Peru is a country with a great variety of cultures, traditions and languages.

The confluence of different manifestations -indigenous, European, African and Oriental-, throughout centuries, has configured a multicultural landscape with a great wealth of festive, musical and artistic expressions in general.

The strong indigenous presence, mainly of the Quechua and Aymara groups, and the conservation and reproduction of cultural expressions, have favored the permanence of Andean traditions and identities. In pre-Columbian times, the dances developed in the current Peruvian territory were mostly of a collective nature.

There was no distinction between dancers and spectators: the steps were simple, and everyone was part of the celebrations. During the conquest, the original Andean groups created other dances based on the new cultural influences, trying to imitate in an exaggerated and burlesque way the demeanor and movement of the Spanish.

Dance, with its dynamic and ritual character, constituted an element of group cohesion, as well as a discursive component through which different cultural values were transmitted, reproduced and modified.

The masks, material elements of many celebrations, continue to be an identifying feature of various Peruvian festivities today, while at the same time they form a legacy that, with modifications, refers to traditions of the most ancient Andean cultural groups. Every dance – past or present – has its own masks. In them, different characters, groups of dancers and authorities are distinguished.

The mask hides a face, an individual identity and his or her daily role in society, and implies a rupture and a revelation of new identities, subjects and roles of individuals in the group.

In the Andean world there is a variability of symbolic representations and meanings. Many masks represent evil forces, while at the same time offering protection through them; others depict events of the present or the past based on historical and mythical characters; others have a sarcastic aspect and refer to protests, claims or denouncements.

The exhibition THE OTHER ROSTS OF PERU. Collection of Latin American masks by Claudio Rama, is a unique window to the geography and history of Peru, a new approach to its past and present cultural diversity.