This is a newspaper review of the seven-day “Inkari” festival at its Primer Encuentro Nacional (October 3–9, 1973). This event was organized and coordinated by SINAMOS (Sistema Nacional de Apoyo a la Movilización Social), the information office created by the Gobierno Revolucionario de las Fuerzas Armadas Peruanas (1968–75). There is a brief reference to Inkari, the Andean myth for which the festival is named. The review includes statements about the success of the event provided by Peruvian army generals, members of the agency, and the Comité Nacional Inkari, an entity created specifically for this purpose.

A year after the success of the Contacta 72 festival and the departure of the artist Francisco Mariotti (b. 1943) from SINAMOS (Sistema Nacional de Apoyo a la Movilización Social), the military government led by General Juan Velasco Alvarado (1968–75) organized its own mass event—Inkari: Primer Encuentro Nacional—at the Campo de Marte in Lima. This festival was the result of the Velasco regime attempting to use artistic events as conduits through which to communicate with the Peruvian people. The name of the event, Inkari, refers to the myth that expresses an ideal of national unity and extols rural life in Peru.

[As complementary reading about SINAMOS and Naylamp 72, see the following articles in the ICAA digital archive: (unattributed) “Revolución en la artesanía” (doc. no. 1139278); (unattributed) “Naylamp 72” (doc. no. 1139009); by Alfonso Castrillón, Leslie Lee, and Carlos Bernasconi “Fundamentación para el dictamen por mayoría simple a favor del artista popular Joaquín López Antay” (doc. no. 1135896); by Alfonso Bermúdez “Premio a López Antay suscita controversias. Unos: consagración del arte popular. Otros: una cosa es arte y otra artesanía” (doc. no. 1135879); by Francisco Abril de Vivero, Luis Cossío Marino, and Alberto Dávila “Artistas plásticos cuestionan premio” (doc. no. 1135960); and (unattributed) “‘No todos nos quieren ni en Lima ni en Ayacucho’: así comentó sobre cuestionamiento a premio” (doc. no. 1135930)].

[See also the following articles, all unattributed, about the multidisciplinary festival organized by SINAMOS, such as Contacta 72 (1972) in “Arte libertario” (doc. no. 1138949), “SINAMOS Contacta 72: a los artistas y artesanos del Perú” (doc. no. 1138964), “Contacta 72 será una experiencia de significación” (doc. no. 1138979), and “Pueblo y arte se dieron la mano en Contacta 72: gran cita en el Parque de la Reserva” (doc. no. 1138994); and about ORAMS IX (1975) in “Arte y Pueblo” (doc. no. 1139024)].