Some scenes from the Inauguration night October 27 2023.

" In a place where there is a significant language barrier, it is important for us as a people to be able to show our way of life and our realities in order to make ourselves known and thus seek integration..." David Díaz Gonzales

Some scenes from the Inauguration night at Xapiri Ground.

Sempiri a Kashiri : the turtle to the moon

A sonic landscape woven by many hands and the Matsigenka people of Shipetiari.

Photography and visual media are powerful tools in storytelling and the dissemination of culture. And when told through the eyes of Indigenous youth, those images guide us toward a greater interpersonal experience; within a place, within a time, and within a people.

"We ate the enchanted star fruit and transformed into many clans, animals, and plants"

Our 2022 annual report published by our non-profit organization Xapiri Ground.

A drawing workshop in the forest with the Matsigenka youth of Shipetiari.

A Xapiri Ground cultural registration about the textile arts of the Iskonawa.

Some scenes from the Inauguration night at Xapiri Ground.

"Micrófono shinanyamawe, jawebiyama keskati bewawe"

Visual conduits of memory with the Shipibo-Konibo youth.

The art of clay in the Shipibo-Konibo tradition.

A soundscape from day to night in the Ucayali with the Shipibo-Konibo.

An encounter between two worlds.

"Struggle is a good, the greatest good that has been granted to man, but provided that the struggle is not hopelessly sterile or useless, because then it is no longer struggle, it is Hell." José María Arguedas

Maika nonkekitsatakaro Kashiri... I will now tell the story of the Moon.

Wishing a Happy New Year to all of our friends and colleagues around the world!

A self-documentation workshop with the Matsigenka youth of Shipetiari.

A look into the eyes of Matsigenka youth, Javier.

Lola shares her personal story of life and learnings.

CRAFTING THE FIELD | Q&A with Christian Mun and Marcelo Mellado (Subcutáneo)

Join us for a very special two-day event as we host the legendary writer and advocate Michael Stuart Ani to share his life’s wisdom and journeys throughout the Amazon, Mexico, and beyond.

Some scenes and commentary from the Inauguration night at Xapiri Ground.

A vibrational sound journey into the world of Shipibo icaros and crystal harmonics.

Some scenes and commentary from the inauguration event at Xapiri Ground.

"The great damage of progress has been the disarticulation of the clans, through which the traditional word has been lost " Alberto Chirif

"My art reflects a joy developing different sensibilities that dialogue with life, transporting me to a new world of imagination full of magical realism."

The ceramic tradition of the Shipibo-Konibo through the hands of Adela.

A brief video of the inaugural exhibition for the Iskonawa Artisans Association at Xapiri Ground.

The singing and storytelling of the Matsigenka represent their people and is a fundamental part of their life.

Exhibition Inauguration: July 1 @ 5:30pm

A sonorous journey into the Iskonawa world.

A photographic exhibition of the Pukapakuri Wayri dancers of Urcuspampa.

EL ARTE MODERNO ANCESTRAL | a live event with Chenon Bensho and Pedro Favaron

Our 2021 annual report published by our non-profit organization Xapiri Ground.

Meet the youth from the Matsigenka community of Shipetiari. We share a brief documentation around some of our ongoing creative workshops that link the storytelling of the Matsigenka elders with the youth through painting and drawing sessions. 

We are honored to welcome the pivotal artist Matias Aguayo to share his experience as a creator and activist.

Meet Roberto from the Matsigenka community of Shipetiari. He shares with us his story about a special instrument called 'Pegonpirintsi'.

Meet Samuel from the Matsigenka community of Shipetiari. He shares with us his connection with Seri or tobacco-snuff.

Artist Melanie Velarde maps a soundscape into the forests and the stories of the Matsigenka.

Crafting the Field is a Xapiri Ground sound series that explores rainforest field recordings from the Peruvian Amazon with artists and indigenous communities.

The debut exhibition by Shipibo-Konibo photographer David Díaz Gonzales featuring the portraits of his people.

The paintings of artist Roldán Pinedo (Shoyan Shëca) and the sacred vessels of his Shipibo-Konibo culture.

Shipibo-Konibo artist Pecon Quena speaks about her first visit to Cusco, the process behind her painted works of "the Dueños", and her creative workshop which was held at Xapiri Ground on the 16th of October 2021.

a Matsés photographic series by Tui Anandi

Artist Anthony Paucarmayta takes us on a sensorial sonic journey into the deep jungle of the Matsés.

An exhibition of hand-painted animal and plant portraits in collaboration with Acaté Amazon Conservation.

