Buying Art in Iquitos
Shipibo Artisans’ Market
The Shipibo Market is the best place to buy art directly from the artists. There is a wide variety of paintings, weavings, embroidery and crafts. Most are made with cotton though you’ll also find a lot of things made with palm fiber. Most artists only speak Spanish and their Indigenous language but if you’re patient they will help find somebody to translate for you.
I spoke with Rosita Chavez (above) who is the president of the association of Shipibo artists. She explained that every artist who has stall at the market only sells their art and their family’s art. She sells her embroidery and her husband’s paintings