Culture of Peru
The Culture of Peru was shaped by the relationship between Hispanic and Amerindian cultures. The ethnic diversity of Peru allowed diverse traditions and customs to coexist. Peru has passed through various intellectual stages - from colonial Hispanic culture to European Romanticism after independence. The early 20th century brought indigenismo, expressed in a new awareness of Indian culture. Since World War II, Peruvian writers, artists, and intellectuals such as Cesar Vallejo and Jose Maria Arguedas have participated in worldwide intellectual and artistic movements.
Art
During pre-Columbian times, Peru was one of the major centers of artistic expression in The Americas, where Pre-Inca cultures, such as Chavin, Moche, Paracas, Huari (Wari), Nazca, Chimu, and Tiahuanaco developed high-quality pottery, textiles, jewelry, and sculpture. Drawing upon earlier cultures, the Incas continued to maintain these crafts but made even more impressive achievements in architecture. The mountain town of Machu Picchu and the buildings at Cuzco are excellent examples of Inca architectural design.
During the colonial period, Spanish baroque fused with the rich Inca tradition to produce mestizo or creole art. The Cuzco school of largely anonymous Indian artists followed the Spanish baroque tradition with influence from the Italian, Flemish, and French schools. Painter Francisco Fierro made a distinctive contribution to this school with his portrayals of typical events, manners, and customs of mid-19th-century Peru. Francisco Lazo, forerunner of the indigenous school of painters, also achieved fame for his portraits.
In the decade after 1932, the indigenous school of painting headed by Jose Sabogal dominated the cultural scene in Peru. A subsequent reaction among Peruvian artists led to the beginning of modern Peruvian painting. Sabogals resignation as director of the National School of Arts in 1943 coincided with the return of several Peruvian painters from Europe who revitalized international styles of painting in Peru. During the 1960s, Fernando de Szyszlo, an internationally recognized Peruvian artist, became the main advocate for abstract painting and pushed Peruvian art toward modernism. Peru remains an art-producing center with painters such as Gerardo Chavez, Alberto Quintanilla, and Jose Carlos Ramos, along with sculptor Victor Delfin, gaining international stature. Young artists continue to develop now that Perus economy allows more promotion of the arts.
Pre-Hispanic Peruvian Andean cultures were especially bound to musical artistic expressions. In fact, almost all agricultural communal works were accompanied by music and singings .
Literature
Peruvian literature has its roots in the oral traditions of pre-Columbian civilizations. Spaniards introduced writing in the 16th century, and colonial literary expression included chronicles and religious literature. After independence, Costumbrism and Romanticism became the most common literary genres, as exemplified in the works of Ricardo Palma. In the early 20th century, the Indigenismo movement produced such writers as Ciro Alegria, Jose Maria Arguedas, and Cesar Vallejo. During the second half of the century, Peruvian literature became more widely known because of authors such as Mario Vargas Llosa, a leading member of the Latin American Boom.
Architecture
Peruvian architecture is a conjunction of European styles exposed to the influence of indigenous imagery. Two of the most well-known examples of the Early Colonial period are the Cathedral and the church of Santa Clara of Cuzco. After this period, the mestization reached its richer expression in the Baroque. Some examples of this Baroque period are the convent of San Francisco de Lima, the church of the Compania and the facade of the University of Cuzco and, overall, the churches of San Agustin and Santa Rosa of Arequipa.
The independence war left a creative emptiness that was filled by the Neoclassicism of the French. The 20th century was characterized by the eclectic architecture, which has been in stark opposition to constructive functionalism. Its most considerable example is San Martin Plaza in Lima.
Dance
Apart from dances of native origin, there are also dances that are related to the agricultural work, hunting and war. Some choreographies show certain Christian influence. Two of the most representative Andean dances are the kashua and the wayno or huayno. The kashua has a communal character and it is usually danced in groups in the country or open spaces. The huayno is a salon ball. It is danced in couples and in closed spaces. The yaravi and the triste have also an Andean origin. They are usually songs with very emotional lyrics.
Dances of ritual character are the achocallo, the pinkillada, the llamerada (dance that imitates the llamas walk), the kullawada (the spinners' dance), etc. Between the Hunting dances, it can be mentioned: the llipi-puli, gudi-dada and choq'elas. They are dances from the altiplano related to the vicunas hunting.
There are some dances of war like the chiriguano which has an Aymara origin, the chatripuli that satirizes the Spanish Realist soldiers, and the kenakenas a dance about the Chilean soldiers who occupied Peru during the War of the Pacific in 1879. There are also Carnival Dances. A Carnival is a western holiday that, in the Peruvian Andes, is celebrated simultaneously with the crops time. Many rural communities celebrate the youths initiation during these holidays with ancestral rites and dances.
The most internationally known dance in Peru is the Marinera Nortena. This dance represents a mans courting of a young woman. There are local variants of this dance in Lima and the other regions of the country.
Celebrations
Popular celebrations are the product of every towns traditions and legends. These celebrations gather music, dances, meals and typical drinks. In addition to the religious celebrations like Christmas, Corpus Christi or Holy Week, there are others that express the syncretism of the indigenous beliefs with the Christians. An example of this kind of celebration is the Alasitas which combines a crafts and miniatures fair with dances, meals and a mass.
Cuisine
Peru has a varied cuisine with ingredients like maize, tomato, potatoes, uchu or Aji (Capsicum pubescens), oca, ulluco, avocado, fruits like chirimoya, lucuma and pineapple, and animals like taruca (Hippocamelus antisensis), llama and guinea pig (called cuy). The combination of American, European and Moorish culinary traditions, resulted in new meals and ways of preparing them. The successive arrivals of Africans and Chinese also influenced in the development of the Creole cuisine.
Some typical Peruvian dishes are ceviche (fish and shellfish marinated in citrus juice), the chupe de camarones (a soup made of shrimp (Cryphiops caementarius)), anticuchos (cow's heart roasted en brochette), the olluco con charqui (a casserole dish made of ulluco and charqui), the Andean pachamanca , the lomo saltado that has a Chinese influence, and the picante de cuy (a casserole dish made of fried guinea pig with some spices). Peruvian food can be accompanied by typical drinks like the chicha de jora (a chicha made of tender corn dried by the sun). There are also chichas made of purple corn or peanut. They are very refreshing and do not have any alcoholic content.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Culture of Peru
