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August 14, 2023 by SKIC | No Comments

Empowering the Indigenous Communities of Chile

SKILLS and the Indigenous People of Chile

There are ten distinct indigenous groups in Chile, and their people make up roughly 10% of the Chilean population. However, Chile is the only Latin American country that does not acknowledge or represent Indigenous people and their rights in its constitution. 

Art is an enormous part of life in many indigenous communities and cultures. But many indigenous artists—especially women—are under-recognized and underrepresented. Indigenous art is also often appropriated at the expense of the real thing. 

If you know SKI Charities, you know we’re passionate about empowering women artists, like our beneficiaries in Chile, who keep their indigenous heritage alive in their work. We’re proud to be part of keeping these vulnerable but essential traditions alive.

indigenous art of Chile

Mapuche

The Mapuche of the south-central part of the country is the largest indigenous group in Chile, making up approximately 85% of the country’s indigenous population.

Historically, the Mapuche people speak Mapudungun, meaning “land speak,” an extremely meaningful name considering the Mapuche people’s relationship to horticulture and nature.

They are renowned for their textile and silverwork, which we at SKI are proud to support and empower.

Silverwork, or rutran, as the Mapuche calls it, is used to make traditional jewelry. The practice came into existence in the late 18th century after the Spanish invaded Chile. The Mapuche would melt down silver Spanish coins (which today have become helpful in dating these objects) they acquired through trade and use them to create jewelry, which became a central aspect of the women’s attire. 

The appearance of the items varied widely across Chile because they were designed to reflect the diversity of the Mapuche and the specific identities of different families, communities, and geographies.

The Mapuche have struggled against colonial forces that threatened their indigenous identity and land for centuries. As such, the Mapuche have been locked in a struggle for indigenous rights in both Chile and Argentina. 

And though today the Mapuche make up only around 9% of Chile’s population, many Chileans have Mapuche in their blood—which makes it all the more important for the history of this resilient people to be shared through art, particularly through traditional artisan techniques that date back centuries.

Plus, many Mapuche artistic traditions are passed down from generation to generation—specifically from woman to woman.

Aymara

The Aymara used to occupy a much larger territory in Chile. But with the European expansion into South America, namely the Spanish, they gradually began to move north to avoid colonial pressures.

Today, the Aymara people live mainly in the northern part of the country along the Bolivian border. While the rights of the Aymara people are recognized to an extent in Bolivia, with the Aymara language an official language of Bolivia, their presence in Chile is acknowledged and respected.

The art that the Aymara typically create is functional while still vibrant and personal. The colors and patterns woven into their textiles have significance to different families and regions.

Diaguita

Evidence shows that the Diaguita people have been in Chile and Argentina since as early as 300 BCE. Despite that heritage and longevity, the Chilean state has only officially recognized them as an indigenous group since 2006.

The Diaguita have been so dispersed throughout the region that no recorded universal language exists. However, scholars debate that it was the dialect that was so diverse, not the language.

As an ancient people, their civilization suggests advanced and deeply intuitive application of early technology.

Historically, they’re known for their irrigation systems, metallurgy, and textile weaving. Their art is defined by distinctive and elaborate black, white, and red ceramic pottery.

Atacameño

Currently, the largest population of Atacameño people in South America lives in Chile.

The ancient traditional art of the Atacameño people can be split into three distinct periods. 

The earliest is defined by pinkish anthropomorphic ceramic pottery. In the second period, they introduced black glaze to their ceramics, and religious iconography influenced the intricacies more readily.

As the Inca civilization grew into Atacameño land, their third artistic period began. The influence of the Inca people on the Atacameño people is evident in their material preference, moving away from ceramics and towards stonework instead.

All throughout these periods, the Atacameño people prolifically created metalwork, specifically copper and gold.

indigenous art of Chile

Further

While these are the largest Indigenous groups of Chile, there are many more indigenous communities throughout the country and the region, each with its own rich history and culture that make Chile what it is today: Kolla, Yaghan, Rapa Nui, Kawaskhar, Cacahue, Chango, Picunche, Chono, Tehuelche, Cunco, Selknam, and Quechua to name a few.

The number of indigenous people subjected to living in poverty in Chile is almost double that of the non-indigenous population. Araucanía, where the country’s largest concentration of indigenous people resides, is also the poorest region. 

