Peru names an Andean harp player a Meritorious Personality of Culture for safeguarding the Scissors Dance

28 October 2026

Peru's Ministry of Culture has conferred the distinction Personalidad Meritoria de la Cultura on Felix Edilberto Quispe Saire, a player of the Andean harp. The order, Resolucion Ministerial N.o 000395-2026-MC, was published in the official gazette El Peruano. It cites his career in spreading traditional music and his work in safeguarding the Danza de las Tijeras, or Scissors Dance, of Ayacucho. The Scissors Dance is a ritual dance of Quechua communities in Peru's south-central Andes, in which dancers compete in turn to the sound of harp and violin while handling a pair of loose metal blades. UNESCO inscribed it on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010. Personalidad Meritoria de la Cultura is the standing honour by which Peru's culture ministry recognises individuals and groups who sustain the country's living heritage.