On ancestral wisdom

View from Palomino to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta

Something that often informs most art work, is explorations on belonging and identity. In my case, in recent years this has lead to the exploration of origins, of nativeness, of ancestral knowledge. As someone from one of the many colonised countries, yet also part european I believe for me there is fluidity in this and in this flux is where belonging lies, as something less static than we would like. This has informed my various lines of work, be it dance, art, or healing. My “Mestizaje” is complex and varied. and within this exploration I believe we can carry some grief of lost wisdom. Some things we will never know as it all changes through time. However some of it can also be reached. It might feels essential, elusive, shallow, intrinsic or totally natural. So all I have is attempts, explorations that continue. An intention, that what needs to be known perhaps I can still actively find, Instead of surrendering to that loss or ignoring it.

I believe a lot of us go though a bit of this, looking at out family tree, old albums, gran parents stories, DNA ancestry testing, hypnotherapy sessions or shamanic healings. Recently I am trying to seek the moments when I can find some crumbs of connection with Colombian indigenous cultures. Unlike the weaves of their fabrics, I am perhaps doing more of a “connecting the dots” kind of weaving.

This year in UK, I’ve had a couple of reminders of this:

First, visiting Bristol alongside the rest of the MEMPAZ (“a collaboration between grassroots activists in Colombia working in some of the most geographically- and socially-marginalized parts of Colombia, working with theatre, music, poetry, photography, film, cookery and conversation, using human creativity to confront and work through the horrors of warfare and its impact on millions of Colombians”) and thanks to The University of Bristol, came a photography exhibition by the Aruaco Communications collective, and poetry and dance was also shared by them alongside the exploration of pedagogy tools for reconciliation. Receiving this in this city felt special yet surreal, and somewhat detached as the poem was translated first to spanish, then to english, and the dance was around chairs and tables and no raw nature elements were near, however we turned into a river in flow. The whole event though was powerful, generous and thought provoking.

A few months later a fellow artists friend Maria Elvira was involved in a project bringing indigenous Kogui to visit sacred water sites in Europe, as well as an art auction to gather funds to re-build an important bridge for them. You can find more about it at THE JAKA PROJECT and donate directly to them though THIS GOFUND ME LINK . Although I missed out on the chance of joining them, their simplicity and strength I saw through the shared info was inspiring. Their story is not new, their message has been loud and clearly spoken for decades now. There are two movies that clearly state their story and opinions of the world we live in and what needs to happen for its preservation and restoration. And is also in line what is beleived by most indigenous people across the globe. They are protectors, and do their best to keep the world in balance, while the “younger brothers” destroy it. The Jaka Project website has collected a lot of video material done that tells their stories, You can find it all HERE.

In full honesty, I dont know them in person, yet... My son got taught his best surfing lesson by a young Kogui lad, this summer, and I have stood by the feet of their land in awe if its magnificence, and we have crossed paths on occasion. However we share that love and respect for these mountains by the sea.

I recently met a dancer sister Danilua who has been living near there, and has deeper connection with them, and she happens to be passing Bristol. She asks me to help her host a gathering inspired in part by traditions shared by them, including Cacao grown in that very land, so here I go, weaving what I can weave from a far, and invite you to join me and Danilua on this event this Saturday 18th of November.

So this is a continuing process, an ongoing exploration of that loss, connection, belonging and not, identity, and respect. Personally, this is more apparent in my art and movement practice. And I will hopefully share soon enough my explorations and experience with the Wayuu territory and culture also this year, but more on that on another blog.

Much love

Cecilia