How SKILLS Can Help

SKI Charities empowers artists to share their histories and connect storytellers in isolated regions to our globalized world. SKIC commissions provided indigenous women in Chile with microloans to grow their own artistic businesses.

Through SKILLS (SKI Local Life Survey), we empower local artists to share their history and culture through works across the creative spectrum.

Categories : SKICharities, SKILLS
February 7, 2020 by SKIC | No Comments

6 Indigenous Women Artists We’re Obsessed With

If you know SKI Charities, you know we’re passionate about empowering women artists—especially our beneficiaries in Chile who keep their indigenous Mapuche heritage alive in their work. We’re proud to be part of keeping these vulnerable but essential traditions alive.

In many indigenous communities and cultures, art is an enormous part of life. But many indigenous artists—especially women—are under-recognized and underrepresented. Indigenous art is also often appropriated at the expense of the real thing. So we decided to shine a light on some of the indigenous women artists who we’re loving right now:

Maria Hupfield, Canadian/Anishinaabek, performance artist

Toronto-based performance artist Maria Hupfield’s work is hard to describe. That’s partially because her works can look so drastically different from one another, from wearable objects to large-scale sculptures to videos. The through-line in her work is disruption; whether that’s featuring functional objects but rendering them useless or by engaging with colonialism and harmful stereotypes about indigenous people. Her solo exhibition, Nine Years Towards the Sun, can currently be seen at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, and her work has also been shown at the Canadian Cultural Centre and the Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery. She is currently in residence at the Native Art Department International at Bard Graduate Center.

Jamie Okuma, Shoshone-Bannock and Luiseño, fashion designer

Jamie Okuma’s designs stand at the border of fashion and fine art; of the mainstream and the indigenous. Often taking many months to create a piece, Okuma is known for her careful, intricate beadwork, whether on shoes or on dresses. Whatever she’s working on, she’s constantly drawing on her heritage (she lives on the La Jolla Indian Reservation, after all), often adding an indigenous flair to luxury fashion items like Louboutins. Her work has been shown at institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Heard Museum, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Iñupiaq and Athabascan, mixed-media artist

Alaska-based Sonya Kelliher-Combs creates paintings, drawings, sculptures and more, all engaging with deeply personal themes, including her identity as a native Alaskan. Using a wide range of materials, Kelliher-Combs’ work often features striking colors and complex textures, and regularly invokes natural themes. Kelliher-Combs is a recipient of a United States Arts Fellowship among other accolades, and her work can be seen at the AIA Museum of Contemporary Native Art, the Anchorage Museum, Alaska State Museum, University of Alaska Museum of the North, Eiteljorg Museum, and The National Museum of the American Indian.

Nathalie Bertin, Métis, French, Anishinaabe and Omàmiwininiwak, multi-disciplinary artist

Nathalie Bertin creates paintings, beadwork and installations that feature big, bold colors and that seek to reclaim images of indigenous people, especially women. Bertin takes this mission beyond her art, too, working in schools as a visiting artist and teaching children about the real history of indigenous people in Canada. Her work can be found in the collections of the Government of Manitoba and Government of Alberta, and has been shown at numerous galleries and museums throughout Canada and beyond.

Christi Belcourt, Michif (Métis),visual artist

Christi Belcourt may be known for her beadwork, which she expertly uses to create intricate paintings and textiles. But her work spans so much wider; including fascinating map-like paintings and portraits. The through-line connecting it all is Belcourt’s deep love and respect for the Earth, and her activism around issues like missing and murdered indigenous women and water protection. Her work has been shown everywhere from the Minneapolis Institute of Art to the National Gallery of Canada to the Batoche National Historic Site.

Krista Leddy, Michif (Métis), visual artist

Krista Leddy’s beadwork is a reflection of the Métis beading traditions she learned from her grandmothers. It’s also a way for her to stay connected to her heritage—and to bring increased visibility to it. Clearly, her efforts and talent aren’t going unrecognized: Last year, Canadian Geographic commissioned Leddy to created a beaded portrait of Métis icon Louis Riel. (You can read more about that, and see Leddy’s fascinating process, here.) Leddy also teacher moccasin making classes, traditional Métis jigging, and finger weaving.

Categories : SKICharities, SKILLS
January 4, 2020 by SKIC | No Comments

Celebrating Indigenous Culture At Our Chile Site

Whenever our founder, Shyam K. Iyer, visits our site in Lebu, Chile, he returns inspired by the crafts, textiles, and food being created by SKImfi microfinance beneficiaries of indigenous Mapuche heritage. SKI Charities aims to give women a path to start and grow sustainable businesses that encourage them to utilize their culturally-embedded skillset.

