“Chwah-ah…”)

Visuals: The camera turns back to the village. Golden light casts diagonally across the brown roofs and tan buildings. The silhouette of a small bird flies toward the center of town.

Audio: The vocalist makes the sound again, then pulls the whisper up into a harsh repeated rasp from the back of her throat.

(“Chwah-ah qwah-qw-qw-qw-qw-qwah-qwah-qwah”)

Visuals: Down in between the one-story houses, the bird flutters down. Long shadows lay across a passage leading toward a door on the side of a building. We see the shadow of the woman land in the soft dirt path where the bird’s would have. She heads toward the door at a walking pace.

Audio: The call returns to a whisper. The vocalist clicks her throat in a short series of hollow sounds, nearly like the creaking of wood.

(“Qwk-qwk-qwk-qwk-qwk, qwk qwk qwk qwk”)

Visuals: As she opens the door to enter the purple interior light of the house, we see that she’s back in her green dress, but now her shawl is red. The sun glints in her hair. Before she goes inside, she looks back and winks at the camera with a smile. Then, she slowly pulls the door behind her until it’s shut.

Audio: The vocalist lets out her breath entirely as the accompanying music trickles into silence.

(“Haaa…”)

Visuals: The screen is black for a few seconds.

Audio: The high whistling call of a green manakin can be heard over the rustling of forest trees. The call’s tone is raised at the end, like it’s asking a question.

(“Twee?… Twee?… Twee?… Twee?”)

Visuals: The end card appears. Yellow and green lettering and a border lay on a black background. The text reads: Yma Sumac. Peruvian soprano and composer. October 13th 1922 until November 1st 2008. Biographical and reference info in description. Chuncho, 1953. Written by Moises Vivanco. Capitol Records, Universal Music Publishing Group. Carlie Hughes. Tumblr @rainbowchewynuggets. www.carliehughes.com. End ID]

INDEX

[iseo58]

Peruvian traditional costume

[fyeah-anya-corazon]

Getting tangled in a web. A Madame Web, you could say - An Anya Corazón centric Madame Web review (SPOILERS AHEAD)

So, I originally did not planned to pay to watch MW (I did considered watching it later on for free if just to do a funny review), but my best friend wanted to watch it to roast it, so as meanwhile it was her I was like "I'm in".

(Completely unrelated, but adding to the MW watching experience, the top of the projection was off-screen as you can see, and it was like that for 20 minutes, so that was a great sign)

This is going to be focused entirely on Anya, so to give some quick thoughts about the movie itself that you've probably heard from other reviews: yeah, it's bad. We were making fun of it at the beginning but by the last hour we were bored and wanted it to end. The damn stolen taxi got laughs from us, so there's that.

Now, Anya.

Isabela Merced does a fine job with the material she's given. To the credit of the movie, she and Julia are the most likeable of the main protagonists, with Anya being the most sympathetic of the bunch. In what was the cringest secene in the film, were the girls dance to Toxic by Britney Spears on a restaurant's table (my friend was dying, since we're filmmaking students and she was lamenting that this was directed by a woman and she just keep saying that absolutely no girl would act like that and do that) she at least was the only who resisted the most from joining.

This version, as you could guess by her costume, is mostly based on the Marvel's Spider-Man 2017™ cartoon Anya.

She's an academic genius who spits out sciency words and sentences. Even her bolas here seem to have some tech-integrated in them, makingh them more like drones than her traditional ones, at least that's what they look like for like the three seconds they appear on-screen. They still failed to give her a pony tail.

Our first look of her is alongside the other Spider-Women in a future vision were they violently attack and murder in cold blood Ezekiel. They attack him at his apartment and throw him out of the building as they stare at him as he falls.

This is in contrast to her general depiction of her being in a constant struggle to give up to her vengeful tendencies.

TO THE FILM'S CREDIT, it also heavily implies that they were never going to kill him, but that "vision" represented how the Spider-Women trio would lead to his downfall. So if he never chased them he would still be alive in the future.

Now, among other changes...

