Sowing Creativity from jewels of the Peruvian Amazon
On the 3rd of August 2024, we held a workshop to share the Awajún and Wampis culture through the beauty of their natural jewelry. We welcomed Jorge Tukup and Disnarda Tukup, Wampis artisans from the Caterpiza community on the Santiago River, Amazonas together with Nelly Impi, a representative of the Yapit Association, who presented the work of the Awajún women's entrepreneurship program with organic jewelry which they call "bio-joyería."
They shared with us their knowledge and experience about the ancestral artistic processes that are present in their culture as well as conducted a workshop in which the techniques and methodologies for the creation of traditional jewelry with Amazonian seeds were imparted and where each participant made his or her own piece of jewelry to take away with them.
Renealmia Alpinia is a flowering plant species native to the Americas, where it grows from southern Mexico through much of South America in very humid and rain forests, edges and thickets at elevations below 1200m. The aril is the edible part of the fruit of Renealmia Alpini and embedded in its pulp are tiny seeds that the Awajún call “kumpia” to make their natural jewelry.
