Gerardo Petsaín (Amazonas, 1963) is of Wampís descent who built his identity from the myths of his people. He was trained as a bilingual teacher with the Bilingual Teacher Training Program of the Peruvian Amazon and actively participated in the recompilation and illustration of these myths between 1984 and 1995 for the book Yaunchuk… Universo mítico de los huambisas, published by CAAAP in 1996. His talent led him to self-teach the use of materials and tools for drawing and painting, and his knowledge allowed him to interpret the depictions of his countrymen and better illustrate this copious work. Subsequently, he has illustrated publications for the Ministry of Education and other institutions, and has held exhibitions in Lima, always showing us his culture (Wampis) and the Awajun culture, with whom he shares history and territory.
In an interview with Xapiri Ground member, Wendy Ruiz, in 2024, Gerardo explains his trajectory as an artist and current contemplations.
"I am 61 years old now. When I was a primary school student, I saw my classmates painting... I wanted to paint, I liked to see the drawings in the books (...) And then I went to Shiriaco to study at secondary school with my parents (...) there was a course called ‘art technique’ and I liked that course, I had learnt. In the third grade of secondary school I realized that I was drawing more (...) then I participated in a school competition, I presented my work on the last day of the indicated date, and I had presented a poster... after three days they told me that I came in second place (...) Father Manolo asked me to work with him, he told me - ‘draw about the Wampis mythology’. I've never studied fine arts, I only know how to practice, I'm truly self-taught (...) I've improved a little, my artistic work is very useful to me now, I've collaborated with various institutions with bilingual materials. And so I continue to work voluntarily here, in my little house, and for the last two years I've been painting more often."
Gerardo comments on the environmental issues: "There have been enormous changes, both in the Santiago river and in the Awajún territory, they are working for gold, they are destroying the water environment, they have their military enemies... there are no more fish, the fish are leaving, in the whole territory. In terms of timber too, many sawmills cut down a lot of timber, both here and in the Santiago River, and they have stopped because of pressure from some institutions. We don't have good wood anymore, we don't have muena, tortillo, cedar, we don't have any more (...) We are not as well off as we were before, like in the 50s, to the years 90’s we lived well, but from 2000 upwards, we are fried."