In a previous post, I reacted strongly about the movie changing her nationality to Peruvian. I got responses saying that the reviewer was wrong and she wasn't peruvian in the film. Having seen the film, yes, i can confirm that she's not peruvian.... they still changed her nationality, though.

In the comics Anya is mexican from her mother's side and puertorrican from her father's. In the movie it's stated that her mom died when she was a child, while his dad was deported. This means that they did changed her nationality, since puertorricans are considered US citizens and therefore can't be deported. It's never stated where exactly she comes from. she's just generic latina.

Althought a illegal immigrant approach could potentially work, the movie does nothing with that beyond having it being a excuse for Anya to be adopted by Cassandra by the end of the movie. Let alone, the fact that the story of the latina character being an ilegal immigrant feels cliche by this point. Even more egregious, to contrast with the comic, her dad is a puertorrican highly respected reporter who was even hired by the Fantastic Four, turning him into a illegal immigrant pretty much added nothing to the story beyond having a orphan Anya.

Overall, in their attempt to make their own version of Anya, as well as shoehorn her into a movie that was not about her, we ended up losing one the most interesting and charming characters and origin stories that can hold a movie by her own.

At the end of it, this movie didn't improve Anya's perception to the general public, but it didn't hurt it either.

It tells you a lot that her cameo in Across the Spider-Verse got more people talking about her than this movie did.

[wyrmsfornerves]

Hi! Younger artist here, I just saw your post with all those super cool monster designs and I took a quick stroll through your blog, and I was wondering if you had any specific inspirations for those designs or where you get inspo for character designs in general? Or perhaps some tidbits on how you learned how to make wild designs like that?

Sorry if this is a bit of a big ask, I just think it's really cool and I was curious!

Hello! Thank you for your question and apologies for taking so long to answer, I just got really excited and wanted to be thorough! 

My biggest piece of advice is research and develop a visual library of reference material! Your visual library is like a mental database of everything you’ve ever seen in your life, and this is what you can pull from to design concepts. 

There are a couple ways to start this as a practice: 

Notice what you see! It can be a chair, a sunset, a shoe, the light on a tree, but if you see something you think is beautiful or interesting, mentally make a note of it!

Document what you like! With computers and cameras this is a lot easier to do nowadays, but if you see something interesting to you, document it. You can draw it, or take/save a photo to folder. 

Organize it! I highly recommend coming up with a system for referencing back to find things, either through image tags or folders or even a manual filing system. 

Pay attention to your personal preferences and experiences. Try to think about what draws you to certain visual elements, identifying them can lead you to more things you like. Also pay attention to what you don’t like and why, it doesn’t necessarily need to be bad or amoral, we all have personal tastes. 

Get out of your comfort zone! I recommend trying to see something you’ve never seen before often. Find a new artist, a new genre, research a new type of design movement, go to a new place, etc. 

Try to find context for your research! For example, If you really love a specific era of fashion, research that time period and the way historical context informs it. Context can be really important, especially if you are working with references new to you!

Important Note 01: You don’t want to copy or rip-off these things. In my experience the best way to avoid that is to have a lot of reference points for any project and embrace your authentic personal interests, experiences, and identity. 

Important Note 02: Like any research, be conscious of primary person vs secondary sources! One is not better than another necessarily, but I find I work my best with a  mix of both. I like to start with primary sources and then move to secondary sources, Ie: looking at authentic suits of armor before moving to contemporary armor concept art. You don’t have to do this, it’s just something I find helpful. 

Important Note 03: While mostly I’m referring to visual references, audio, music, and writing are also super helpful!

Ok now, how do you curate all that for a project. For those monster illustrations I wanted to explore how color can be horrific. Keywords: Color & Horror. So I start looking through references for things that have the effect I want color wise, vivid and maximalist, and things that I find scary or horrifying. Here are some of the things I knew about or discovered during the research process that had the vibe I wanted. 

