On the 12th of June, 2026, we debuted the original works of Shipibo artist Merly Bernabe in her self-titled exhibition "CHONON KATE." The evening was accompanied by friend and fellow artist Carol Fernández of the Amapolay collective (Lima), with whom we got to know the history of Bernabe's creative path and diverse artistic mediums.

The tapestries of Chonon Kate are rooted in her healing tradition while offering new possibilities for interpreting the codes of collective memory that transmit her deep connection with nature, spirit, and her ancestry. Her works embed stories and symbols rooted in Kené designs (a complex network of symmetrical forms in the Shipibo-Konibo visual and spiritual language system), brought to life with plant pigments such as mahogany, ayahuasca, achiote, and clay.

Bernabe acknowledges her ancestral influences as much as her contemporary ones. She learned about the method of screenprinting from Carol Fernandez through her project Amapolay, a creative collective based in Lima, driven by cultural messaging and the power of printing as an artistic medium. Merly consistently visited the Amapolay workshop, where she also found a space of friendship, trust and exchange. There, she was able to gain an in-depth understanding of their processes and continue experimenting with screen printing, implementing her own artistic language. Her ancestral influences draw from her family lineage of women artisans and wise women, such as her grandmother Amelia Panduro, to whom this exhibition was dedicated.

Merly Bernabe implements the technique of painting in a three-dimensional perspective to engage the viewer in relating to the origin story behind the visual phenomena before them, as if the earth is floating to the heavens.

Merly pays great homage to her grandmother Amelia Panduro, who brought her up with the knowledge of the Xao Kené designs and the practice of painting with natural pigments and, most notably, with ayahuasca. It is this force that is present in the majority of Merly's pieces, where the world of plants converges with Shipibo cosmovision and the imagination.

To conclude the opening, Merly sang for us an Ikaro (Shipibo healing song) in front of her work titled "Plantas que curan" (Plants that heal); a personal reflection on her healing journey with medicinal plants in 2019, when the difficult times she'd faced physically, emotionally, and spiritually found refuge in art. She remarks that this work is like a visualization of the Ikaro onto cloth.

We'd like to thank Merly Bernabe and Carol Fernandez for sharing such a special evening with us. And to the public who gathered together with us to learn about Merly Bernabe's story, her culture, and her imagination. CHONON KATE is on exhibition in Sala 2 at Xapiri Ground through December 4, 2026.

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