Peru Movie Collection

Nathan and Margaret have been collecting pirated Peruvian movies that were made in the Andes, by Andean Peoples, and that focus on Andean themes (as opposed to the feishizing perspective of the 'otherizing' lens of Hollywood). This assemblage of self expressive visual materiality has accumulated from hours combing the black markets of Lima, Huaura, Puno, and beyond.

We will continue to share reflexive thoughts pertaining to the act of collecting and the collection its self. In the mean time, here is the list of disks that we have accumulated.

Ancient comb and cigarette butt

Photo by Nathan Craig as part of the Blackberry 8100 Perl study. Unarranged association of found objects.

Looters' sleeping quarters

Photo by Nathan Craig part of the Blackberry 8100 Perl study. Lay me down to sleep. The slightly concave depressions filled with plant matter are sleeping quarters for looters.

Deformed Crania

Photo by Nathan Craig as part of the Huaura Valley Blackberry Perl study of 2007. Precolumbian child burial with deformed crania. Hair is still attached to the skull and fragments of skin can be seen clinging to the bone. Relatively fresh quids of coca can been seen in the upper right frame of the background. These quids were left by looters who were exploiting the site the night before. Looters will chew coca to protect themselves from mal aire (bad air) or antimonio (antimonium).

Shrine at Porvenir

Photo taken in 2003 by Margaret Brown Vega. Modern shrine made at the base of a Preceramic (ca. 3000 B.C.) mound at the archaeological site of Porvenir, in the Fortaleza Valley, Peru. Crania from a Late Intermediate Period (ca. A.D. 1000-1470) burial ground intruding into the preceramic site are gathered, along with pottery and other remains, and assembled. Dried coca leaves were left inside a heart-shaped tin and scattered over the assemblage. Activities at the shrine employed coca leaves, and alcohol, as evidenced by empty or partially-filled liquor bottles left behind. Hair from the once fresh crania lies scattered among the skulls, and pools of now-cooled candle wax blanket parts of the shrine.

Anthropomorphic black candle, slightly melted, placed among the items of the shrine. The candle has been pierced twice in the torso.

Plastic toy soldier placed in the shrine. Remains of a burned white candle drip down from above.

An image of a woman, burned, placed next to the heart-shaped tin. Upon further inspection I realized this was not a photograph, but a page from a magazine. The dark area to the right of the photo is black from exposure to fire.

Shrine Etymology: Wikipedia

Shrine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaA shrine, from the Latin scrinium (‘box’; also used as a desk, like the French bureau) was originally a container, usually made of precious materials, used especially for a relic and often a cult image. By extension it has come to mean a holy or sacred place containing the reliquary or tomb dedicated to a particular hero, martyr, saint or similar figure of awe and respect. Shrines may be enclosures within temples, home altars, and sacred burial places. Secular meanings have developed by association, as noted below. A shrine at which offerings are made is called an altar.

Shrine Etymology: Oxford English Dictionary

Oxford English Dictionary shrine, n.

{dag}1. A box, coffer; a cabinet, chest. (Cf. SCRINE.)
In OE. and ME. applied to the ark of the covenant.

Quotations: c1000 ÆLFRIC Josh. iii. 8 {Th}a sacerdas, {th}a {th}e {th}æt scrin [Vulg. arcam] bera{edh}. c1000 Ags. Gosp. John xii. 6 For{th}am {th}e he wæs {th}eof & hæfde scrin [Vulg. loculos]. c1150 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 546/29 Archa, scrin. 1387 TREVISA Higden (Rolls) III. 109 {Th}e schryne of {th}e testament [arcam testamenti]. 1398 {emem} Barth. de P.R. XIII. ix. (Tollem. MS.), {Th}e schryne of oure lorde [ed. 1582, the Arke]. 1516 Burgh Rec. Edin. (1869) I. 161 Item, in the compertas of Craufurdis ane standand bed, and ane schryne. 1560 Stirling Burgh Rec. (1887) I. 75 Ane schryne but the lid. 1658 PHILLIPS, Shrine, a chest or cabinet.

Arcmap rubbersheeting of Calapuja, Rio Ramis, Peru

Profile of a roadcut that was made through the main mound at the archaeological site of Calapuja.

Autostitch mosaic of Aspero, Rio Supe, Peru

Panoramic aberation depicting the archaeological site of Aspero and the surrounding landscape of the Rio Supe, Peru.