Peru: Indigenous Youth Arts

The Problem

In Ayacucho, Peru, where most people are Indigenous, young people face extreme poverty, entrenched discrimination, and the ongoing effects of a 20-year war between the repressive government of Alberto Fujimori and the brutal Shining Path guerillas.

Young people today have very few economic, educational, or creative opportunities. Many of their communities have been shattered by violence, displacement, and migration born of poverty. These conditions degrade the vibrancy and transmission of Indigenous culture, leaving youth without the social and cultural resources they need to survive and resist human rights violations and build a better future for themselves and their communities.

The Solution

MADRE organizes month-long sculpture workshops and an exchange program for Indigenous youth from Ayacucho. The program is organized jointly by MADRE, our Peruvian sister organization CHIRAPAQ, and the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center in Vermont. Each year, the young artists’ work is exhibited in the Ayacucho municipality in a ceremony that is attended by hundreds of community members and visitors, giving participants a rare opportunity for creative self-expression and recognition.

The Results

• Young people are developing their artistic abilities and building a community of youth involved in the arts.
• Through learning an art form, completing projects, and seeing their work publicly exhibited, Indigenous youth enhance their self-esteem, and with it, their capacity to demand their rights and create opportunities for their future.
• Several young graduates of the sculpting exchange have now been accepted to a Peruvian art institute.
• The sculpting program introduces young people to other CHIRAPAQ programs, which work to defend Indigenous rights and strengthen Indigenous identities.
• Young people who have been displaced by political violence in Peru have a means to overcome the trauma of displacement and learn to express themselves through art.