In the auditorium of the Center for Performing and Cultural Arts of the Pozo Almonte commune, the official presentation of the agreement “Training and marketing to preserve the traditional crafts of Tarapacá” was held. A 160 million pesos project executed by the Artesanías de Chile Foundation and financed through the National Regional Development Fund, FNDR, of the Regional Government of Tarapacá.
On the occasion, 25 artisans from the Pozo Almonte commune participated, the regional councilor of Tarapacá, Eduardo Mamani, and the President of the Productive Development Commission and councilor of Pozo Almonte, Marcelo Hurtado Nacarino, as well as the Executive Director of the Artesanías de Chile Foundation, Leslye Palacio, and the regional team of the Artesanías de Chile Foundation in charge of carrying out the field training.
“This agreement seeks to contribute significantly to the appreciation of the traditional creations of the area, since they are unique pieces that have a relevant imprint to the territory and differentiate them from the rest of the crafts of our country, which allows us to open new paths and possibilities together with the Regional Government of Tarapacá,” said Leslye Palacios, Executive Director of Fundación Artesanías de Chile, who warned that the spirit of the program is to support the lack of income and sales channels that a total of 313 artisans in the territory faced during the pandemic, contributing to the preservation and economic reactivation of this traditional trade based on three focuses.
The first, based on training sessions focused on the production processes and ways of marketing their works; the second, linked to the injection of 100 million pesos for the purchase of its pieces, which will be sold in the seven physical stores and the online store of Fundación Artesanías de Chile; and the third, associated with a dissemination plan that seeks to highlight the heritage value of Aymara textiles. A craft that has been developed since ancient times in the territory that we know today as the Tarapacá region.
Likewise, Palacios indicated that once the purchasing process was completed, which works under the Revolving Purchasing Fund Model of Fundación Artesanías de Chile (read more here), in November 2023, training activities began in collaboration with artisans from the commune of Pozo Almonte. Activities consisting of three training sessions lasting three days each, which will be extended to the communes of Camiña, Colchane and Alto Hospicio.
“In this process we deliver production tools and materials; We talk about the importance of finishes and quality control, marketing strategies, cost calculations and fair pricing, and electronic commerce. In addition, we tell them how the purchase operation of their works by Fundación Artesanías de Chile works,” the director specified about the methodology of these trainings that will continue to be developed during the first half of 2024 along with the dissemination plan, which seeks to make visible to the teachers who persist in preserving this tradition. A profession, its practitioners say, that has allowed them to support their homes and the education of their children.
Maintaining traditions
“For the Regional Government it is important to project Tarapacá into the future, respecting ancestral traditions and highlighting the intangible heritage represented by the Aymara textile artisans, something that, without a doubt, allows us to make known the story of our native peoples,” said the head of the Development and Industries Division of the Regional Government of Tarapacá, Carolina Quinteros, who pointed out that on this occasion a program that had been planned for some years was ratified, but that they soon hope to be able to manage the presentation of new initiatives.
“We need to maintain the training, but, above all, allow the traditions to be maintained and assimilated by new generations who wish to develop this art and continue transmitting it to the world, which is why, among other ideas, we plan to implement a Wool Bank,” warned Quinteros, who linked these actions generated with Aretla de Prochile, which hopes to advance with groups of Aymara women in textiles, supporting the development of new collections that can be exported, and of which some are already at the Diego Aracena International Airport.
Pride
The teacher Albina Choque, who has been dedicated to the trade for 30 years and who today appears as president of the Taller Cumire Association of Pozo Almonte, who are part of the network of artisans since the beginning of the foundation, explained that “the shawls, Alpaca fiber ponchos, scarves, ruanas and footmuffs were created by cultivators using traditional techniques such as thread spinning. pushka and weaving on a loom with two and four pedals, and four stakes.
Likewise, teacher Aurora Gutiérrez, who is part of the Taller Inti Sol group, highlighted that “this work is an important income for us because we help our families. It is a pride for me to be an artisan, and the training helps us to enhance our business in other parts of Chile.”
ABOUT ARTESANÍAS DE CHILE FOUNDATION
Fundación Artesanías de Chile is a private, non-profit entity founded on July 12, 2002, working for 22 years to value the crafts that exist throughout the national territory, considering their cultural, social and economic, with special focus on cultural rights.
In addition to Proartesano, the permanent training program that it has carried out since 2002 together with the Undersecretariat of Labor (see more here), the foundation has seven physical stores and an online store, where it is possible to purchase works created by the 2,784 artisans who They are part of its network, under the Fair Trade principles of the World Fair Trade Organization, of which it has been a member since 2016.
