In the past, ceramics had a great value for commercial exchange - fluvial, not monetary. In addition, the pottery was used in the great festivities where the whole community gathered and shared the drink of masato in pots with dazzling designs, it was also a space where women showed off their skills as ceramists.

A ceramist would formerly choose one of her granddaughters as an apprentice. And from the age of four or five years old, she would go live with her grandmother to learn the art of pottery and be prepared to pass on this knowledge. This transmission gave way for them to develop their own perceptions or designs.

Today the Shipibo-Konibo women continue the legacy and tradition of polychrome ceramics, developed between 800 and 1600 AD, this shows that the women of today are the heirs of an Amazonian artistic tradition that has survived for more than 1200 years.

The Shipibo-Konibo ceramic process includes two main categories: pieces intended to be placed over the fire for cooking and the pieces that do not come into contact with the fire, but are used to store, ferment and serve drinks and meals (Mincul 2019, Deboer and Latharp, 1979).

These two types of ceramics are made with different clays, and have different finishes and processes, for example, pieces made for cooking, such as hot pots, are decorated with finger incisions and punctures on the walls, but are not engobed or painted with kené designs. On the other hand, the pieces that do not go over the fire, such as serving vessels and jars for storing and fermenting beverages, are painted with complex compositions of kené design over a natural slip base which is usually white, red or black. In addition, they are varnished on the outside and lacquered on the inside with a natural tree resin to make them waterproof and thus keep the beverages fresh. The pieces can be represented with images of jaguars, monkeys, turtles and armadillos, and belong to the class of ceramics that are not exposed to fire, for this reason they bear intricately engraved and painted kené designs.

The elaboration of ceramics goes through meticulous processes to reach its final creation. In principle, materials extracted from the forest are collected, such as clays or mapo, and there are two varieties: kenti ati mapo, a gray clay used in the manufacture of pieces that are sealed or cured in the fire, such as cooking pots. The kencha ati mapo is a thick, light brown clay and is used to make pieces such as jars for storing drinks or decorative pieces, and these are not sealed over the fire. In addition, in the process of making pottery, water is used at various times, to soak the clay and remove impurities that could damage the mass (Mincul, 2019). Another input used is 'apacharama' bark ash and is extracted from the bark of a tree called moai (Hymenaea sp.) in Shipibo-Konibo.

It is used as a degreaser and is mixed with the clean clay to prepare the dough, also kenkex is a recycled material (they are broken pots, ground and sieved) and is used in the mixture with the apacharama. The kenkex increases the adherence of the prepared mass, it is considered that the recycled piece in the elaboration of the ceramic makes it more resistant and breaks less easily.

To finalize the ceramic manufacturing process, natural dyes are used for the design, which are coloured earths, among them is maox, a bright white, cream and or earth, in addition there is itawana, a dark earthen stone with black to brown tones, and yopari, a deep red earth, that dissolves in water when it is rubbed. The yopari is a dark red earth that abounds on the banks of the rivers during discharge, its tints are used to paint ceramic water jugs.

Other materials used to make ceramics is the 'huingo' gourd, used to make a spatula of different sizes to mold the pieces, as well as baby hair to make brushes and achieve fine strokes. Currently the sale of black and red clay has been commercialized since the demand for ceramics has increased due to the tourist market.

Speaking with Leidy Panduro, who comes from a traditional family of ceramists, she tells us about her beginnings:

"I come from a family of ceramists, my grandmother on my father's side, on my mother's side they also made ceramics for their own use, but not for sale, because in the past they were used in their kitchens. I grew up with that vision, I saw that my grandparents would make ceramics, my mother also makes ceramics. I helped to make the thin lines, because I still did not know how to get the designs out of my mind, because we get the designs of each piece from our mind and it is captured in each piece (...), when I was 25 years old I was already making ceramics by myself, I had my own thoughts. We capture the experience of the jungle, of the rivers, of what we dream too, that's why in each piece the designs are different (...) To make ceramics is like being with your family. We make from clay, from plants and tree shells, from these same materials the owners make you dream, then it makes you see your future, what you are going to do later on, what has to be. I asked them to give me wisdom, I want to learn ceramics, and one day they showed me many models, many designs and I remembered those pieces very well, so I said I would give it a try. That's how I began to make ceramics, from medium to large pieces." Leidy Panduro, 2023.