Ruana; cobija
Pedal-loom wool weaving producing the ruana and cobija — a poncho-like wrap and a heavier double-faced woolen blanket-cloak — worn since the colonial era as the defining garment of Venezuela's Andean cordillera (Mérida, Táchira, and Trujillo states), likely inspired by the mantas of the pre-colonial Timoto-Cuica people. The tradition's single most consequential figure is Juan Félix Sánchez (1900–1997), a self-taught weaver, sculptor, and architect from San Rafael de Mucuchíes who, dissatisfied with the limited two-heddle, two-pedal loom used by other Mérida weavers, invented his own three-heddle, three-pedal loom capable of far more complex, colorful woven designs — becoming regarded as the region's finest weaver decades before he became internationally known for the hand-built stone chapels of his Complejo El Tisure.
Risk level: Endangered · Not inscribed; Venezuela is a State Party to the 2003 ICH Convention
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