The Artisans
Artesanías Tule Kuna
My name is Tuminel Santacruz Montoya, director of Artesanías Tule Kuna. We help our Indigenous artisans and their families from the Kuna community of Caimán Nuevo in Urabá Antioqueño to generate more income to improve their quality of life, many of which are mothers who are heads of household. I also promote the conservation of our culture through seeing the Mola not only as a traditional dress, but also as a means to generate economic income with their sales.
This project was born from the moment when I had an accident, which prevented me from continuing with my employment contract, and from which I am recovering after 3 years in medical treatment, for which I decided to undertake this project, to share our worthy traditions and culture with the world.
Our team is made up of women weavers-artisans from the Ipkikuntiwala – Caimán Nuevo indigenous reserve, in the municipality of Necoclí and Turbo, in the Urabá region. They are mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, cousins and wives, who carry the ancestral legacy of the Tule Kuna culture, through the weaving of wisdom.
Also part of our work team is an administrative staff made up of technicians, technologists and professionals, who support the work of management, mediation, service, production, finance and distribution of creations.
Carolina Vélez Filigrana
Carolina Vélez is a silversmith who specializes in the art of Filigree in Santa Fé de Antioquia, a colonial town outside the city of Medellín where the practice of Filigree dates back to the 1800s.
Metalworking in Santa Fé de Antioquia is the result of the fusion of knowledge, tools, and styles from Hispano-Arabic, Indigneous, and African people that came together as a result of the Spanish colonization of modern day Colombia. Traditionally Filigree has been worked in gold, but today silver is the primary material.
An art historically dominated by men, Carolina is one of few women practicing Filigree in Colombia. She began to take interest in the art of Filigree after making an anthropological research visit to Santa Fé when she was in college. After many attempts going from workshop to workshop asking if she could become an apprentice, she finally was accepted by one and now is recognized for her work!
Taller Inga Awaska
Our home workshop is located in the urban part of Santiago, which is the first town at the entrance to the Sibundoy Valley, Putumayo, and the Amazon. We belong to the INGA indigenous community of Santiago.
Our workshop was born 11 years ago with the purpose of helping Inga families dedicated to working in bead weaving. Casa Taller Inga Awaska: home workshop of INGA WEAVING has taken that tradition and has sought to innovate in design without losing the style of our people. Beaded weaving has characterized the Inga People. In our workshop, the awaskas (designs) taken from the Inga chumbe (a sacred woven belt) have been transferred to the bracelets and the new objects for personal use such as bags and necklaces that we have created in the workshop.
What we offer are products for personal use in bead weaving, we want to stand out as a workshop innovating every day, being an example in the use of color together with the symbols of chumbe Inga. The workshop has grown significantly over the years, supporting and strengthening 18-25 families together.
Arte Colibrí Artesanías
"Continuing to give life to our sacred teachings, ancestral customs, proud of our native lands and of our mother tongue, today we keep alive those native indigenous footprints and inspiration that with each stitch of weaving is reborn from generation to generation and is a virtue that we thank our Kamentsä community.
The inspiration for my Kamentsä community has always been in the beings of nature. For them there are symbols dedicated to the water, the sun, the moon, the frog, the trees, the mother earth, the woman, which are represented in the fabrics that we wear and use daily.
Through my Kamentsä culture we invite you to let creativity flow and adhere to the values of our peoples and to revive the traditions that are still transmitted from generation to generation".
- Gilma Maria Agreda
Tejidos Pallay
Tejidos Pallay is an interdisciplinary group made up of women weavers, designers, and educators from the rural area of Santa Elena, just outside of the city of Medellín in the department of Antioquia.
Since 2011 they have been working to strengthen women and recover the ancestral memory of weaving from different cultures in Latin America, respecting their traditions and valuing the intangible heritage of ancestral trades, especially weaving.
Pallay is the Quechua word for “harvest” or “collect”. Lead Artisan Sandra Catalina Jaramillo Tobón says that weaving is like sowing seeds of knowledge that are replicated in different communities, likening the finished product of the loom to the harvest.
Encouraging the talent of women in rural areas, this social enterprise is based on fair trade principles and the creativity and passion of natural fibers and indigenous techniques to create their own take on bohemian style. Each collection is inspired by ancient cultures, geometry, nature, spirituality, and art that give the pieces from Tejidos Pallay a unique look and feel.