The Gift of Craft

When you buy a work of art or a craft we value not only the tangible work that we have in your hands but the soul component that the creator invests in the conception of his idea when choosing materials, his illusion or his anguish, his effort, his feeling of pride and accomplishment when looking at the finished project.

Kamari means “gift” in Quechua, the language of the ancient inhabitants of the southern Andean regions of the American continent. It is also the name of an association in Ecuador whose activity becomes a real gift for its members since it gathers and commercializes the work of hundreds of artisans and small farmers who, otherwise, could never manage to show, much less live from their intense work.

Some of our pieces, being the colorful wool throws, pillow covers, and rugs, come from this group of people who, thanks to their creative talent and hard work, are able to have a dignified life for themselves and their families.

Most of the artisans are women who share with dedication their own creation with the daily work and the care for their children. The methods of wool weaving have been learned from their mothers and grandmothers for generations, but in the mixture of colors and designs before the looms, each one prints her personal characteristic.  But as in every artistic or handmade work, not everything is creativity: the wool must first go through a laborious process of washing, drying, carding, spinning, thread twisting – the resistance of the fabric depends on the number of twisted threads per thread -, and finally the dyeing until it reaches the hands of the weaver. The result of so much effort makes us feel that each piece is… a real gift.