The Bolivian People 75The sculptures of María Nuñez del Prado and José
Antonio Márquez top the list of another genre that thrives
in Bolivia, while Mario Sarabia’s ceramics mesh ancient
and contemporary forms. Edgar Alvarado’s watercolours
offer an expressionist view of the daily life of Bolivia’s
common man.
Today, Alfredo La Placa’s painting Críptica Andina hangs in
front of Café Austria on the fi rst fl oor of the United Nations
in New York City.
Aymaras and Quechuas
Bolivian fi ne art is infl uenced by two overlapping cultures
that trace their roots to ancient civilisations: the Aymara
and Quechua. Approximately 30 per cent of Bolivians are
of Quechua origins, with 25 per cent Aymaras. Another 30
per cent are either mestizo (Amerindian with Spanish) or of
a minority indigenous culture, and 15 per cent are labelled
as white.
The most dominant indigenous infl uence in Bolivia comes
from the Tiahuanaco civilisation. Eventually emerging from
the mysterious Tiahuanacos are today’s Aymara speakers,
extending from southern Perú, Lake Titicaca, La Paz and
El Alto (approaching a million inhabitants) all the way to
Oruro. The Aymaras have been around for some 2,000
years, resisting colonialism and gaining strength from La
Pachamama (Mother Earth). They even have their own fl ag,
the Wiphala, a seven-colour quilt with diagonal checked lines,
often seen at political demonstrations.
The Quechuas’ language was inherited by the conquering
Incas, whose empire lasted only 60 years. Centred in
Tiahuanaco, the empire spread from Ecuador to the north,
through Perú and Bolivia, to northern Argentina and Chile to
the south. It is important to understand that the Quechuas
predated the Incas and survived the fall of the Inca empire
in 1532. Today’s Bolivian Quechuas are primarily located
in the regions of Cochabamba, Sucre (Chuquisaca), Potosí
and parts of Oruro. The Quechuas built stone roads and
bridges, some of which survive today under the label of
‘Inca trails’.