Entrepreneur from Cusco
Máximo Amaru
Máximo Amaru Mamani is an entrepreneur from Cusco, born in Raqchi, a rural Quechua community in the district of San Pedro, province of Canchis. Quechua is his first language. He is an economist from the National University of Saint Anthony the Abbot in Cusco and a licensed tour guide.
In his community he founded Sañu, the workshop where the Amaru family makes pottery with the coiling technique. From there he sells pieces across Peru and welcomes visitors with a hands-on pottery workshop, lodging and an interpretation centre on Raqchi pottery.
Amaru means serpent in Quechua. That is why the S in Sañu is a serpent: it carries the founder's surname.
With Sayda Choque Chuquihuanca he wrote the newsletter "Cerámica ancestral de Raqchi", about the history of pottery in the area, the tools and the process of the family workshop.
- Sañu
- Founder of the workshop and brand
- Raqchi
- San Pedro, Canchis, Cusco
- Economist
- National University of Saint Anthony the Abbot in Cusco
- Tour guide
- Licensed guide, trained at ISTTA
What he has built in Raqchi
Sañu brings together four activities in the community, all run by the Amaru family.
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Sañu shop
Aríbalos, keros and glazed tableware, handmade at the workshop and shipped across Peru.
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Pottery workshop
Visitors shape their own piece with the coiling technique.
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Lodging
Rooms to spend the night in Raqchi, close to the Temple of Wiracocha.
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Interpretation centre
The history of Raqchi pottery: tools, materials and techniques.
Awards and recognition
Contests and fairs in which Sañu and its founder have taken part.
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2016
Winner · Sañu
National Gastronomy Innovation Contest
Ministry of Production of Peru, Innóvate Perú
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2017
Exhibitor · Sañu
Madrid Fusión, at Peru's stand, as a winner of the innovation contest
Madrid, Spain
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Participant · Sañu
National Award for Peruvian Craft Design
Logos on the home page: Ministry of Education (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0) and UNSAAC coat of arms (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).