The project will document the knowledge and techniques involved in the creation of the Aruba mask of the Urarina people (Peruvian Amazon). An Aruba consists of two elements: a head, made by men from topa wood (Ochroma pyramidale) or huingo fruit (Crescentia cujete), and a costume woven by women from aguaje fiber (Mauritia flexuaosa). The figurative elements that characterize the mask (long hair, beard, horns, bristles, etc.) represent a hybrid being between human and animal, which also describes qualities associated with the evil plant spirit. The techniques and knowledge used in its production are endangered due to the small number of specialists and threats to intergenerational transmission. However, there is a growing effort on the part of a new generation of Urarina women and men to update the techniques for transmitting the knowledge associated with their material culture in order to strengthen it and, in some cases, revitalize it, objectives to which this project adds.
PI: Emanuele Fabiano
Collaborators: Samuel Nuribe Arahuata and Juana Vela Macusi
Location of Research: CN Nueva Uníon (río Chambira) and CN Sta. Cruz de Tagual (río Tigrillo), Departamento de Loreto, Distrito de Urarinas, Provincia de Maynas, Peruvian Amazon, Peru
Host Institution: INTE, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Peru (PUCP)
Top banner image: Construction of the Aruba mask, CN Nueva Unión, Quebrada Espejo, Chambira River, Peru. 2018. Photo credit: Emanuele Fabiano.