Cape with the figure of San Martín carrying the national flag

The patriotic symbols, heroes and presidents depicted in the costumes of the Negrería dance troupe from the fiesta of the Sapallanga Virgin of Cocharcas, in Huancayo, Junín, transform these garments into unique visual chronicles of Peru’s republican history.
Each of these pieces demonstrates how certain milestones and icons of the national identity are incorporated into the system of fiestas, rituals and dances of the Mantaro valley, redefining their local traditions for the contemporary world.
In this piece we see a founding image of the independence of Peru in which the liberator José de San Martín appears with the national flag. His presence in this piece reveals how in this locality dances serve as memory devices, in which the past and present coexist and redefine local memories.