2 Quechua Grils, 8000 Miles, Cusco to Santa Fe

Between filming the surf documentary Capture,  Hungry Eyes, and this recent video 2 Quechua Grils, 8000 Miles, Cusco to Santa Fe for Kickstarter this last month in Peru has been much more video focused than I anticipated. Still lots of time to photograph, and the continued process of learning and experimenting in the video world has been a good challenge.

The following video isn't anything flashy, but was made with the hopes of raising money to help 2 young Quechua weavers make the journey from their home in the sacred valley, to the International Folk art Market in Santa Fe.


Pleased to see the project is being featured in the "Recommended" section on Kickstarter as one of the staff picks.


More about the project from the Awamaki newsletter: 


One of our main projects is working with an association of indigenous women weavers from a very rural and poor community called Patacancha, about one hour away from where I am living. Two of these weavers have been accepted (among only 125 other artists from around the world) to participate in the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market, New Mexico. (http://www.folkartmarket.org/) We need to raise money to send them there!

Sending these weavers to the market will make a huge difference in their community. The village where they live consists of only 250 families and is situated high in the mountains at 12,600 feet (4000m). Houses are made of mud and thatch, and the community only got power, road access and a middle school within the last ten years. Most of the women in the village have only third-grade education, and they only speak Quechua, the indigenous language in Peru. They don't have access to markets and they are frequently exploited by traders who buy their weavings at unfair prices.
If we can send these two weavers to Santa Fe, Awamaki can...[click 'read more' for photos and rest of text]

make international connections to sell the weavings in the United States and Europe. The sales of the weavings that we will be taking to Santa Fe will generate a huge amount of income for the whole weaving association, their families and their community. More importantly, by expanding our market internationally and forming relationships with overseas buyers, we will be able to support many more weavers in more rural villages in the highlands of Peru.