Hand Embroidered Shipibo Tapestry from The Amazon 32 x 26.5 cm

The Shipibo Conibo are an indigenous people who live along the Ucayali river in the Amazon basin east of the Andes.

They are expressed in their shamanistic religion and in their visionary arts design – notably in the patterns that the Shipibo women paint or embroidery on their pottery, clothing, textiles, tapestry and their bodies. 

This tapestry is true presentation of true Shipibo 1,000 year old culture and tradition of creating embroidered pattern textile tapestry.

     The Shipibo are known for labyrinthine geometric pattern designs tapestry that reflect their culture and their cosmology.  The main elements of the Shipibo pattern are the square, the rhombus, the octagon and the cross, which “represents the southern Cross constellation which dominates the night sky and divides the cosmos into four quadrants…”*.

Other symbols featured in the Shipibo pattern are the Cosmic Serpent, the Anaconda, Ayahuasca and various plant forms, notably the caapi vine used in the preparation of the sacramental drug Ayahuasca. 

     The Shipibo pattern designs are traditionally drawn with natural huito berry pigments on hand-woven cotton fabrics that are worn as wrap-around skirts.

The altar fabric is either natural or dyed with a red-brown dye made from mahogany bark. Today most of the altar fabric is machine-woven, and increasingly the hand-drawn Shipibo designs are supplemented with patterns embroidered with bright-colored commercial yarns. 

The results can be stunning.  The truly psychedelic color combinations are consistent with ayahuasca visions. More often than not the Shipibo pattern designs are asymmetrical within a border or frame – like a landscape viewed through an airplane window. 

“Although in our cultural paradigm we perceive that the geometric Shipibo patterns are bound within the border of the tapestry, textile or ceramic vessel.

To the Shipibo the patterns extend far beyond these borders and permeate the entire world.”

By having this product you support sustainable income for the artisan families, wildlife conservation and local communities.

Please note that these handmade crafts may vary from the photos shown.