Indigenous Bolivia

Bolivia is a South American country whose Indigenous peoples live in very different landscapes, from the Andes to Amazonian lowlands and the Gran Chaco. Their clothing and body arts are equally varied.

Lowland accounts describe designs on the mouth, cheeks and forehead. Some were permanent tattoos; others were made with paint. The faces of women in parts of the Gran Chaco carried lines and shapes associated with beauty or changes in their lives.

Feathers, necklaces and carefully arranged hair added further detail. A few well-placed ornaments could create a strong appearance without covering the whole body. People chose and made these objects within their own communities.

The portraits show Guarayos, Guaraní and other peoples, not one common Bolivian style. A drawing records what an observer saw at a particular moment, while the person pictured belonged to a much larger world of family, language, work and ceremony.