We talked to Shyam about the progress we are making in Lebu to preserve the traditional Mapuche culture.

Tell us about the indigenous Mapuche people in Chile.

They’re indigenous to the Southern part of South America, mainly Chile and Argentina. It’s a similar culture to the Native Americans here in North America, in the sense that there’s a strong focus on local resources and sustainability. In fact, all the work our beneficiaries do in Lebu is all handmade and natural. The world Mapu means Earth. So the name means “people of the Earth.” And that is a part of their daily lives and it’s a part of everything our beneficiaries do.

What sort of work are the beneficiaries doing?

They do work in food, crafts, clothing, textiles. All of the work benefits the communities and supports their culture. It’s all handmade. Most of the knowledge in these areas comes from women to women. So focusing on women makes a lot of sense here. 

Tell me about the food.

The food is probably my favorite part because I get to sample it! It’s all locally sourced. It’s a fishing village, so there’s quite a bit of seafood in their cooking. Some of it is served in the ceviche style which is raw and marinated in lemon juice. But it’s all locally caught fish. And one of the other areas that I was surprised by but shouldn’t have been is their focus on chocolates. One of our beneficiaries creates chocolate with local Mapuche fillings, so things like pumpkin and chile. I was able to try the different arrangements she had and it was really tasty and it’s something I don’t think we find in many parts of the world.

Where are these products typically sold?

Most of these products are sold by women individually out of their kiosks and their stores. A couple of them have such strong demand—and I can attest to how much I would love to buy from them—that they sell from their own houses; people, restaurants, small shops come to them, they buy an array of chocolate or prepared foods that they then take back. 

Tell me more about the crafts. 

The crafts are really unique. It’s all locally sourced, so if they’re making something from leather, it’ll be from local animals. I was also really interested to see that they make purses and pouches made of skins from fish. This is locally caught fish, fish that’s already being used for its meat so it’s all done in a sustainable way.

The other thing I like to see is the strong belief in silver; and how the silver metal is very healthy and how there’s good luck in it. They make a really large amount of jewelry out of it. And this jewelry displays symbols of their culture. So you’ll see rings with a small symbol of Mapuche women. The jewelry itself is made of local silver and the jewelry is representative of their culture. It’s really an amazing thing to see.

And you said they also do a lot of clothing and textiles too, right?

Yes, that’s right. And clothing is the biggest symbol of Mapuche female culture. They make ponchos, headdresses, scarves out of leather, and local wool. In fact, one of our beneficiaries who makes these products out of wool assured me that the Mapuche sheaf is warmer than anything the Europeans ever brought to them because of the secrets of Mapuche animal rearing. I couldn’t test that, but you can tell that’s it’s really solid and really well-made. And when they color these wools or other materials they’re using local vegetable dyes. It’s all clean and it’s all sustainably sourced. That’s something they’re really proud of.

This kind of textiles and weaving is performed exclusively by women. The loom that they use symbolically represents the spirit of the Mapuche people. So it’s something that is deeply held by them, it’s passed on from grandmother to mother to daughter and it’s something that’s very important to the female Mapuche culture and the beneficiaries that we help.

Is there a community of women outside of SKI beneficiaries who are able to make a living out of this kind of work? Is it lucrative enough for them; are they able to sustain themselves?

I would say that most women have this expertise, it’s something they were taught when they were young and it’s something they all have in their genes. But it does take capital, it does take money in order to buy the raw materials, in order to buy the machines, and of course to be able to make it to a quality that they can then sell and it make good business out of it. Too many women I meet are unable to do that. Those who have been able to join SKI Charities, especially our SKImfi microfinance project, they’ve been able to expand their businesses or start their businesses. 

It seems like all of these skills are skills they’ve had for a while because they’ve been part of the Mapuche culture. But they don’t necessarily have the skills to make sustainable businesses for themselves. But that’s where SKImfi comes it, because it allows women to enact their culturally ingrained skills and put them to use.

Right, it’s expertise that’s passed down. SKImfi exists to support these women and to promote that knowledge and that culture. But unfortunately, unless it’s a business, unless it’s profitable, most of these women will not see a reason to continue with these skills. They’ll go to Santiago to work in an office, or even within their own community they’ll decide to do something that does not allow them to pass this information on. So the most important thing, besides good business, is preserving and promoting this culture.

