INDIGENOUS ARTISTS

Here are examples of artwork by indigenous Amazon artists. Much of this work is produced for the tourist market and can be purchased in Indian villages or in curio shops in towns such as Iquitos, Leticia and Manaus. Most of the painting is done on bark from a type of fig tree (Ficus yoponensis). The bark is harvested from the tree so as to not cause the death of the tree. Because of the origins of these paintings, an artist can not always be attributed to particular works. Another popular art form is to carve the surface of a type of gourd (calabash).