Quenpo (cold-food/beverage vessel),

late 20th century

Shina (Thinking/Imagining) and Shipibo-Conibo Pottery

In Shipibo-Conibo communities, the surfaces of pottery and textiles, which are adorned with similar patterns, are the exclusive products of women. Horizontally delineated zones frame designs defined by primary lines, whether quene (thin) or canoa (thick). These lines are in turn outlined by thin lines, ones often painted by girls still learning how to make kikin,
beautiful designs, as they trace the patterns already made by the artist. Additional linear patterns fill the remaining voids. Shipibo-Conibo artists believe these complex and overlapping line patterns emerge from the process of painting. Inspiration, thinking, and imagination, all concepts encompassed by the term shina, are applied only to the surface designs and not to the underlying vessel form. Artists with shina continuously imagine designs, both when awake and when dreaming. Community shamans can also convey designs from the spirit world to the artists.