Awamaki works with impoverished women weavers. Attending the Santa Fe Int'l Folk Art Market will enable Awamaki to secure an international market for their textiles and support more rural communities.
Quechua women are being marginalized by the monetary economy in Peru. Men leave the community for work, leaving women to care for their land, children and animals. These women need income for modern expenses like healthcare, education and food, but traditional woven textiles are losing the economic value they once held. Women weavers are forced to abandon this craft, once integral to Quechua life, and change their way of life in order to accommodate new forms of economic activity.
The Santa Fe International Folk Art Market will introduce Quechua weavings to a wider consumer base, helping Awamaki to create a dignified and sustainable living for the women we support while also preserving the endangered weaving tradition.
Participating in the SFIFAM will link our association of weavers with the international consumer base and secure them a reliable, long-term source of income. Tapping this new market will also enable Awamaki to support a greater number of weavers.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
