The Awajún or Aguaruna, are an indigenous people located in the northern part of the Peruvian Amazon. Their traditional two-piece Tukup basket bags are used to transport delicate objects and are usually made from tamshi fibre, which is usually substituted by other fibres as it is not available in all territories. In this case, this Tukup is made from aguaje fibre, Mauritia flexuosa, a palm tree that grows in and near swamps and other wet areas in tropical South America.
We believe in long term relationship building with individuals and their communities who have consented to sharing their knowledge with us and the public. As multi-generational migrants, locals and foreigners, we seek to nurture a mutual understanding of the realities, ancestral and present, with our Indigenous collaborators through our practice in order to create didactic audio, visual and written representations of their ancestral knowledge for the benefit of the Indigenous people. Below is an open work of this documentation.
Photography: Davis Torres / Tui Anandi / Mike van Kruchen
© Xapiri Ground 2018 - 2024