This collection of slides from the historical archive of Fernando Astete is the result of the anthropologist’s efforts of promoting and representing the public image of Machu Picchu for over 35 years, while dedicating his life to safeguarding the collective memory of a symbolic place for the archaeological and cultural identity of Peru. His interest focus, on the one hand, is the scientific register of the construction process of a natural and cultural heritage site that embraces 37 thousand hectares in the Amazonian Andes. On the other hand, his indigenous identity and direct descendance reveals itself in his shots, in which an ancestral perception of the landscape emerges. Various themes and memories recorded from the 1970s to the 2000s emerge from the complexity of this collection, which includes archaeological excavations and registers, fires, manifestations of nature, construction details, technological expressions and conservation activities of Machu Picchu’s historic monuments, its animated geography and the cosmo-centric topography that characterizes the urban planning of the Incas.


Fernando Astete Victoria


Peruvian anthropologist from the University San Antonio Abad of Cuzco, he dedicated his life to the research, safeguard, and conservation of the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu. After its inscription on the World Heritage List, he explored 37,000 hectares of the park, identifying over 200 sites and contributed decisively to the overall comprehension of the Inca landscape. In 1994 and again in 1998, he served as Chief of the National Archaeological Park of Machu Picchu, and from 2001 to 2019, he continued to incrementally build a large interdisciplinary and international group of professionals and technicians, significantly widening the horizons of scientific research on the site. His publications and theories regarding the construction process, technologies, landscape planning and astronomy of the site have guided major scientific debates for the last forty years. His vast popularity among local communities also earned him the title of “guardian of the place”. Moreover, due to his outstanding career, he was recognized and honored as "Outstanding Americanist" at the 56th International Congress of Americanists in 2018. In 2020, he was distinguished by the Peruvian authorities as a "Meritorious Personality of Culture".


1970-2019


Private archive


UNESCO Chair in ICT to develop and promote sustainable tourism in World Heritage Sites USI – Università della Svizzera italiana

UNESCO Chair in Anthropology of Health - Biosphere and Systems of Heal - University of Genoa; Museum of Ethnomedicine A. Scarpa

Dirección Desconcentrada de Cultura de Cusco


https://www.machupicc.hu

Images

Discesa sicurezza

Astete Victoria, Fernando (1994)
Fondo Fernando Astete

La cultura Inca a Machupicchu

Astete Victoria, Fernando (18 aprile 1997)
Fondo Fernando Astete

Vista da Viscachani di Machupicchu

Astete Victoria, Fernando (3 agosto 2002)
Fondo Fernando Astete

Sistemi idraulici di Saqsaywaman

Astete Victoria, Fernando (1970)
Fondo Fernando Astete

Laboratori agricoli a Moray

Astete Victoria, Fernando (Luglio, Agosto 1970 )
Fondo Fernando Astete

Laboratori agricoli a Moray

Astete Victoria, Fernando (Luglio, Agosto 1970)
Fondo Fernando Astete

Scavo del pavimento per comprenderne la profondità

Astete Victoria, Fernando
Fondo Fernando Astete

Nicchia e muro con superficie intonacata con impasto argilloso

Astete Victoria, Fernando
Fondo Fernando Astete