Installing the Wari Feathered Panels, 600–900 CE

Join scholar Carol Rodríguez and conservator Christine Giuntini in an exploration of the Wari Feathered Panels (600–900 CE), nine of which are now installed in the newly-renovated Michael C. Rockefeller Wing.

In 1943 a cache of ninety-six feather panels was found in the Churunga Valley in Peru. The panels had been rolled up and placed in ceramic jars that were then buried at a ceremonial center. Each panel is densely covered with tens of thousands of feathers, primarily from the blue-and-yellow macaw, which lives in the Amazonian rainforest. The feathers were individually hand-knotted onto cotton strings and then stitched onto plain-weave cotton panels. These panels, nine of which are on display in the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, may have once adorned the walls of a building.

En 1943 fue encontrado un grupo importante de aproximadamente noventa y seis paneles de plumas en el valle de Churunga, en la costa Sur de Perú. Los paneles fueron enrollados y guardados en grandes vasijas de cerámica que luego fueron enterradas en un centro ceremonial conocido como Corral Redondo. Cada panel fue densamente cubierto con decenas de miles de plumas, principalmente plumas de guacamayo azul y amarillo, un ave que vive en la selva tropical amazónica. Las plumas fueron atadas a hilos de algodón una por una y a mano. Luego fueron cosidas a paneles lisos de tela de algodón. Es probable que estos paneles, de los cuales nueve están presentados, hayan adornado alguna vez las paredes de un edificio.

Featured Object: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/776429

Production Credits:
Director: Stephanie Wuertz
Editor: Lela Jenkins
Camera:
Lela Jenkins
Aurola Wedman Alfaro
Malvika Dang
Stephanie Wuertz
Composer: Austin Fisher
Production Coordinators:
Malvika Dang
Hannah Chen
Special Thanks:
Carol Rodríguez
Christine Giuntini
Heidi King
Joanne Pillsbury
David Rhoads
Raychelle Osnato
Damien Marzocchi
Jessi Atwood
Mandy Kritzeck
Skyla Choi