Parque Nacional Alerce Andino | Foto: Valentina Thenoux para Rewilding Chile
An agreement was signed to strengthen the economic development of the communities along the Route of the Parks of Patagonia
Fundación Artesanías de Chile and Fundación Rewilding Chile signed an advantageous agreement that will preserve local creative techniques while increasing the economic development of artisans in the Los Lagos region.
Embroidery, weaving, carving, and sculpture took over Alerce Andino National Park during the first graduation ceremony for artisans from the “Nature, culture and Identity: Training of Artisans in the Chamiza River Valley” program. This event also commemorated the alliance between Fundación Artesanías de Chile and Fundación Rewilding Chile. This collaboration agreement seeks to strengthen local artisans through economic development of the communities surrounding Chile’s national parks.
"Connecting with local communities, highlighting their culture, traditions, and respect for the environment are goals shared by both institutions. Today, we celebrate this collaboration that will benefit the communities of artisans and craftsmen surrounding the national parks along the Route of Parks of Patagonia,”
For the past few months, these two institutions have been developing this union while working together to create a program to strengthen local artisans in Alerce Andino National Park. This training course, which has completed its first stage and will continue for two years, establishes a co-creation process with the artisans, who create products inspired by their relationship with the park. This initiative is part of Rewilding Chile’s “Friends of the Parks” program.
Leslye Palacios, executive director of Fundación Artesanías de Chile, said that: “we have been working in a transversal way on three very relevant axes for our management: democratization, decentralization, and co-creation. In particular, this alliance with Fundación Rewilding Chile has allowed us to put these axes into practice through our team at the South Austral headquarters and work with communities located in areas far from civic centers but surrounded by a natural environment rich in raw materials and sources of inspiration. This collaboration also favors the development of co-creation processes that open up new possibilities for artisans, as we have seen in today’s exhibition.
Cecilia Reyes from Sargazo was one of the artisans participating in the program and was present at signing of this agreement. Cecilia highlights the growth achieved thanks to this agreement: “We ended up learning a lot, with a very different perspective in terms of our product, in terms of looking at the environment. Now we look at nature with different eyes, as inspiration to create products with local and cultural roots.”