ILLATURAS













Intercultural project of artistic and community
 practices centered around miniatures

ILLATURAS



                                                    ILLATURAS is an invitation to explore inner territories: desires, dreams, deep intuitions.


                                                            An artistic and community-based research project that reclaims the meaning of the small, of rituality, and of the creative force of miniatures since pre-Inca times.




Manos y Miniaturas de Eli. 
Ph: Hernan Kacew. 2023 




                                                            Starting from the premise that there is no difference between an artist and an artisan, this collaborative project seeks to strengthen ancestral knowledge surrounding the festivities of Santa Anita and Alasitas.






Maria, Silveria, Eli. Jujuy, Argentina. 
Ph: Kacew. 2023.




ILLATURAS Miniaturas textiles, Mallorca. 
Ph: Emma Cassi. Año: 2025
 

                                                         
                                                             Illas in the Andean region are small figures, energized materialities, amulets that condense collective desires.


                                                             As Elvira Espejo Ayca points out:
 “The protective meaning is another way of understanding the illas. They are spirits that safeguard so that nothing is lacking—providers of all that is dreamed of, not only for the household, but for the community: abundance of animals, of the land, of water, of everything.”





Flor de Altea, Santa Ana, Jujuy, Argentina. 
Ph : Hernan Kacew. Año: 2023





                                                ILLATURAS was born with the intention of becoming a living and itinerant museum.
          

 A constellation of miniatures that travels and carries dreams and desires, recognizing the miniature as a seed that fosters the growth of what is longed for.


Ph: Daniela Pinto


Ph: Rebecca Valls y Blas Moreau 
Ph: Rebecca Valls y Blas Moreau 
Ph: Rebecca Valls y Blas Moreau 
Ph: Rebecca Valls y Blas Moreau 

                                                            
                                                          Each piece becomes part of this affective, horizontal, and intergenerational archive, where the memories of multiple communities enter into dialogue with archaeological and contemporary illas.








Ritual Practices


The power of the small as protection and shared memory. Amulets from different territories. Each piece is narrated by the artisan who made it.




TELAR DE CINTURA
Textil y madera
Oaxaca, Mexico

Hecho por Laura Chimil





FLOR ÁFRICANA
Cerámica
Jujuy, Argentina

Tallada por Hugo Nadalino




TAPIZCITO EL CULTIVADOR
Textil
Jujuy, Argentina

Bordado por Maria Mamani





TIJERA
Metal
La Paz, Bolivia

Artesano/a anónimo/a



           
 




TAPIZCITO EL MAR
Textil
Jujuy, Argentina

Bordado por Elsa Calapeña








COSECHA DE PAPAS
Textil
Jujuy, Argentina

Bordado por Maria Mamani







VASIJA
Ceramica
Jujuy, Argentina

Torneada por Milagro Rioja







BOTELLITA 
Cesteria y metal
Oaxaca, Mexico

Cestería por Yesenia Ruiz Perez





                 
  


TAPETE
Textil
Teotitlan del Valle, Mexico

Tejido por Susi Vicente








OVEJITA
Piedra de alabastro
Cuzco, Peru

Artesano/a anónimo/a





PONCHITO 
Textil
Jujuy, Argentina

Bordado por Elsa Calapeña








CÁMARA DE FOTOS
Metal
La Paz, Bolivia

Artesano/a anónimo/a





PUSHKA
Textil y madera
La Paz, Bolivia

Artesano/a anónimo/a






BOLSITA
Textil
Jujuy, Argentina 

Bordado por Eli Cruz







VASIJITA
Cerámica
Jujuy, Argentina

Artesano/a anónimo/a







TAPIZCITO EL CONDOR
Textil
Jujuy, Argentina

Bordado por Silveria Choque







LLAMITA
Textil
Jujuy, Argentina 

Autor/a anonimo







CHOLET
Vidrio
La Paz, Bolivia

Artesano/a anónimo/a





TAPIZ BORDADO
Textil
Jujuy, Argentina

Bordado por Eli Cruz







VASIJITA SILVADORA
Cerámica
Cuzco, Peru 
 
Artesano/a anónimo/a






EKEKO
Cerámica, textil y papel
La Paz, Bolivia

Artesano/a anónimo/a






CAMINITO
Textil
Jujuy, Argentina

Bordado por Eli Cruz







MAÍZ
Piedra
Jujuy, Argentina 
               
Acervo Museo Arqueologico E.Casanova






TAPIZ CASITA
Textil
Jujuy, Argentina

Bordado por Elsa Calapeña





POLLERITA 
Textil
Jujuy, Argentina

Hecho por Petrona Luere

PALA
Madera y metal
La Paz, Bolivia
Artesano/a anónimo/a







TAPIZ EL CAMINO
Textil
Jujuy, Argentina

Bordado por Elsa Calapeña








ALFORJITA 
Textil
Jujuy, Argentina

Bordado por Maria Mamani








The museum is built in movement: it grows in every territory that receives it, in every voice that narrates it, and in every hand that creates a new miniature.




