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In the Peruvian handicraft markets, you will surely find many wooden boxes that look like a chapel with a steeple and are decorated with floral patterns, which, when opened, reveal a picture of Peruvian life one by one, known as the "Peruvian box", or "Retablo". Retablo". These wooden boxes, of different sizes, are rich in content and vivid. There are reflections of family life, farming, grand religious ceremonies, wedding celebrations, and everything from the local life and folklore to the big and small events. The characters are even more beautifully portrayed. Peruvians love to put them in their homes, and visitors to Peru also like to buy them as souvenirs.
After the Spanish occupied South America, in order to spread Catholicism to all corners of the colony, so a small box was derived. In that period, there was no Catholicism in the conquered places, and there was no church, so the box became a veritable concentrated chapel, and the contents of the box were the same as the layout of the real church, and the deities were delicately carved, so this portable "holy box" became a symbol of the church. As the contents of the box became richer and more diverse, the small box was branded with a deep Peruvian imprint, and people later called it the "Peruvian box.
The content of the Peruvian box has been transformed by the local people, and the forms of expression have changed dramatically. According to the records, in the 1940s, there was a strong folk culture in Peru, and the religious content of the wooden boxes was diluted, resulting in a work of art that reflected local folk life and customs. From the harvest scenes in the fields, to the picture of marriage and children; from large religious celebrations, to folk festivals and joyful activities; hat workshops, flower stores, taverns, vendors ...... scenes in life can be expressed in this form, some boxes show grand scenes, as many as hundreds of characters, and each character's expression and Actions are very vivid, so that people look as if they were there.
The characters or animals in the box are made of a mixture of flour and plaster. It is said that in the early years, they were also made of mashed potatoes, and the various characters or animals and plants were made in a variety of shapes, and then colored, painted and exaggerated by the artistic craftsmen, each vividly portrayed. There is an inexhaustible variety of subjects in Acuazu, as well as comic-like expressions, and every scene and every image is shown in a very three-dimensional way. This place has given new life to the Peruvian Box and is the source of inspiration for the creation of the Peruvian Box. Today, the Peruvian Box is not only displayed in museums, but has also become a popular tourist souvenir for foreign tourists.
