Culture

Like its rich national history, the popular culture of contemporary Peru is the result of a fusion of cultures, constituted primarily from the cultural legacy of the indigenous groups, and Spanish and African colonists. This cultural mixture has been further enriched by the contributions of other immigrant groups, particularly Asians and non-Iberian Europeans.

Art

During pre-Columbian times, Peru was one of the major centres of artistic expression in The Americas, where Pre-Inca cultures, such as Chavín, Moche, Paracas, Huari (Wari), Nazca, Chimu, and Tiahuanaco developed high-quality pottery, textiles, jewellery and sculpture. Drawing upon earlier cultures, the Incas continued to maintain these crafts but made even more impressive achievements in architecture. The mountain town of Machu Picchu and the buildings at Cuzco are excellent examples of Inca architectural design.

During the colonial period, Spanish baroque fused with the rich Inca tradition to produce mestizo or creole art. The Cuzco school of largely anonymous Indian artists followed the Spanish baroque tradition with influence from the Italian, Flemish and French schools. Painter Francisco Fierro made a distinctive contribution to this school with his portrayals of typical events, manners and customs of mid-19th-century Peru. Francisco Lazo, forerunner of the indigenous school of painters, also achieved fame for his portraits.

In the decade after 1932, the 'indigenous school' of painting headed by Jose Sabogal dominated the cultural scene in Peru. A subsequent reaction among Peruvian artists led to the beginning of modern Peruvian painting. Sabogal's resignation as director of the National School of Arts in 1943 coincided with the return of several Peruvian painters from Europe who revitalized international styles of painting in Peru. During the 1960s, Fernando de Szyszlo, an internationally recognised Peruvian artist, became the main advocate for abstract painting and pushed Peruvian art toward modernism. Peru remains an art-producing centre with painters such as Gerardo Chavez, Alberto Quintanilla, and Jose Carlos Ramos, along with sculptor Victor Delfin, gaining international stature. Young artists continue to develop now that Peru's economy allows more promotion of the arts.

Pre-Hispanic Peruvian Andean cultures were especially bound to musical artistic expressions. In fact, almost all agricultural communal works were accompanied by music and singings (generically called in Quechua language: taki).

Literature

Pre-Columbian Peruvian civilisations relied on oral tradition for the transmission of knowledge, writing was only introduced with the arrival of Spaniards in the 16th century. Colonial forms of literary expression included chronicle and religious literature. After independence from Spanish rule, Peruvian literature developed along the lines of European currents such as Neoclassicism and Romanticism. By the early 20th century more original writers had arisen as part of the Indigenismo movement. During the second half of that century, Peruvian literature became more widely known thanks to authors such as Mario Vargas Llosa.

Crafts

Craft work in Peru include ceramics (either artistic or utilitarian), carving, silversmith work, leather repoussage, straw weaving and textile work, particularly the colourful weavings from alpaca wool.

Music

The Pre-Hispanic Andean musicians mostly used wind instruments such as:

• the quena (a traditional bamboo flute)
• the pinkillo (somewhat similar to a recorder)
• the antara or siku (also called zampoña) - panpipes

They also used diverse membranophone instruments such as the tinya (hand drum), the pomatinyas (made of puma skin), and the runatinyas - made of human skin. The runatinya was also used in battle.

With the Spanish conquest, new instruments arrived such as harps, guitars, vihuelas (somewhat like a guitar) and bandurrias (lutes). Because of the arrival of these musical instruments, new hybrid Andean/European instruments appeared. Some of these instruments are still used today: the Andean harp and the charango. The sounding box of the charango is made of the armadillo's shell.

The cultural crossbreeding did not limit itself to the contact of Indigenous and European cultures. The African slaves' contribution was demonstrated in rhythms and percussion instruments. This influence is visible in musical forms like the festejo and the zamacueca.

Dances

Apart from dances of native origin, there are also dances that are related to the agricultural work, hunting and war. Some choreographies show certain Christian influence. Two of the most representative Andean dances are the kashua and the wayno or huayno. The kashua has a communal character and it is usually danced in groups in the country or open spaces. The huayno is a 'salon ball'. It is danced in couples and in closed spaces. The yaravi and the triste have also an Andean origin. They are usually songs with very emotional lyrics.

Dances of ritual character include the achocallo, the pinkillada, the llamerada (dance that imitates the llama's walk) and the kullawada (the spinners' dance).

There are some dances of war, such as the chiriguano which has an Aymara origin, the chatripuli that satirises the Spanish Realist soldiers, and the kenakenas - a dance about the Chilean soldiers who occupied Peru during the War of the Pacific in 1879. There are also dances for Carnival, which is celebrated simultaneously with the crops time. Many rural communities celebrate the youths' initiation during these holidays with ancestral rites and dances.

The most internationally known dance in Peru is the Marinera Norteña. This dance represents a man's courting of a young woman. There are local variants of this dance in Lima and the other regions of the country.

Cuisine

Peru has a varied cuisine with ingredients such as maize, tomato, potatoes, uchu or ají (hot pepper), oca (a starchy tuber), ulluco (a root vegetable), avocado, fruits like cherimoya (with a flavour that blends pineapple, mango and strawberry), lúcuma and pineapple, and animals such as taruca, llama and Guinea pig. The combination of American, European and Moorish culinary traditions have resulted in new meals and ways of preparing them. The later arrivals of Africans and Chinese also influenced in the development of the Creole cuisine.

Some typical Peruvian dishes are:

• ceviche (fish and shellfish marinated in citrus juice)
• chupe de camarones (a soup made of shrimp)
• anticuchos (a cow's heart roasted in brochettes)
• olluco con charqui (a casserole dish made of ulluco and charqui)
• Andean pachamanca (meats, tubers and broad beans cooked in a stone oven)
• lomo saltado (meat fried lightly with tomato and onion, served with French fries and rice)
• picante de cuy (a casserole dish made of fried guinea pig with some spices)

Peruvian food can be accompanied by typical drinks like the chicha de jora (a fermented beverage made using corn dried by the sun). There are also chichas made of purple corn or peanut. They are very refreshing and do not have any alcoholic content.

For more information on Peruvian cuisine, see Food and Drink.

Popular Celebrations

Popular celebrations are the product of every town's traditions and legends. These celebrations gather music, dances, meals and typical drinks. In addition to the religious celebrations such as Christmas, Corpus Christi or Holy Week, there are others that express the syncretism of the indigenous peoples' beliefs with the Christians'. An example of this kind of celebration is the Alasitas that combines a crafts and miniatures fair with dances, meals and a mass. Another example is the peregrination of the Q'oyllor-ritis (Cuzco), that gathers the ancient cult to the apus (tutelary divinities of the mountains) with a peregrination to a Christian Sanctuary in a long trek to the top of a mountain, of more than 5,000m above sea level.