Conversamos con Elvira Espejo en el marco de ILLATURAS, intercambiando como es el sentido de las miniaturas en el marco de la festividad de Alasitas en Bolivia. 








                                                  ILLATURAS is a network of voices, hands, and territories that come together to research, care for, and share artisanal knowledge and the symbolic universe of miniatures in the Andes.

It fosters a horizontal and intergenerational exchange of knowledge and experiences through listening and accompaniment, opening pathways toward the creation of intercultural artistic alliances. Through the power of encounter, this living museum of miniatures grows and expands into new territories.



Sol Marinucci 



Taller de dibujo junto a las infancias en Santa Ana, Jujuy, Argentina. 2023 Ph: Pedro Canale.




                                                                                                          ILLATURAS is coordinated by Sol Marinucci from Jujuy, Argentina, in ongoing dialogue with a constellation of voices and hands that sustain it: Eli Cruz, María Mamani, Silveria Choque, Elsa Calapena, Laura Chimil, Susana Vicente, Yesenia Ruiz Perez, Hugo Nadalino, Milagro Rioja and Elvira Espejo Ayca, alongside other voices that continue to join from Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico and beyond.


Elsa, Maria, Laura, Susana.
Elsa, Maria, Laura, Susana.
Elsa, Maria, Laura, Susana.
Elsa, Maria, Laura, Susana.
Elsa, Maria, Laura, Susana.
Elsa, Maria, Laura, Susana.


Sol, Silveria, Petrona, Elsa, Maria y Eli. Ph: Pedro Canale. 



Within this web of relationships, research and derivative projects also emerge, exploring the memories, gestures, and narratives of artisanal making, giving rise to new forms of living archive, listening, and collective creation.





ACTIVITIES


                      A living laboratory of questions, gestures, and memories that unfolds through diverse forms of encounter:




WORKSHOPS
Collective making spaces where the miniature becomes language, question, and bridge to imagine possible worlds from what is close at hand.


TALKS
We share this research in motion — its history, processes, findings, and memories from the Andean universe of the illas and related festivities — opening space for sensitive listening and new intercultural dialogues.


EXHIBITIONS
Constellations in space: living installations where miniatures, as amulets, enter into dialogue with the symbolic universe of the illas, alongside the voices and hands that create them.








WE HAVE BEEN IN
Museo Arqueológico de Jujuy _ Mayo 2024
Santa Ana _ Octubre 2023
Karnekunst, Berlín_ Julio 2024
Escuela Sarmiento, Tilcara_ Diciembre 2024
Espacio AguaMarga, Mar del Plata_ Diciembre 2024
Texere, México_ Marzo 2025
Xtant, Mallorca_ Mayo 2025
Paisanaje, Madrid_ Mayo 2025
Encuentro Artesanal, Museo Jalpha Calchaqui, Salta_ Julio 2025
Mundano, Porto_ Octubre 2025
Jungle Folk, Zurich_ Octubre 2025
Halo Studio, Berlin_ Octubre 2025
Proxy - Hartwig Foundation, Amsterdam_ Noviembre 2025
Escuela Rural Huichaira_ Diciembre 2025


COMING SOON

Salta
Mexico

We love sharing the project in schools, museums, institutions, and cultural spaces, adapting each proposal to the territory, the local context, and the unique ways of gathering.

ILLATURAS is nourished by what is close at hand: situated practices, collective participation, and open conversations that invite debate, imagination, and the memory of making.


LET’S COLLABORATE







SHOP / PUBLICATION / N1


                                                              

                          The ILLATURAS publication is a small newspaper-style booklet that gathers voices, images, and stories from the symbolic universe of Andean miniatures. A memory-bearing object that travels with the project and grows alongside each territory.

LIMITED EDITION
Each copy includes a miniature —a poetic replica of the museum— created by the hands of those who are part of ILLATURAS. Small editions, expansive imaginaries: the museum travels with every purchase.

Bring It Home!