Intangible but Visible

Intangible heritage "includes traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts" (UNESCO).
The following series of images by Heinz Plenge contribute to the discovery, understanding and preservation of living traditions in Peru by making the intangible, visible and palpable.

The temple shows a spiral path turning inward, like the shell of a snail ("Caracol" in Spanish). The spiral as a symbol of life and regeneration and is a recurrent element of Andean ceremonial architecture since its beginnings.

The Diablitos Dance in Tucume, Lambayeque (Peru) dates back to pre-colonial times and is practiced still today. The centrally located Angel of Light represents the Christian spirit fighting demons.

Maestro Marco Mosquera just held a healing ceremony at the Casa de la Luna in Chaparrì, using sacred plants of the Lambayeque valley, in particular the huachuma cactus (visible on the very right of the image).

Two women of the Muchik community in the northern part of Peru appear in their traditional environment. Their friendly and self-confident attitude in offering food reveals the powerful role of women in the Muchik culture and their sense of relationship.

A Muchik lizard hunter in Peru's La Leche Valley holds four morrops (endemic lizards) that are admired by the children of the village. The Muchik considered lizards as divine characters helping the deceased enter the underworld of the dead.

Heinz Plenge has been the only one so far to take such a detailed portrait of an uncontacted, indigenous hunter living in the Manu national park (UNESCO World Heritage Site) in Peru. To guarantee their survival these people voluntarily live in total isolation, and avoid getting in contact with modern ways of living.

The Awajun indigenous community lives in the Alto Mayo region of Peru. This and the following image nicely illustrate how men always wear headdresses while women do not.

The women, called “Nuwas”, play an important role within the community, being responsible of the seeds, working in the forest, and creating the orchards and their different products.

The Cumpanamá stone with ancient petroglyphs is located inside the Regional Conservation Area of Cordillera Escalera (Peru) and inhabited by the Shawi people. Over the millennia the Amazon cultures left powerful symbolic messages on sacred stones.

The Chachapoyas, are a civilisation of the higher Amazon of northern Peru. The four women are wearing colourful traditional braids and skirts and on their heads proudly exhibit ceramics they have produced.

During the Baile de las Carachupas (armadillo) traditional celebration of the indigenous community of Lamas (Peru), teen boys dress up as crocodiles using leaves to hide their body and gender.

A Maestro Curandero (traditional healer) is walking along the Cajamarca sacred lagoon of the highlands of Peru to collect plants for his natural remedies. In proximity of the waters, medical plants grow in a way only recognised by indigenous experts.