Do a lot of these women have children who are able to witness their mothers’ creating and making and cooking?

Yes. When I visit, they’re always accompanied by their daughters. These are all large families and of course we support these families being strong and together. I always encourage our SKImfi beneficiaries to make sure their daughters go to school, that they pay their fees and everything goes well in that sense. But of course, they are observing their mothers and they’re seeing their mothers are role models and good businesspeople. There’s nothing bad that can come from that. They need to see their mothers doing it, and they need to see their mothers succeeding at it in order to want to continue the family work. 

You can also listen to this interview on SoundCloud.

Categories : SKILLS, SKImfi
October 18, 2018 by SKIC | No Comments

Here’s What You Should Know About the Indigenous Mapuche People of Chile

Indigenous peoples throughout the Americas—and throughout the world, for that matter—have had to face the brutal force of colonization for hundreds of years. The native Mapuche people of Chile, who we serve through our microfinance and creative arts programs, have been a model of resistance against colonization and oppression. Even today, those left in Chile are fighting to preserve their unique cultural traditions and history.

A man and woman, from 1890. Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Here’s what you should know about the Mapuche people:

Mapuche means “people of the Earth,” and a connection to nature is an important part of their culture. For instance, they still use natural medicinal techniques using ingredients culled from the land.

Medicine women treating a patient. Photo via Wikimedia Commons

They are the largest ethnic group in Chile, with 10% of the population identifying as Mapuche. They make up 80% of Chile’s indigenous population. Some also live in Argentina.

They have a long tradition of handmade artisan goods, including weaving and silversmithing. Weaving in particular is passed down from woman to woman.

Some of our beneficiaries are keeping traditional weaving traditions alive.

They are still fighting for their land—and for the preservation of their heritage. Despite fierce resistance, the Mapuche people have historically been forced to assimilate and to move off their land, and the struggle to preserve indigenous land and traditions continues today.

They are still fighting for their rights. Photo via Flickr

“Mapuche” actually refers to several groups of indigenous peoples, including the Picunche, Huilliche and Moluche.

“Machis” in 1900. Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Categories : SKICharities, SKILLS, SKImfi
July 19, 2018 by SKIC | 1 Comment

How Our Programs Help Single Mothers

There’s a lot of stigma around single motherhood—after all, many mothers today choose to raise children on their own. And in the U.S. studies show that children raised by single mothers aren’t necessarily at a disadvantage to children from homes with two parents.

Waiting in line for cash. Photo by Tendai Marima via The World Post.

But in Zimbabwe, where there’s an ongoing economic crisis, the financial hardship that most single mothers face can’t be ignored. The country has an extreme cash shortage, and many women spend hours each week waiting to get cash from the bank. For single mothers, this poses a particular challenge—not to mention the cost of raising children on a single income and the scarcity of jobs overall. (Of course, in Zimbabwe it’s more common than in America to live with extended family members.)

Single mothers in Zimbabwe face challenges both in their careers and in providing education for their children. And though none of our programs are aimed specifically at single mothers, both our microfinance and scholarship work helps empower women in this situation.

When the burden of childcare falls on a single parent, it can be difficult for that parent to have time to pursue a full-time career, particularly if they can’t afford to hire outside childcare help. By providing microloans to women in Zimbabwe and Chile, we give them the opportunity to build a career on their own terms and on their own schedule.

Managing the costs associated with education is a problem for many families in Zimbabwe; single-parent families face an even tougher burden. That’s why our scholarship program identifies girls at a young age, and provides all costs associated with their education. Right now, two of our scholars come from single-mother homes, and six of our veterans do. (One current scholar comes from a single-grandmother home.)

Single mothers deserve the same opportunities as everyone else—as do their children. We’re proud to do work that helps give them those opportunities.

Categories : SKICharities, SKILLS, SKImfi, SKIpgo
December 4, 2017 by SKIC | No Comments

Why We’re Obsessed With Mapuche Singer Ana Tijoux

Ana Tijoux

Image via Flickr

It’s easy to think of Mapuche culture as being rooted in the past. The indigenous group native to Chile is known for artisan techniques such as silversmithing and weaving that date back all the way to 1300 AD.

But to keep the culture of this resilient people alive, artists are innovating on Mapuche traditions—that’s why we decided to expand our work to empowering Mapuche artists to make work that reflects their heritage.

