Estudios Latinoamericanos

PIOTR PAWLUCZUK - Great painter and art collector

Elżbieta Zybert — 2025-12-22

The article presents the figure of the painter Piotr Pawluczuk, a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, who, after spending time in Russian labor camps in Siberia and wandering through the vast and desolate territories of the Soviet Union, enlisted in the Polish Army under General Władysław Anders. Following a prolonged stay in the Middle East, he departed for Argentina in 1948, where he lived for the rest of his life, until 1989.

Pawluczuk was a highly active artist. In his paintings, several distinct stages can be identified, characterized by the following themes: 1) a nostalgic-nationalist phase inspired by memories of Poland; 2) his wanderings through the Middle East, reflected in paintings depicting architectural views, landscapes, customs, and the cultural splendor of Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon; 3) the beauty of Argentine folklore, from the province of Jujuy to Patagonia. The fourth and final period of his artistic work, spanning 1970–1989, was marked by the development and constant refinement of a new, highly personal form of artistic expression — an original pictorial style that Pawluczuk himself called vibrationism. He exhibited his works, which attracted great public and critical interest, in numerous shows held at renowned art galleries in Argentina and also in Poland. The present article also seeks to provide a more complete picture of his extensive artistic output.

In addition to painting, Pawluczuk devoted himself to collecting art objects — paintings, sculptures, works in gold, silver, and ivory, as well as carpets. His home in Villa Ballester, Buenos Aires, became not only a museum but also an important venue for artistic and literary gatherings, attended by prominent figures such as painters, sculptors, musicians, actors, writers, and representatives of the political world. Pawluczuk was also deeply engaged in public and cultural life in Argentina, participating in educational and artistic initiatives. He taught painting, organized courses, competitions, and exhibitions for his students, and was one of the founders of the Circle of Polish Artists in Argentina, eventually serving as its president.

Evidence of prehispanic land use from the Central Group, South Group and peripheral areas of Tak'alik Ab'aj, based on geochemical and loss on iginition (LOI) studies

Michał Gilewski — 2025-12-22

The project Geoarchaeological Investigations in Tak'alik Ab'aj Temporada 2019 (realized in cooperation between the Tak'alik Ab'aj National Archaeological Park and the University of Warsaw) have carried out the geochemical studies of sediments from excavations and auger sondages within the Central Group and South Group. The aim of the study is to reconstruct the form of land use and determine the function of these areas, as well as to identify the location of residential units. For this purpose, an analysis of the content of soil organic matter by the Loss-on-ignition (LOI) method and the geochemical study of soil in different strata were carried out.

The study of the strata carried out in the peripheral areas showed higher and more varied values of loss-on-ignition (LOI) than those in the central area. This data, among other geoarcheological results, seems to corroborate the first hypotheses coming from the traditional excavations.

Predation And Sacrifice In Andean War. Towards A Comparison Between Highlands And Lowlands

Antoinette Molinié — 2025-12-29

Traditionally, anthropologists have considered the highland and lowland societies of South America as distinct and have attempted to find associations, connections, and boundaries between them. In this article, I propose, instead, to view them as two ethnographically defi ned confi gurations, allowing to identify two models, or ethea, that interact within a particular social or conceptual domain, such as warfare. In Andean ritual combat or tinku, the two models are simultaneously at work, while in Inca warfare, an Amazonian ethos is present at the heart of the Inca State together with a human sacrifi ce which ensures the unity of the empire. Lastly, I wonder if the two models found in Andean warfare, predation and sacrifice, correspond to animism and analogism (Descola 2013a [2005].).

The Return of the Inca. The Andean Messianism (16th–18th centuries)

Nathan Wachtel — 2025-12-29

Recent studies suggest a set of relationships between the sixteenth-century Taki Unquy movement of the Central Andes, the so-called ‘Neo-Inca’ kingdom of Vilcabamba, the popular dramatized events of the Conquest, and the myth of Inkarri. How can we explain these linked elements? To what extent can part of the corpus of documents on Inca resistance be subjected to structural analysis? In what way is the messianic dimension of this thematic area a long-term element? How are Occidental and Christian cultural elements combined with Andean sacred elements? To what extent does the messianic dimension permeate, in the Charcas Audience, the revolt movements of the 18th century?

Identity, Kinship, and Inheritance in Viceregal Peru During the Late 16th and Early 17th Century: The World of Francisco Guaman, A Cacique of Chota

Christelle Yeyet-Jacquot — 2025-12-29

Since Nathan Wachtel’s pioneering The Vision of the Vanquished: The Spanish Conquest of Peru through Indian Eyes, 1530-1570 (1977), culture change during Spanish rule in Peru has gained topicality. Thanks to Karoline Noack’s (2001: 191-204) and Kerstin Nowack’s most recent approach (2006: 51-77), anthropology-based historiography has veered towards the study of testamentos de Indios, the natives’ last wills, which is also relevant to discussions of cultural change in Peru during colonial times. Th us, new areas of study, such as kinship-centered thematics, have come into prominence. Drawing upon these areas of study, I focus on the analysis of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century nuncupative testaments from Cajamarca’s Archives, which provide a wealth of information on daily life and interaction between relatives and kin living in the República de los Indios. Consequently, I delineate the depth of cultural change in the very private group of kinship.

