Artisans of the Ampiyacu – CACE “music” video about native artisans in the Peruvian Amazon
May 24, 2013
Greetings friends. Please check out “Artisans of the Ampiyacu” below or on the AmazonEcology Channel on YouTube at: http://tinyurl.com/PeruArtisans. It tells the story in intimate images and music of the native artisans that the Center for Amazon Community Ecology works with in the Ampiyacu River basin of the Peruvian Amazon to develop and market innovative handicrafts. Thanks for checking it out and sharing it if you like it.
Casilda Vasquez – Bora native artisan from Brillo Nuevo with Amazon hot pad. Photo by Yully Rojas Reategui/Center for Amazon Community Ecology
The video shows how the Bora, Huitoto, Ocaina and Yagua artisans collect and process chambira palm fiber and transform it into beautiful earth tone belts, guitar straps and other woven crafts with dyes made from leaves, roots, fruits and bark. Artisans tell what making crafts means to them and their families and how CACE sales of their crafts also supports health, education and conservation in their communities. Viewers can learn how to support the CACE Ampiyacu Project on Global Giving at http://www.AmazonAlive.net.
"While concepts like punctuality, mutual respect, no put downs of self or others, and listening when someone else is speaking may seem like obvious guidelines to form a positive community, a commitment to actually practice and hold each other accountable to observe these agreements is profound in a culture where showing up late, malicious gossip, and interrupting a speaker are painfully common."
"Artisan facilitators should of course share what they know, but beginning and experienced artisans all benefit by remaining humble, enthusiastic about learning, and committed to encourage and affirm their fellow artisans. So many artisans said that the thing they most wanted to bring back to their communities was this spirit of working in a mutually supportive environment."
"Both men and women wore garb made with bleached llanchama tree bark painted with graphic figures from Bora clans. Several wore headdresses made with the feathers from macaws and parrots. They discussed the importance of nature and craft-making in their culture and then launched into a lively dance where the men chanted and pounded sticks into the ground to the rhythm of moving around in a circle. Visitors joined the undulating lines to share the vibrant energy."
