Along the Ucayali River, in the Peruvian Amazon, live the Shipibo-Konibo people. Anyone visiting their villages notices one thing straight away: almost every surface is covered with dense geometric designs made of broken lines, crosses, diamonds and spirals. These are the kené. In Shipibo tradition these designs are closely tied to the ritual songs called icaros. For the Shipibo, image and sound are two ways of expressing the same reality.
What kené is
The word kené refers to traditional Shipibo designs. They appear on many surfaces:
- cotton textiles, embroidered or painted, such as women's skirts;
- ceramics, especially the large vessels for drinks;
- wooden objects, paddles, tools;
- in the past and on certain occasions, people's faces and bodies.
Kené are made mainly by women, who learn the art from childhood by watching their mothers and grandmothers. A good designer is highly respected. Each woman develops a personal style, though within shared rules: a framework of thicker main lines, filled with fine lines and secondary motifs.
The Peruvian State has recognised the art of kené as cultural heritage of the nation, stressing its value for the identity of the Shipibo people.
Designs that can be sung
The most extraordinary aspect of kené is its relationship with sound. According to many Shipibo accounts, the designs are not just decoration, but can be «read» and «sung». A melody can be translated into a design and a design into a melody.
This idea is easier to grasp if we think of music as a weave. The lines of kené interlace and repeat like the phrases of a song. Anthropologists and ethnomusicologists who have worked with the Shipibo have collected explanations of this kind, while noting that the relationship between design and song is experienced differently from person to person.
Some stories attribute the origin of the designs to the great cosmic anaconda, Ronin, on whose skin all the patterns of the world were found. Others speak of teachings received from plants or spirits.
The icaros, ritual songs
Icaros are ritual songs performed by Shipibo specialists, known by various names including onanya, «one who knows». They are learned during long periods of retreat and ritual diet in the forest, in which the specialist lives in isolation, follows strict food rules and, according to tradition, receives the songs from the spirits of plants and animals.
Each icaro has a purpose. There are songs to call for protection, to drive away harmful influences, to accompany difficult passages, to bring a person into harmony with their surroundings. They are often sung softly, whispered or whistled, at night.
In the Shipibo understanding, the specialist's song is also perceived as a luminous design. When the onanya sings, it is said that the kené settle on the person being sung for, like a garment of light that restores order to their being. This is where image and sound become fully one.
A knowledge of the forest
Icaros are traditionally sung during night ceremonies, in some cases linked to the ritual use of forest plants that the tradition regards as teachers. In recent decades this aspect has attracted strong interest from foreign visitors, giving rise to a real spiritual tourism in the region.
Many Shipibo view this phenomenon with mixed feelings. On the one hand it has brought attention and resources; on the other it has turned into a commodity practices that, in the community, are bound to a long apprenticeship, to specific responsibilities and to a relationship with the land. Respect for this tradition means seeing it as a complete system of knowledge, not as an experience to be consumed.
Art, cosmos and order
Kené and icaros express the same idea: the world is crossed by invisible weaves, and the task of art and ritual is to make them visible and audible, restoring order when it has been broken. A painted skirt, a decorated vessel and a song whispered in the night share the same language.
In short
- Kené are Shipibo geometric designs, made mainly by women.
- Peru recognises the art of kené as cultural heritage of the nation.
- According to many accounts, designs can be «sung» and songs «drawn».
- Icaros are ritual songs learned during long retreats in the forest.
- Spiritual tourism has brought attention but also the risk of commodification.
