The characteristic quene or kené designs that Shipibo-Konibo artists and healthcare culture bearers put on just about everything are said to be inspired by nature and the hidden realities revealed during ayahuasca ceremonies. A deep dive on the indigenous design-song-medicine technology and practice along the Ucayali River.
Shipibo-Konibo embroidery, sold in the tourist market. 📸 by Keith Rozendal
An evocative journey into the Amazonian jungle, where shamans treat visitors with a potent vision-inducing potion, the plant-based hallucinogen called ayahuasca.
A feature article published in 2011, with an accompanying podcast and video.
Diana’s family provided many middle-class comforts: private schooling, a university education, travel, healthy food, and spacious housing. Nearing 40-years-old, she gave up some of this security to take a journey to a hut in Peru’s upper Amazon, her launching pad away from ordinary reality altogether.
Illustration by Emily Nisbet