Notable Influences 

Color and Design 

Peruvian & Guatemalan Textiles and Traditional Clothing 

Spanish Traditional/Folk Clothing 

Sammezzano Castle, Italy

Nasir al-Mulk Mosque, Iran

Russian Traditional/Folk Costumes 

Fonthill Castle, Pennsylvania

Zhangye National Geopark

Nick Cave - sculpture artist

Lousie Zhang

Magnhild Kennedy - “Damselfrau”

Horror

Catacomb Saints

Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo

Japanese Yokai

Greek & Roman Mythology

Mandrills & Monkeys

Charles Fréger’s Photographs of  European Pagan Costuming

Avant Garde Fashion

Alexander McQueen

Vedas by  Nicolas Alan Cope and Dustin Edward Arnold 

Stephen Jones - Hats

Mummies

Reliquaries

Marina González Eme

Lorenzo Nanni

H.R Giger

Intersections of Color & Horror

Microscopic Imagery

Moths, Beetles & Shrimp

Suspiria (1977)

AJ Fosik

Hungry | Johannes J. Jaruraak

Once you’ve gathered these references in one place (like a moodboard, folder,  or Pinterest board) It’s time to pay attention to wear aesthetics intersect, what patterns are coming up, what proportions of color, what textures reoccur, what elements of clothing reoccur, etc.. What relationship do different images have with each other, what emotional effect do they create. 

Now that you’ve studied up, it’s time to sketch, try and create things that feel similar to the work you are looking at but not copy it, instead try mixing things together. Experiment! Let your personal style and preferences sink in! Interpret what you’ve learned!

From there, it’s more of a design process, how to use proportion, light, anatomy, perspective, form, repetition, etc, to create the desired effect. Then you refine and refine.

For new or different projects you repeat the process, maybe you use similar points of reference, maybe you go a completely different direction. 

Anyway that was long, but I hope it was helpful!

[thethirdromana]

The many, many references of chapter XI of Dorian Gray

This chapter can come across as a bit of a long, boring list of stuff. That's partly because it is a long, boring list of stuff, as we see how shallow Dorian's life of collecting trinkets and misdeeds is, compared with his lofty ambitions to be some kind of thought-leader of his age.

But it's Wilde, so a lot of this chapter has references and connotations that might not be obvious.

the sordid room of the little ill-famed tavern near the docks OK, this isn't particularly subtle given Wilde already tells us it's sordid and ill-famed. But it's probably not just a dodgy pub. Being near the docks implies that Dorian is hanging out with people in the lower classes, almost certainly including sex workers. I think there might also be a nudge-nudge wink-wink implication of homosexuality here - docks mean sailors, and the navy already had a reputation for homosexuality in Wilde's time.

Like Gautier, he was one for whom “the visible world existed.” Théophile Gautier, a French writer, critic and defender of Romanticism. He was flamboyant, unconventional and had lots of affairs.

he might really become to the London of his own day what to imperial Neronian Rome the author of the Satyricon once had been The author of the Satyricon is Petronius, a Roman courtier in the reign of Nero. He was dedicated to a life of pleasure and indulgence, and was an authority on questions of fashion and taste.

the materialistic doctrines of the Darwinismus movement in Germany Darwinismus means proto-eugenics, essentially. You know, in case you needed any more reasons to dislike Dorian.

the one that Bernal Diaz saw when he went with Cortes into the Mexican temple, and of whose doleful sound he has left us so vivid a description "They had an exceedingly large drum there, and when they beat it the sound of it was so dismal and like, so to say, an instrument of the infernal regions, that one could hear it a distance of two leagues, and they said that the skins it was covered with were of those great snakes." Wouldn't say it was that vivid a description, to be honest.

appeared at a costume ball as Anne de Joyeuse, Admiral of France, in a dress covered with five hundred and sixty pearls Despite how this sounds, Anne de Joyeuse was a man, and Dorian didn't go to the ball in drag. Anne de Joyeuse was probably one of Henry III's lovers. (This is the start of a theme developing).

Alexander, the Conqueror of Emathia This is Alexander the Great. (The theme continues).

Lodge’s strange romance ‘A Margarite of America’ A 16th century romance about the love affair between a Peruvian prince and a Russian princess. With a lot of gory bits.

the Duke de Valentinois, son of Alexander VI Otherwise known as Cesare Borgia, who inspired Machiavelli to write The Prince. There are all sorts of rumours about Cesare Borgia, ranging from having lots of mistresses (true) to gay relationships and incest with his sister (probably not true).