Over the last 8 months, we have made four visits into the Matsigenka community of Shipetiari to cultivate relationships with key individuals, artisans, and families in order to initiate our project "the Storytellers". We share with you this general update of our experiences thus far...

ON EXHIBITION: October - February at Centro Cultural Inca Garcilaso, Lima. This exhibit shares the Matsés way of life as it is today, offering a glimpse into this remarkably strong culture.

A unique and one-time performance piece that works Ashaninka sound codes with synthesized compositions.

EVENT DATE: 16th October 2021

EVENT DATE: 10th October 2021

EVENT DATE: 9th October 2021

Xapiri Ground presents Pawkarmayta, Qoqeqa, and Miki González.

We speak with artist Nahun Saldaña Macedo, about the meaning of sound and its relation to his work.

Pecon Quena paints hundreds of stories about the anthropomorphic spirits in charge of protecting the animals, plants and even the rocks of the Shipibo-Konibo world.

We are sound. Sound goes through us and shapes our reality. Sound defends us, heals us and connects us with our territory. We invite you to interact with the sound signals that allowed the Asháninka to resist in their territory.

On exhibition until 26 June, Sunqururuymantapacha is a festival of graphic and audio visual arts that seeks to disseminate the archive of the Fototeca Andina Library and revalue the Quechua language, linking the imaginary of the Andean past within the present day language.

Carnicería de Papel is a collective that promotes free creation through listening. They make monthly programs (Escucha y Dibuja) with different projects to listen, concentrate, draw or create using all kinds of techniques.

We recently invited our friend and Indigenous artist Emily Urquía Sebastián to come share her Yine culture, art, and tradition with us. Emily is one of the most prominent artists in her community and continues to create through the medium of natural pigment, weaving, and ancestral iconography. 

This is the first annual report published by our non-profit organization after year one (2020) of activity.

Pecon Quena paints hundreds of stories about the anthropomorphic spirits that protect the animals, plants and even the rocks of the Shipibo-Konibo world.

Welcome to Xapiri Ground! We are happy to announce the opening of our new cultural center and flagship in the heart of San Blas, Cusco.

Artist Vincent Dwyer (aka Phaedra) seeks to recondition the relationship between humans and the natural world through his sonic art form.

On exhibition until 31 June 2021

On exhibition until 31 May 2021

Since Xapiri was born, we have always tried to maintain close relationships with all the artisans we work with. This year has been and will continue to be a difficult one for everyone. The communities are no exception, and even less so for the ones who have decided to dedicate a part or all of their lives rendering homage to their culture based on their artisan practices. At Xapiri, we continue to support and respond to the needs of the artisans, and we aim to continue to disseminate their cultures and share the reality that the Amazon is experiencing.

This documentary follows the construction of a road that is silently destroying this protected forest in the depths of the remote Peruvian Amazon, causing conflict, fear and large-scale deforestation. Many indigenous communities are striving to live in this "paradise" and the road brings them the promise of a better life, but at what price?

This campaign was organized on behalf of the Matsés people of the Javari Valley and in partnership with Acaté Amazon Conservation to assist with their relief efforts in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic that has left 160+ Matsés stranded in the Amazon gateway of Iquitos, Peru.

Xapiri Voices aims to give a voice to those people who want to convey a message about their situation, their work, their wisdom or any topic that can enrich our community, creating a bridge between our listeners and our allies in the jungle.

Photos X Action offered the unique opportunity to own a photo print from recognized photographers in support of the Shipibo-Konibo; an indigenous nation in the Amazon greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. All proceeds from our fundraising effort went directly to the Shipibo-Konibo emergency fund in partnership with Alianza Arkana.

Identity is a multi-faceted thing: we all have one and we are all in a constant process of making one. It is both explicit and implicit, conscious and unconscious, defining and subtle. It is comprised of pieces: our gender, our race, our community, our nationality, our beliefs, values and interests. It is all the little and big things that make us who we are.

The singing and storytelling of the Matsigenka represent their people and their art. It is a fundamental part of their cosmovision and way of understanding life. At Xapiri Ground, we intend to convey this project, which unites ancestral indigenous wisdom with their present reality, that we may proliferate the roots of their cultural identity.

This month we invited linguist David W. Fleck to write about cultural preservation and biculturalism in relation to the Matsés ethnic group. David first encountered the Matsés in the early 1990s while studying marsupials near their territory. They offered to help him collect specimens, and invited him to do so on their land. He spent two years among the Matsés, learning their techniques for hunting, fishing, and trapping, as well as absorbing some of their outlook on the world.

Our recent event with Dennis McKenna was due to include a short lecture on Amazonian plants but when the evening spiraled into otherworldly conversation the proposed presentation was eventually skipped.