The National Museum of the American Indian and the Embassy of Peru present Kaypi Peru a festival highlighting the South American nation’s rich and diverse cultural heritage and traditional arts, Wednesday, July 25, through Monday, July 30. Kaypi Perú ,which means “This is Peru” in the indigenous language of Quechua, includes an art market, music and dance performances, hands-on activities for kids, short films, photo exhibitions of Machu Picchu and the Inka Road, traditional plants, as well as Peruvian Paso horses and alpacas.
View of Peru’s Machu Picchu, one of the many cultural highlights of the Kaypi Peru festival Photo courtesy of Cusco Tourism
An art market will be open daily in the Potomac Atrium from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and will feature 16 artisans from various regions of Peru who will be selling an array of items, including handmade silver jewelry, ceramics, textiles, masks, colorful scarves and shawls, figurines, embroidered fabrics, wood carvings and more.
Visitors can learn from the indigenous Aymara women of the Puno region of Collao Plateau near Lake Titicaca as they discuss the launch of their community-based tourism project, which has improved the Aymara’s standard of living while sharing and preserving their traditional ways of life. The women from the Kukama Kukamiria community will present their conservation project for the Peruvian Amazon rainforest, specifically forestry and aquiculture initiatives.
For more details about the festival and a full schedule of all programs, visit www.AmericanIndian.si.edu