Charles of England had ridden in stirrups hung with four hundred and twenty-one diamonds This is presumably Charles I rather than Charles II (who was also Charles of England). Historic Royal Palaces - the people who run the Tower of London, among others - have him on their list of LGBT+ monarchs. They highlight this painting, where he's gazing at George Villiers, who also shagged his dad:

Richard II had a coat, valued at thirty thousand marks, which was covered with balas rubies Richard II, who was rumoured to have had an affair with Richard de Vere, Earl of Oxford.

Henry VIII Who only had relationships with women, as far as history is aware.

The favourites of James I wore ear-rings of emeralds set in gold filigrane Back on the theme again. James I was Charles I's dad, who had a secret passage built between his bedchamber and that of his favourite, George Villiers - the one in the picture up there ^. While most of the people on this list were only rumoured to have had gay relationships, no one really disputes it for James I.

Edward II gave to Piers Gaveston a suit of red-gold armour That would be his lover, Piers Gaveston.

Henry II. wore jewelled gloves reaching to the elbow Henry II, who was known to have shared a bed with William Marshal, the Earl of Pembroke. Which doesn't necessarily mean anything, but... you know. There's a theme.

Charles the Rash, the last Duke of Burgundy of his race At this point I can't tell if Wilde is deliberately throwing in some misdirection, like the mention of Henry VIII, or if my Google-powers have failed me.

the mortuary cloth of King Chilperic Oh hang on a tick. King Chilperic was a 6th century monarch who is known, among other things, for having strangled his wife. Just as Henry VIII had two of his wives executed. So the theme here is either queer relationships - or murdered women.

(We then of course get a series of notable historical figures who, so far as I can tell, don't have any connections to either of these things. Also this bit goes on for ages and this post is already very long, so I'm going to skip past them).

dreadful places near Blue Gate Fields A slum area just north of the docks in East London. Known for opium dens, brothels and murders. Some people have suggested this is an allusion to Jack the Ripper, even a suggestion that Oscar Wilde knew who Jack the Ripper was, which I'm reasonably confident is nonsense.

brawling with foreign sailors in a low den in the distant parts of Whitechapel So what I'm finding quite funny here is that all the dodgy and dissolute places that Wilde has Dorian go are literally just the same place.

Near the docks = East London, probably in the area of Whitechapel Blue Gate Fields = Whitechapel the distant parts of Whitechapel = that would be Whitechapel, then?

The very odd Jack the Ripper website I just read interprets Wilde's descriptions as meaning that he had some kind of hidden knowledge of London's underworld... just as the Ripper would have!! But to me this reads a lot more like Wilde was aware of one (1) suitably shady-sounding location and ran with it.

Here was Philip Herbert That would be James I's lover, Philip Herbert. (What, you thought we were done with these?)

Sir Anthony Sherard Is fictional, but...

the lover of Giovanna of Naples Giovanna of Naples was a real person, who probably murdered her husband. (Nice to get some variety among the murdered spouses).

Lady Elizabeth Devereux A Tudor noblewoman, known for a quite public affair.

George Willoughby... had been a macaroni of the eighteenth century, and the friend, in his youth, of Lord Ferrars I can't find much on George Willoughby, but Lord Ferrers shot his steward, and is known as the last peer to have been hanged in England.

the second Lord Beckenham... he had led the orgies at Carlton House Lord Beckenham is (I think) fictional; George IV, who held wild and extravagant parties at Carlton House, is not.

Tiberius, in a garden at Capri Googling this brings up articles titled things like "The Scandalous Private Life of Tiberius Caesar". That makes it sound like the fun activities of consenting adults, but that's grossly misleading. The people involved were rumoured to be often neither consenting nor adults.

reading the shameful books of Elephantis Elephantis was a Greek poet and physician who wrote a sex manual.

