MINCETUR Takes up The Initiative of Training Artisans in Order to Promote Shipibo Textiles

In order to promote the development of the traditional art of Shipibo patterns in textiles for manufacturing new products, the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (MINCETUR) has taken up the initiative of training artisans from the Shipibo community of Cantagallo, in the Peruvian capital city of Lima.

According to a statement issued by MINCETUR, around 35 artisans from the Shipibo community—a group of indigenous people mostly residing along the Ucayali River in the Amazonian rainforest of Peru, are being trained through various workshops and technical assistance with support from the Peruvian Ministry, so that they can create new products in order to participate in various textile trade fairs.

Jose Miguel Gamarra, Deputy Minister of Tourism, said the aim of training these artisans is to develop competitive and attractive products to meet the demand for the native craft of capital city in Peru.

MINCETUR extends support to the community for promoting Shipibo patterns through the recovery, learning and dissemination of the ancient embroidery techniques and Kene designs, which has been lost, he added.

Mr. Gammara said that through these workshops the Ministry intends to disseminate techniques of embroidery in textiles such as the use of ancient textile arts like ‘Morin’, for the retrieval of the cultural manifestation of the Shipibo people.

The MINCETUR through the Department of Arts is seeking new markets for native communities to enter in order to sell their products and earn a livelihood, he added.

The Shipibo community in Cantagallo consists of 200 families, and the women in these communities are dedicated towards the manufacturing of textile crafts, an activity that constitutes the basic source of income in the Shipibo household.