To mark the conclusion of five years of collaboration between the Centre for Andean Research of the University of Warsaw (UW) and the Catholic University of Santa Maria (UCSM) of Peru in Arequipa, an exhibition featuring the reconstructed face of a Juanita woman has opened at the Museum of Andean Sanctuaries in Peru.

The exhibition is curated by Dr Dagmara Socha and Dr Dominika Sieczkowska from the UW’s Centre for Andean Studies. Its highlight is the presentation, for the first time to the public, of the reconstructed face of the Lady of Ampato, known as Juanita, found on the slopes of the Ampato stratovolcano twenty-eight years ago. According to the UW, the reconstruction was made possible thanks to the collaboration with Swedish artist Oscar Nilssson, who used the so-called Manchester technique that is typical in forensic science.

“Using VR goggles, visitors of the exhibition can make a virtual pilgrimage in the footsteps of capacocha, following the remains of Inca roads to the tambos, the last stopping stations on the slopes of Chachani, Misti and Pichu Pichu”, says Dr Dagmara Socha.

While viewing the exhibition, visitors can also view the results of isotopic, genetic, and toxicological analyses, as well as three-dimensional models of individual objects. They can also see 3D prints of the objects, prepared by Dr Bartłomiej Ćmielewski, head of the 3D Scanning and Modelling Laboratory at Wrocław University of Science and Technology.

The official opening of the exhibition was attended by Dr Franz Grupp Castelo, director of the Museum of Andean Sanctuaries (Museo Santuarios Andinos), Dr Gonzalo Davila del Carpio, scientific director of the UCSM Prorectorate for Research, Harold Loli Rosales, archaeologist from the Ministry of Culture of Peru in Arequipa, and Dr Johan Reinhard, discoverer of the Lady of Ampato, National Geographic Explorer.

Adrian Andrzejewski