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Mexican and Peruvian Artisans Begin Binational Textile Art Meeting with UNESCO
Artisans from Mexico and Peru have started a series of meetings to exchange knowledge, techniques, and strategies. The goal is to strengthen the appreciation of textile art and embroidery as a living heritage and to promote better economic and social conditions for their bearers and creators. These initiatives are part of projects led by UNESCO in both countries.
The first meeting at the Lima Museum of Art brings together 24 artisans from Yucatán (Mexico) and 63 from Cajamarca, Ayacucho, and Lima (Peru). The discussions focus on commercial management based on living heritage and community organization, as well as innovations and actions to enhance competitiveness and gender equality.
The Binational Textile Art Meeting is evidence of the benefits of international cooperation and the value of culture as a driver of transformation and sustainable development. It follows up on UNESCO projects in Peru, funded by LATAM Airlines, and in Mexico, sponsored by the Banorte Foundation. The Ministry of Culture of Peru and the Government of the State of Yucatán in Mexico, through its Secretariat of Culture and the Arts (Sedeculta), respectively, collaborated on the initiatives.
Guiomar Alonso Cano, UNESCO Representative in Peru, highlighted the role of culture as a development engine for individuals, communities, and countries with such diverse cultural richness as Peru and Mexico. “Culture has an impact that transcends generations, promoting economic growth, identity, and resilience. Today, the artisans present here are a clear example of this; they preserve traditional techniques and innovate, exploring new forms of creation and combining ancestral knowledge with contemporary technologies and trends.”
The meeting is “a wonderful opportunity to promote not only cultural rights and the fundamental principles of interculturality and heritage but also fundamental human rights to ensure the development of the peoples of Mexico, Peru, and the world. It supports free and autonomous community organization, respect for the construction of self-sustaining economic models, and the safeguarding of their living and biocultural heritage,” said Cynthia Santoyo Robles, Specialist in Intangible Cultural Heritage from the UNESCO Representation in Mexico. She emphasized that communities and interinstitutional public and private participation are essential to achieving a better quality of life with respect for rights.
In Peru, since 2003, the capacities of more than 60 artisans and bearers of intangible cultural heritage have strengthened in design, product finishing, commercial and fiscal management, and the development and operation of virtual stores. These artisans are part of the associations SISAN-Museo Pachacamac in Lima, Sunqu Suwa in Huamanga, Ayacucho, and San Miguel Arcángel in Cajamarca.
UNESCO in Mexico developed tools with more than 350 artisans from 12 municipalities in Yucatán, primarily from Maya communities, to highlight the value of their work as a living heritage and a factor of social cohesion. The project also expanded their business management capabilities and created business models to improve competitiveness and income. Due to its impact, the project has extended to more than 20 municipalities.
A second meeting, scheduled for March in Yucatán, will focus on identifying strengths, opportunities, weaknesses, and threats from a binational perspective between Mexico and Peru. The assessment through the lens of intangible cultural heritage aims to develop specific proposals to facilitate sustainability and strengthen commercial capabilities, as textile art is also a symbolic economic sector in both nations.
