When you visit Colombia or go online, you’ll find Wayuu bags with all different types of bright and vivid colors. However, before colonial times, Wayuu fabrics were exclusively white, sometimes used in combination with another earthy color.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!(VIDEO) Why No Wayuu Bag is Made of Cotton…EVER!
Today all Wayuu bags are made of acrylic from large thread manufacturers that provide thread in a wide range of colors.
Traditionally, wealthier Wayuus used wool for their dresses and sashes. Cotton and cucuiza (thin rope made from natural fibers were also commonly used). Many of the textiles were of a single color, either red or black as it was not common to combine colors.
(VIDEO) 7 Ingredients Of A Quality Wayuu Bag
The wealthy caciques wore white blankets with colored stripes on the edges. Pigments were limited to what was available in nature and typically included colors such as brick red, brown, black, and yellow. Fruit would be cooked in a pot to extract the dye and balls of yarn would be soaked in the liquid of the fruit. The threads would later be washed and left in the sun to dry.
After being colonized by several countries including the Dutch, Spanish and French, Wayuu textiles started gaining notoriety and began trading in large quantities.
Natural yarns were replaced by acrylic, providing faster production, better durability, a more vivid range of colors and a better hold of these colors.
It’s said that the color combinations of Wayuu fabrics are perhaps influenced by the teachings of the Mexican masters. Whether this is true or not, Wayuu textiles are a truly unique masterpiece that come in all colors of the rainbow.