Meaning of paños de guanaceo by John Rene Plaut

GUANACEO CLOTHS or Guanaceo macanas are fabrics made in Ecuador with the ancient technique of ikat. Sections are tied around a set of strands and stained. The parts covered by the moorings with cabuya fibres retain their original colour, while the exposed sections are impregnated with the new colouring of the dyeing. Untying the knots generates a beautiful polychrome with complicated designs, which are only visible after the threads have passed through the loom. The production of a single macana is a long and laborious process in which a team of women and men works. Denis Penley (1988- ) explains in his book Paños de Gualaceo that the preparation of the cabuya, the dye, the concocting, the tying, the dyeing, the undoing, the making of the fringe and the starching are feminine tasks, while the preparation of the warp in the loom and the fabric, because they need more strength, are masculine. The completion of the fringe is done by women with their own nails, and with admirable mastery. Multiple designs are obtained, including birds, snails, flowers, insects and various geometric shapes.