Ethnicity and Lineage. The Incas of Flesh and Blood Today: Cuzco 2024

Carmen Escalante — 2025-12-29

Incas – yes, native Quechuas, Aymaras and Amazonians too, obviously; descendants of Africans, Asians and Europeans, who speak and write Spanish.1 From the start, we perceive the ethnic complexity of our country. Peruvian identity appears in some social behaviors, in presidential elections, in municipal elections, in the passports and other offi cial documents. At the same time other ethnic identity adjectives are used like criollos - Lima natives, serranos - natives from the interior. Before 1970 we, the people from rural areas with cultural characteristics diff erent from the characteristics of dominating group, the occidentals, we were called indios - Indians. We have never been Indians. Th e name comes from a mistake committed by fi rst Europeans who came to America in 1492. It has been used as an expression of dominance and is still used as an insult. In Peru, since 1990, the world indígena – indigenous, native, is used in politics and human rights defense, but it is not used as a name of an identity, which is the case in Ecuador and Bolivia. In 1969 by decree the use of the world indio was abolished and the word campesino – peasant, introduced in its stead. At that time the world had so negative connotation that the comuneros – members of traditional communities, and peasants did not want to hear it. Even today great part of Peruvian population refuses to use the word, which expresses racism and discrimination. General use accepts self-denomination andino – Andean, but it is very ample and ambiguous.

Each region hast its own ethnic names. The people from the center of Peru are Huancas. Th e men from Apurimac are Chancas. Th e inhabitants of Puno, Moquegua and Tacna are Collas, very proud of their name. In the Northern Coast they did not consider themselves Indians. Since the discovery of Señor de Sipán – Th e Lord of Sipán, they call themselves Moches. Th ey recognize their Moche forefather and identify themselves with an archeological culture, powerful and successful. In the case of the Cuzco people, when we called ourselves Qusqu runa quechuas – People of Cuzco Quechuas, we unifi ed the city inhabitants, while the people from the provinces used ancient ethnic names like Chumpivillcas, Canchis, and Quispicanchis. Everybody criticized those of us who acknowledged being Incas’ descendants. The foreigners alleged that all the Incas had died, only the runa – common people stayed, by some not recognized as Incas, but they are Incas as heirs and continuators of this great culture, soby some not recognized as Incas, but they are Incas as heirs and continuators of this great culture, so we, the possessors of Inca names and surnames, we had usurped them without any connection to any Inca ayllu – linage referred to. Common citizens criticized us, because it meant to pretend to be much better. Nowadays we do recognize ourselves as Incas’ descendants and Incas of today. One group of the Incas are inhabitants and members of peasant communities, who have very clear cultural identity, the other one are we, the urban families who conserve our Quechua surnames (and sometimes other surnames) and identify us as Incas.

During centuries, even if the Incas had been defeated, those who made deals with Spanish Crown2 obtained the recognition of their lineages and survived the colonial rule. Once achieved the disputed independence of Peru, in 1825 Bolivar issued a decree abolishing titles of nobility both, native and Spanish. Some Incas changed their original surnames in order to survive in a social system extremely excluding and discriminating the natives. Others have kept their names and traditions and conserve them to the present day, so ayllus and families we have lasted from Inca times until today. Since 1992 when offi cial journalists became interested in interviewing direct descendants of the Incas who have kept their Inca surnames, the local people began to reassess their ethnic origin, their customs, and their own cultural traits. At the beginnings of 21st century there continue to exist ayllus with the names of social groups from Inca times. Also some families reorganize their panacas3. Each period has its particularities. Today the particularity is not to be an Inca descendant, only to be a modern Inca. People both in local peasant communities and in the cities assume Inca identity. Th e identities are not received at birth; they become constructed and reconstructed during one’s lifetime. Identity is continuously redefi ned. Qusqu runa hinam qillqayku, Inqa runa hinam qillqayku. We describe it as Inca man and woman from Cuzco. Identity is continually redefi ned. Th is text is consciously biased.

Time and Space: Contemporary Quechua Oral Tradition, Astronomy and the Inca Pilgrimage of the Sun ‘Inti Raymi’

Margit Gutmann — 2026-02-04

This article deals with the connection between contemporary oral narratives in Quechua and the Inca pilgrimage of the sun (Inti Raymi) described in colonial chronicles. It aims to explain the complex astronomical links between an oral tradition and a pilgrimage. The narratives, related to me in the village of Pomacanchi (Cuzco Dept.) during my ethnolinguistic fieldwork, form part of a cycle of myths about Qanchi Machu, the culture hero of the Qanchi. Both Inca pilgrimage accounts and contemporary narratives project onto earth – with astronomical precision – the year-long course of the sun at midday across the sky. Consequently, aspects of the Andean concept of time and space, both in Inca times and nowadays, are being revealed.
I describe the movement of the sun in the language of the nowadays Quechua peasants when they observe the sun, or in the language of the chroniclers who wrote it down in the 16th century, when the sun walked through the sky from one place to another just like the Quechua people do it in our world. Chronicles from the colonial period and oral Quechua tradition are treated here as distinct yet equally valuable sources. Moreover, a link between the written chronicles and the orally transmitted myths is established through an eminently scientifi c medium, namely astronomy. Thus, something that would have been impossible in the case of a restriction to one type of source only – either chronicles or oral narratives – is achieved, namely to demonstrate the complexity of Andean culture, its worldview just as well a its continuity over the centuries (all transformations since the colonial era notwithstanding), thus making way for new insights and building understanding for the ritual activities
back then as well as today.