Caligula... Domitian... Elagabalus Caligula was known for sex and murder. Domitian was known for censorship and control of public morals. Elagabalus was known for sexual promiscuity with men and women.

And that's the lot! For the last few paragraphs of the chapter, Wilde actually spells out the various misdeeds of the people he discusses (sex and murder, unsurprisingly), thus sparing me from Googling them.

Congratulations if you made it this far.

[rhetoricandlogic]

THE BEDLAM STACKS by Natasha Pulley

RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2017

ulley’s (The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, 2015) second novel demonstrates that the imagination she showed in her impressive debut was no fluke.

The story opens in 1859, with the narrator, Merrick Tremayne, morosely nursing an injured leg at his decrepit family estate in Cornwall. Merrick used to smuggle opium into Hong Kong for the East India Company until an explosion a few years ago cost him his health and job. Botany and exotic travel run in the family: his grandfather and father both spent years in Peru, combing the Andes for botanical valuables such as orchids and frost-resistant coffee. Now the company wants to send Merrick to his ancestors’ old stomping grounds, hiring him to break the Peruvian quinine monopoly by smuggling out cuttings from cinchona trees, the source of the antimalarial medicine. Is Merrick well enough to hike the Andes? Pulley understands her genre—swashbuckling costume fantasy—but she deals in surprises, not clichés. An exploding tree, a mysterious moving statue, and a visit from an old friend help make up Merrick’s mind, propelling him across the ocean to a strange world of thin air, volcanic glass, and floating cities, where descendants of the Incas keep magical secrets. Strictly speaking, this is a prequel—a few paragraphs and a character or two tie this novel to Pulley’s masterful debut—but the two books have very different atmospheres.

Where Pulley’s first novel sparkled with the ingenuity of spinning gears, her second offers a slower, sadder meditation on love, trust, and the passage of time.

[themuseumwithoutwalls]

MWW Artwork of the Day (1/23/24) Paul Gauguin (French, 1848-1903) La Belle Angèle (1889) Oil on canvas, 92 x 73 cm. Musée d'Orsay, Paris (Gift of Ambroise Vollard)

Gauguin, who had decided to "dare all", broke with the traditional practices of perspective and spatial unity. In a process taken from Japanese prints, he circled the portrait of Angélique Satre and laid it on a mainly decorative background, partitioning the forms and surrounding the figures with a darker outline. The rigid pose, the young woman's ceremonial costume and the inscription LA BELLE ANGELE printed in capital letters reinforce the solemnity of the portrait. On the left, Gauguin has inserted an anthropomorphic pot, in a Peruvian style, which adds symbolic force and seems to be an exotic version of a Breton idol.

[latinotiktok]

I'm judging Miss Universe trajes típicos worn by latinas part 2

Now we have: Brasil

Listen, I know it's about the sea, and I thought at first it was Yemanjá related (apparently its not??) and it looks Great but I was expecting more. I think the shell and the fact that she has to keep her legs closed so we can see the tail its a little awkard. Other than that LOVELY COLORS

Ok next: Puerto Rico

Inspired by Radiotelescopio de Arecibo, it's...something! I think it's original, but other than an original take, mmmm it's not speaking to me. Looks amazing on her though, heard it was very heavy! Props to Miss PR for making it look so effortless

Sigh.....next we have...Argentina

Apparently inspired by las Cataratas del Iguazú.....this is ass. Not only does the concept it's nowhere to be seen but the colors are not doing it for me bye. Soy de Argentina asi que puedo decir que es una cagada.

Next we have Perú

Inspired by "dawn", i heard she had trouble with tje costume because it was supposed to be a full circle 😭 it's good but, I would've love to see something more representing of peruvian culture? Like, idk la marinera? Those dresses for the dancers are beautiful. But this is nice too

[innervoiceart]

😍🤩😎💃🏻🎤✨ Yma Sumac, a descendant of Atahualpa, the last Incan emperor, 1950's.

