The poncho and the gaucho

For our gauchos, the poncho was almost like a flag. He had, in turn, many practical functions that accompanied the day to day in the camps, protecting them from the cold and assisting them in the fight.
Today we want to give you a reflection on this, in the hands of Alberto G. Bellucci, former director of the Museum of Decorative Art.

Extended or retracted on the shoulders lying on the neck or on one side, the poncho protects from the wind and harbors from the cold; it is alternatively waterproof, scarf and hood.
It also serves as a mattress for the serene, acts as a blanket and blanket or is armed as a saddlebag, where a “ponchada” fits.
Occasionally it accompanies the violence because, rolled in the left arm, it serves as a shield and defense of the dagger of others or acts as an instrument of torture, “placing “the prisoner with a fresh leather.
The poncho integrates the galas of the rider, supports the progress of a loving conquest, serves as an offering of the teacher and merges the gaucho with his horseback turning it into a pampean centaur.
The poncho keeps its validity intact, overcoming the passage of time, because it has become one of the symbols that identifies us and connects us, without a doubt, with the roots of our own history.