¨Santa Catalina, a place with as much history as the city of Arequipa. Many women of faith were gathered in its walls, but it is said that there were 13 that really gave life to their runners. Women powerful with personalities as opposite as the black and white of their habits. They brought to the monastery a unique way of doing things, each being a special ingredient. We are inspired by them. 13 Monjas is that mixture of ingredients that they form something special. It is the desire to create unique experiences around of a plate of food and a good wine; devotion to the masses; pleasure of a simple but well-made meal; our faith in craftsmanship. we believe in this and we will continue to do so for ever and ever.¨

13 Monjas is an artisan pasta and dough restaurant located in front of the Santa Catalina Convent, a place with as much history as the city of Arequipa (Peru). Many women of faith gathered on its walls, but legend has it that there were 13 who really gave life to its corridors. Powerful women, with personalities as opposite as the black and white of their habits.

We develop the naming and graphic design system and we decided to go beyond a concept to create a mystique around the restaurant. The “13 nuns” not only live in the name, we also gave them life by creating illustrations that coexist in the space and in the different pieces of the project. We take characteristic elements of the Peruvian culture – mainly from the Arequipa area – and then combine them with different types of habits; the ones that seemed most eccentric to us, the romantic, the esoteric, the combative, the thinker, the astronomer and the inventor.

The approach of the illustrator Maca Lateülade (Ula design), who collaborated in the project said ¨From hand-drawn to digitized illustrations, the concept for this work was to draw the B-side of the nuns, of what we know as nuns. Together with Paloma we think of them as rebellious, disruptive women, who, beyond having taken the habits, never abandoned what moved them, which filled them with illusion and intrigue, beyond religion.¨