Chilean recording artist Ana Tijoux is also using her platform to explore her Mapuche background. Born in France to Mapuche parents who fled Chile under the Pinochet regime, Tijoux moved back to Chile as a teenager and soon found success as a hip hop artist in Santiago.

Her group, Makiza, was a wildly popular Chilean rap group in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. In 2006, Tijoux went solo, and since then her music has shifted more and more to reflect Mapuche culture.

Her “Somos Sur” is about resisting colonization and oppression in Chile and throughout the world. “Canelo Sagrado,” written for the 2015 documentary Genoveva, explores the challenges and discrimination that the Mapuche people face. She wears traditional Mapuche dress in the music video:

She’s been an outspoken advocate for the Mapuche people, speaking in interviews about the struggles they face and their ongoing resistance. She’s even been know to wave the Mapuche flag at her concerts.

Plus, she’s a supporter of women’s rights, sharing her empowering “Sacar La Voz (Raise Your Voice)” for a campaign to support the Half the Sky Movement for women around the world.

We love Tijoux because her work is at the intersection of two causes close to our hearts: preserving the culture of the Mapuche people and empowering women to tell their stories through art.

 

Categories : SKILLS, SKImfi Tags :
November 8, 2017 by SKIC | 1 Comment

Why It’s Essential to Keep Mapuche Art Alive

Our work in Southern Chile primarily focuses on women who are part of Chile’s largest indigenous group: the Mapuche. Meaning “people of the Earth,” the Mapuche resisted Spanish conquest and still today have maintained many aspects of their culture in the face of assimilation.

That’s just one of the reasons why in addition to providing Mapuche women with microloans to grow their own businesses, we started the SKILLS program. Through SKILLS (SKI Local Life Survey), we empower local artists to share their history and culture through works across the creative spectrum.

And though today the Mapuche make up only around 9% of Chile’s population, many Chileans have Mapuche in their blood—which makes it all the more important for the history of this resilient people to be shared through art, particularly through traditional artisan techniques that date back centuries.

Plus, many Mapuche artistic traditions are passed down from generation to generation—specifically from woman to woman.

Here are some of the traditions we’re helping artists explore through SKILLS and SKIMFI:

Silversmithing: Or rutran, as the Mapuche call it, is used to make traditional jewelry. The practice came into existence in the late 18th century after the Spanish invaded Chile. The Mapuche would melt down silver Spanish coins (which today have become useful in dating these objects) they acquired through trade and use them to create jewelry, which became a central aspect of the women’s attire. The appearance of the items varied widely across Chile, because they were designed to reflect the diversity of the Mapuche and the specific identities of different families, communities and geographies.

Though it’s been said that there are no more traditional Mapuche silversmiths in Chile, women in our SKIMFI program use their microloans to create and sell jewelry that reflects their history and culture.

Hand-made Mapuche Jewelry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weaving: The first evidence of Mapuche textiles dates all the way back to 1300 AD. For centuries, Mapuche women have been using handmade looms to weave blankets, ponchos and more, all with signature bright colors and patterns. The knowledge of spinning and weaving is passed down from grandmothers, mothers and aunts to daughters, nieces and sisters. Their products have been used for trade for centuries, so women who possess these skills have always been highly distinguished in Mapuche culture.

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Today, women in our SKIMFI program are using these traditional weaving techniques to create blankets for sale.

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Traditional ceremonies: Mapuche religious life includes many ceremonies and rituals for different occasions. Central to many of these is the machi, a shaman-like woman who guides the Mapuche through rites for everything from warding off evil to praying for good harvest. They are also thought to have healing powers.

One of our SKILLS artists, a painter, creates work depicting traditional Mapuche ceremonies and rituals.

This painting depicts a machi. In the artist’s words: “She is a Mapuche woman, in charge of religious ceremonies and curing the sick.She is also an herbalist, using natural plants that she finds in Chile. She is in charge of communicating what Mother Earth asks the people to do. The tree behind her is a sacred tree for the Mapuche people. It is our protector.”

Machi: Mujer Mapuche

Another painting depicts a kultrún, an instrument used in ceremonies. The artist says: “It is a sacred instrument with a single and dull sound. It is used by women in religious ceremonies to appease the earth for the Mapuche people.”

