Wilma Maynas Inuma

WILMA MAYNAS INUMA

Her Shipibo name is Pekon Runa, meaning “talented woman.” She was born in the Indigenous community of Panaillo, Bajo Ucayali, on September 7, 1964. Wilma began designing kené at the age of 9 under the guidance of her grandmother. She learned to extract pigments from tree bark, make ceramics, and embroider—skills that every Shipibo-Konibo girl should know and master.

Wilma migrated to Lima in the late 1990s in search of better economic opportunities for herself and her family. By then, she was a widow with four children. She became one of the pioneering artisans in the Shipibo community of Lima, Cantagallo, founded in the year 2000.

Wilma is an active promoter of her ancestral culture. Her testimony has contributed to anthropological and historical research and documentation, helping achieve the recognition of Kené as a Cultural Heritage of the Nation in 2008. In 2020, the Ministry of Culture awarded her the title of Meritorious Personality of Culture.

Wilma is considered a master Shipibo-Konibo artisan and has worked as a guest professor at the University of Fine Arts in Lima and the National Museum of Culture. Her work is regularly exhibited in national and international art galleries. In 2022, she was invited to Toronto, Canada, where she exhibited and sold her work at the Power Plant Gallery.