Author Biography

Elvira Espejo Ayca is a visual artist, weaver, and oral storyteller from her place of origin (ayllu Qaqachaka, Avaroa province, Oruro). She is a speaker of Aymara and Quechua.

In 2020, she was honored with the official decoration from the Federal Republic of Germany, the Goethe Medal, for her arduous and tireless cultural work, becoming the first Bolivian woman (and the youngest in the history of the award) to receive this prestigious distinction. She was a finalist in the Indigenous Literature Contest of Casa de las Américas in Cuba (1994), received the International Poet Prize at the Fourth World Festival of Venezuelan Poetry (2007), won the first Eduardo Avaroa Prize in Arts, Specializing in Native Textiles, in La Paz, Bolivia (2013), and the first Prize for Promoting Native Creation in Literature, Specializing in Poetry, as part of the V South Andean Art Festival, Arica Barroca Chile (2018).

In collaboration with Bolivian musician Álvaro Montenegro, she produced contemporary music DVDs "Thakhi – La Senda Canciones a los animales" (2007) and "Utachk kirki – Canto a las casas" (2011). She is the author of the publications "Sawutuq parla" (2006) and the book of poems "Phaqar kirki-t ́ikha takiy takiy – Canto a las Flores" (2006) and "Kaypi Jaqhaypi Por aquí, por allá" (2018). She co-authored "Hilos sueltos: Los Andes desde el textil" (2007), "Ciencia de las Mujeres" (2010), "Ciencia de Tejer en los Andes: Estructuras y técnicas de faz de urdimbre" (2012), "El Textil Tridimensional: El Tejido como Objeto y como Sujeto" (2013), and "Tejiendo la vida: La Colección Textil del Museo Nacional de Etnografía y Folklore (MUSEF), según la cadena de producción" (2013).