Cultrun

Categories : SKICharities, SKILLS, SKImfi
April 13, 2017 by SKIC | No Comments

Celebrating Ancestry and Craftsmanship in Lebu and Beyond

Local-made blankets in Lebu, Chile. Lebu is home to SKILLS, a branch of SKI Charities that celebrates local craftsmanship and artistry.

Lebu isn’t the only town that boasts local, indigenous talent in Chile – Chile’s northernmost region, Arica y Parinacota, is home to a large indigenous population that has long maintained the tradition of craftsmanship. It hasn’t been without hardship, though, to celebrate this idea of community-oriented building and craft. These small towns in Chile, rural as they may be, are not immune to the ways of the modern world. In his article highlighting the resurgence of Chile’s traditional artisans, Jonathan Foyle notes, “The modern world’s emphasis on individual careers tends to deskill rural communities, which in turn threatens the survival of the rural-built environment.”

Fortunately, local organization Fundación Altiplano enables community members to learn traditional building and restoration skills that are unique to indigenous regional cultures. Thus far, Fundación Altiplano “has funded 32 conservation projects, supported artisanal craft production and hosted a film festival about this area.”

The community has rejoiced at the opportunity to preserve their heritage and exercise new skills. Not only are people provided with employment options, but they are also instilled with a sense of pride, responsibility, self-empowerment, and a deeper connection to one another and the history of their ancestors.

Raimundo Choque, a villager in the Arica y Parinacota region was struck by Fundación Altiplano’s mission and liked the idea of beginning a career in conservation as a way to remain connected to his culture – and to keep his culture alive. Choque and his community members had the opportunity to be “reborn as artists.”

Among the restoration projects sponsored by Fundación Altiplano are the rehabilitation of churches, which reinforces the cultural and spiritual connection of craftsmanship with the people. Choque comments, “The work in the church is not only a material job, but also a spiritual job. Our villages are depopulating, so a way to captivate people is to make them feel how families were before.”

SKI Charities aims to do similar work in the indigenous Lebu commmunity – encouraging local craft and entrepreneurship is a way of encouraging self-empowerment and responsibility. Much of the craft in Lebu (painting, weaving, leatherwork, etc) stems from skills that are passed down generationally. Keeping these skills alive, celebrating them, is what SKIC aims for in its SKILLS program. The SKI Local Life Survey helps to empower artists to share their histories and craftsmanship with a broader global community. For more about SKILLS and to purchase art that has been born out of this initiative, click here.

The quotes in this article are excerpted from “High Plains Grafters: Chiles Traditional Artisans” by Jonathan Foyer. It was published in the Financial Times on March 23, 2017.

Categories : News & the Need-to-Know, SKILLS
February 12, 2015 by SKIC | No Comments

A Conversation with Shyam: 2014 | The Year in Review

As we begin an exciting new year, SKIC founder Shyam K. Iyer takes a moment to reflect upon 2014.

The organization saw a lot of growth this past year – with two programs operating fully in both Chile and Zimbabwe, SKIC’s operating sites. This past year we introduced a new program SKILLS, the SKI Local Life Survey, which provides resources and a platform for local artists to showcase their work. In tandem with SKImfi (SKI Micro-finance Institute), these programs helped to illuminate the creative talent that exists in the indigenous communities of Lebu.

Despite relatively depressed economies in Mutare and Lebu, SKIC stands by its mission to empower women and girls who are economically excluded. Shyam believes that it is important to provide resources, even though they may be limited. Rather than over-extending itself and seeking new participants, the organization remains focused and effective by funneling energy and resources into its current beneficiaries. In tightening up SKIC’s management and scope, it is able to provide really solid support.

Even as a small-scale organization, SKIC is continually looking to grow – especially as the demand for resources continues to grow.

Listen in on Shyam’s podcast to hear about 2014, and see what’s on the horizon in the new year!

 

Categories : Podcast, SKICharities, SKILLS, SKImfi, SKIpgo
December 29, 2014 by SKIC | No Comments

A Conversation with Shyam: SKILLS, The Latest Branch of SKIC

SKIC founder, Shyam, sits down to talk about the latest branch of our organization, SKILLS – the SKI Local Life Survey. SKILLS began this year in Lebu, Chile with the intention of showcasing and supporting the local arts community that thrives there. This branch hopes to illuminate the stories that local Chilean artists have to share through their work by providing them the platform through which to do so, as well as the raw materials with which to create.

To view the latest SKILLS pieces, click here. All proceeds go back to the artist!

Categories : Podcast, SKILLS
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