Singing Gopher Mambo, 1954 🎶

https://youtu.be/7JWxNqyIRtk?si=IPlt7-Lwma2qR_gL

A portrait of Yma Sumac, the stage name of Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chávarri del Castillo. She was a Peruvian soprano noted for her extraordinary vocal range, which spanned well over four octaves. Born on September 13, 1922, in Ichocán, Cajamarca, Peru, she rose to international fame in the 1950s, and her music was based on folkloric themes, stylized through a lens of exotica.

Her claim of being a descendant of Atahualpa, the last Incan emperor, played into the mystique and persona crafted during her rise to stardom. This assertion was part of her and her handlers' efforts to create a unique identity that connected her artistry to the noble lineage of the ancient Incan empire, which had a rich tradition of music and culture. This narrative was embraced by the media and added an exotic and ancient lineage to her public persona, although it's important to note that such claims are difficult to substantiate.

Sumac's music was characterized by its fusion of traditional Andean music with Hollywood-style arrangement, which resonated with the exoticism favored in Western popular culture of the mid-20th century. Her elaborate costumes and performance style only added to the sense of otherworldliness and drama that surrounded her performances.

Despite the stage persona, Yma Sumac was a critically acclaimed artist, whose talents were undeniable. Her most famous album, "Voice of the Xtabay" (1950), launched her into the international spotlight, and she went on to release several more albums throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s. She remains an iconic figure, celebrated not just for her vocal capabilities, but also for how her music and identity resonated with and reflected the cultural zeitgeist of her time.

[lboogie1906]

Victoria Santa Cruz (Victoria Eugenia Santa Cruz Gamarra) (October 27, 1922 - August 30, 2014) is considered the mother of Afro-Peruvian dance. Born in Lima, Peru, she was the eighth of ten children. Her father was Nicomedes Santa Cruz Aparicio, and her mother, was Victoria Gamarra Ramirez.

She acquired a basic understanding of theater and dance from her parents. Her father was exposed to Shakespearean plays and European classical music. She took an early interest in these teachings, co-founding and directing the first Black-owned theater in Peru with her brother. She used this opportunity to produce three plays, most of which showcased the daily racial conflict of Afro-Latinas. Her first notable play, Malató, was released and explored the relationship between enslaved people and their oppressors.

She began studying theater and choreography at the Université du Théâtre des Nations and École Supérieur des Études Chorégraphiques in Paris. She received recognition for her unique, Afro-Peruvian-styled costumes. She graduated and visited Africa that year. She staged the ballet La muñeca Negra, which acted as a reclamation for lost cultural memories due to slavery. One of her most significant accomplishments did not occur in Africa, or even her native country, but in Mexico City during the 1968 Olympics.

Teatro y Danzas Negras del Perú was offered the prestigious award of performing at the Olympics after only two years of formation. These performances re-energized Afro-Peruvian dance forms such as the zamacueca and Landu and introduced them to the rest of the world.

She developed her first song. She performed one of the most impactful poems of her time, Me gritaron negra. She was chosen as the founding director of the National Folklore Ensemble. She was a professor of drama at Carnegie Mellon University.

Peru’s Ministry of Culture launched the Victoria Santa Cruz Centennial with programs and activities. The Fulbright Commission in Peru launched the Victoria Santa Cruz Fulbright Grant to Afro-Peruvians pursuing graduate study in the US. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[doutarina]

A Peruvian inspired outfit i came up with in like an hour for costume class!

[mothmiso]

Perú - 1972 (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) by A.Davey

Via Flickr:

(1) Capilla de la Santísima Cruz de Mocape. (2) This Volkswagen Type 3 took my brother and me from Lima to Piura in northern Peru, back to Lima, then to Arequipa in the south and back to Lima. I seem to remember we did Arequipa-Lima in one very long day, though that hardly seems possible. (3) El Misti, August 1972. (4) The jacarandas still bloom in the little plaza in front of the Convento de San Francisco in Arequipa, Peru, just like they did in 1972 when I took this photo. (5) Caballos peruanos de paso con sus jinetes vestidos en traje típico. Cerro Juli, Arequipa, Perú, 1972. Peruvian Paso horses with their riders dressed in typical costume. Cerro Juli, Arequipa, Peru, 1972. (6) Yanahuara, Arequipa, 1972.