Katara – the Cultural Village inaugurated Monday the Ecuadorian pavilion, featuring the third of four copies of the Ecuadorian artefacts distributed worldwide.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by Katara general manager Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti, Ecuador's ambassador to Qatar Pascual del Cioppo, and several ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions accredited to the state.
The artefact – "Origin of Cocoa 2022" by discoverer Francisco Valdez – a ceramic vessel dating back millennia, represents the earliest known examples of cacao consumption and domestication.
It was produced by the Mayo-Chinchipe people who lived in the upper Amazon basin, now in southeastern Ecuador.
The artefact was discovered by French researchers in 2022.
The Ecuadorian pavilion at Katara, located in the VIP Hall of the Opera House, reflects Ecuador's rich cacao heritage, celebrating its historical connection to chocolate, as the country is regarded as the birthplace of cacao.
Del Cioppo said that the Ecuadorian pavilion is a permanent exhibition celebrating Ecuador's cultural heritage, with a focus on its pride in cacao's origins.
He said that the ceramic vessel, an original from southern Ecuador, “dates back 5,500 years and serves as a testament to the country's historical role in cacao cultivation”, emphasising Ecuador's status as the true homeland of cacao.
