The Sunku cooperative, made up of entrepreneurs from the area, is committed to the tourist merchandising market, where imported products and items with little local identity currently predominate. 

A glass, a t-shirt or a simple keychain, but not just any: something that can only be found in one place. The precise object to remember a trip and that, due to its uniqueness, becomes an integral part of a tourist experience. These are the sensations that any tourist souvenir that you treasure should inspire. However, when we review the offer available in La Serena, it is difficult to find it.

At the end of 2022, the challenge of creating and producing items with a true local identity, appropriate for sale as souvenirs for tourists from other latitudes, united five entrepreneurs from the Tino Kaykama Indigenous Women's Group, from La Serena. Now, after more than a year of work, they are preparing to debut their products. An effort in which there is not only talent, but in which they have sought to pour part of their heritage, since all of them are diaguitas.

Thanks to a project co-financed by Corfo's Innova Social line, and the University of La Serena as an associated entity, the push of these women is close to seeing the light, with the production and sale of an exclusive and original series of articles, inspired by elements of regional culture, through the formation of a cooperative for the administration of the business, called Sunku ("heart", in Quechua). Its members are Cecilia Sáez, Maribel Tabilo, Beatriz Díaz, Magdalena Casanga and Jubitza Aróstica.

"For this year, Sunku has a clear mission: to consolidate itself as a cooperative and show good products to tourists and residents of the Coquimbo region, which will eventually improve the quality of life of the women who are part of the group, as well as their families," says Cecilia Sáez. 

An arduous process

The project incorporated – among other elements – the identification and design of products for tourist souvenirs with cultural belonging, through prototypes made in die-casting, of easy applicability and replicability, as well as the development of a sustainable management model, which would allow commercialization of co-creations.

Thus, after arduous work of research, design, study of raw materials, testing and validation, a range of items was reached that includes keychains and magnets made of recycled plastic; printed t-shirts and bags, as well as clay ceramic glasses. The designs are inspired by real pieces of Diaguita ceramics, with their characteristic iconography and geometric patterns; in existing petroglyphs in sites such as El Encanto and Rincón Las Chilcas, and in elements of natural spaces such as the Pichasca Natural Monument and the Humboldt Penguin National Reserve. The glasses deserve special mention, with three varieties that interpret the Diaguita representations of a condor, a tribal chief and a shaman.

"There is little regional identity in products such as souvenirs and, in general, the offer is based on monuments installed in the cities, but not on the cultural diversity that exists in the area. So we were presented with an enormous challenge, It has cost us a lot of work, but we have also learned. It is gratifying, as descendants of the Diaguita people, to be part of this project,” highlights Jubitza Aróstica, who has served as director of the initiative.

The project will extend until mid-2024. By then, Sunku products will have points of sale in tourist sites and restaurants in the area, as well as a brand positioning campaign. Corfo's financing also allowed us to acquire printing machinery and a 3D printer to produce the keychains and magnets.

"Innova Social is a novel instrument within Corfo's portfolio, aimed at businesses that are not only profitable, but also capable of generating social impact, validated with communities and with added value," emphasizes Andrés Zurita, regional director of the Corporation. He adds that, in the particular case of Sunku, "the originality of the proposal has been very valuable, which seeks to highlight the legacies of the native peoples of our region, in which these entrepreneurs have been inspired by indigenous roots, supported by the state university and advised by professionals from the region, jointly generating products with identity and originality, innovating in materiality and inspired by their region, resulting in a virtuous relationship that we wish to promote.

More information about the cooperative and its products is available on the website www.sunku.cl on the Instagram network as Sunku.cl.

Source: CORFO