In Santa Teresa de Ayacucho the nuns stand guard against thieves. now they will get help

Every night, one of the fifteen nuns who inhabit the Saint Teresa Monastery It is up to her to stand guard at the top of the choir, reclining on a rustic bunk, in the middle of a hodgepodge of colonial furniture. She is a light sleeper: she must be alert to any noise that indicates the presence of the evil one. The mother prioress tells us that, weeks ago, robbers armed with a saw drilled through the side door, but fled when they heard the whistle of the sister who sounded the alarm. Three years ago they did not have the same luck: several silver chandeliers were looted. This is how distressing the nights are for these Carmelite nuns, even though the doors of the monastery have been reinforced with metal plates.

This Tuesday morning, the sisters suspended cloister activities for a moment to receive the United States Ambassador, Lisa Kenna, as well as a delegation from the Ministry of Culture and the University of Engineering and Technology (UTEC). The occasion was special, an answer to their prayers: the Monastery of Santa Teresa will receive US$255,000 from the Fund of the Ambassador for the Preservation of Culture, which will be used to catalog the 700 works in its collection, including oil paintings from the century XVII and XVIII, fabrics, sculptures and pieces of popular art, as well as the adequacy of its deposits, today in a precarious condition.

Among the pieces of colonial art, in addition to its splendid altar and altarpieces, a “Last Supper” stands out where the traditional guinea pig and other regional dishes are served, as well as 26 paintings that represent the Life of Christ and majestic harquebusier angels. The inventory and cataloging of this set will help prevent the theft and illicit trafficking of these cultural assets.

This project, chosen from among fifty proposals, will be managed by the University’s Conservation Center, which will begin work next October. As Carlos Heeren Ramos, executive director of UTEC, affirms, the preservation and conservation of cultural heritage is a task that the university has decided to actively undertake. “In all regions of Peru we find problems of abandonment, lack of presentation and enhancement. Recovering that heritage is a role that we must fulfill“, it states.

An abandonment that, according to Monsignor Salvador Piñeiro, Archbishop of Ayacucho, is especially painful. “Knowing about this project, we gladly support it. And now I’m going to enroll more! There is a very Creole saying: there is no first without a second”, says the religious man half jokingly, half seriously. Indeed, the ecclesiastical authority is well aware that the religious heritage in his region is seriously threatened, and for this reason he especially appreciated the support of the US embassy. “There is a lot of looting here. When one goes to the towns, and sees the temples and convents, one realizes that on a bare wall there must have been a painting, the paintings that were used for the catechism. much has been lost”, he declared to El Comercio.

“During the colony, there was an art school here run by the Jesuits. People usually talk about the Cusco, Quito and Lima school, but the Ayacucho baroque school is forgotten. This is where these oil paintings come from, which reflect cultural syncretism so well. Everything is an expression of the Andean worldview that recognizes the glory and power of God”, adds the religious.