As 2024 draws to a close, we reflect on all the experiences we’ve shared this year from cultural events, exhibits, workshops, community visits, and special projects. Highlights from the communities include the completion of the mural project in the Matsigenka community of Shipetiari, as well as a creative investigation into the Iskonawa ceramic tradition that will solidify in 2025.  With open hearts and hands, we look ahead to a new year filled with growth, learning, and collaborations with the different communities throughout the Peruvian Amazon.

In Cusco, we continue to be a bridge of Amazonian art and realities to the national public and international visitors through Indigenous art exhibitions and cultural events which intend to inform and inspire. Exhibitions such as “Pitak” which revealed the process and story behind the skilled basketry of Jorge Tukup to the cartographic exhibition of “Amazonía Bajo Presión”  that illustrated the present day threats and pressures on the Amazon, and closing the year with the unseen works of Pablo Amaringo in “Neo-Amazónico” whose legacy has inspired many youth to paint, connect with and respect the nature that is the Amazon.

In our soundroom we shared three very distinct works for the Crafting the Field series; opening the year with Irazema Vera and her auditory postcard about Murui-Buue leader Zoila Ochoa, to an adaptation of the ritual chants of Awajún master José Ayui Yampis by Christian Mun, and concluding 2024 with Tito La Rosa in a dialogue of times with the icaros of Shipibo-Konibo master Amelia Panduro.

We held various cultural events such as films screenings around topics directly related to the Amazon from “A Invenção do Outro” to “Wändari” and "Escute a Terra Foi Rasgada", to craft workshops that elaborated on the natural jewelry of the Awajún and Wampis communities, the sacred incantations of the Tumag traditional mouth harp, to a discussion around Shipibo-Konibo designs and the body with social anthropologist Luisa Elvira Belaunde.

Inviting the respected artists and colleagues to Cusco to participate in these events is always a rich experience that brings much learning and understanding between all who are witness to it. An authentic exchange between cultures holds an immense power and so through this relationship building we envision some beautiful outcomes and ideas for the future.

Moments shared in Cusco and in the Amazon are magical, and we do our best to document these experiences with audiovisual material and in-depth publications. These archives live on our ever-evolving website and so we encourage you to explore these materials and share these paths of knowledge. We would also love to hear from you, be it feedback, new ideas or critics.

2025 will mark 10 years since the idea of Xapiri was first seeded (8 years in Cusco) and we hope we will all connect once more and celebrate together in the new year. Thank you to all the communities we work with, our supporters, friends and colleagues around the world. We wish you health and abundance for the coming year!

To show your support for our organization and its projects, we welcome your one-time or monthly donation to Xapiri Ground.

‍

‍

‍