WELCOME TO PERU ART AUSTRALIA

                                      An online Gallery of Fair Trade Handcrafts from Peru

                                                                                                      (Australian Business Number ABN 33727452080)

Hello everyone!

My name is Monica and I am from Peru.  I live with my husband and furry kids in Sydney, Australia, and I am studying Social anthropology at Macquarie University in Sydney.  My business is called "PERU ART AUSTRALIA" and it represents many artists and artisans from Peru.                     

I have been selling on ebay since April 2003, it started as a hobby and it has become since then a full time job that I really enjoy and can combine with my uni studies.  We trave to Peru often and usually travel off the beaten track.  My business works with artisans workshops in Junin, Ayacucho, Cusco and Cajamarca, and with several aid to artisans groups: Proyecto PRA (Ayacucho Poverty Alleviation) in Ayacucho, AID TO ARTISANS (Cusco) and the PARUBAMBA WEAVERS ASSOCIATION (Cusco). 

In July 2008 I was nomitated for an Award organized by the "Australian Hispanic Women Business Network" (AHWBN) and the Peruvian Consulate in Sydney.  The Award aims to identify and recognise amongst its members and friends, an outstanding "Hispanic Female Aciever of the Year", promoting her heritage within the Australian community.  I didn't win the Award but it was an honour to be nominated by an outstanding woman, Flor Reyna, the president of the AHWBN.     

I used to have two blogs, one for my ebay shop and one for my travels but I found "wordpress" and decided to merge both blogs into one.  My blog is called "THE LOOM" because the hand loom is an essential weaving tool and the Andes and my business has a lot to do with weavers and with travelling in the Andes.  I also work with other artists and artisans like knitters, crocheters, embroidererers, gourd carvers, painters, ceramists, jewellery designers and Waldorf doll makers.

My blog will tell you about my experiences travelling in the Andes and my work with the artists and artisans.  You will meet artists of all ages, from different regions, working across a range of traditional and comtemporary mediums.  It is also a personal blog about my family in Peru and Australia, my uni studies, photography, ferrets, healthy eating and other topics I love.

You are welcome to read the story of how PERU ART AUSTRALIA came to be visiting my blog "THE LOOM".

Buying and selling handcrafts is a "craft" itself. I have learnt to differenciate good quality from bad in all my handcrafts. Now I can even see a photo on the internet and sometimes I know if the item is a genuine gemstone or a fake, a natural dyed rug or an atificial dyed one, a rug made of sheep wool or made from synthetics, handwoven or machine made, genuine baby alpaca or fake.

I would like to thank the talented group of Peruvian artists and artisans I work with for making such incredible art and to all our customers for their business. 

Our mission:

• Bring beautiful quality handcrafts/handmade gifts from Peru, a country inmensely rich in lovely andean towns, archaelogical ruins, ancient history and friendly people.
• Provide a sustainable income for the remote artists and artisans by paying them fairly for their work
• Promote the Highlands of Peru (the Andes) as a great place for your next holiday.
• Last but not least, give our customers great customer service before and after sale.

Our plans for the future:

• Expand our range of products.
• Keep making contact with more remote families of artisans and help them find new sales channels.
• Bring to the open market place the works of some of Peru's finest and most gifted AWARD WINNING ARTISTS who are virtually unknown in their own country.
• "Weaving tours" for people interested in the art of loom weaving and culture in the Andes.               

LINKS TO MY WORLD

Visit my blog at http://peruart.wordpress.com/ to see articles and photos of our trips to Peru.                                 

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