Public Project
2020 - Minga
La Minga, un termino muy antiguo derivado de la lengua quechua “minka” significa, trabajo comunal, acuerdo entre vecinos para hacer algo, un acto colectivo en pro de construir o reclamar algo, en este caso, por el territorio, por la paz y por la vida. La Minga Indígena, entonces se constituyo y unió para trasladarse a la capital colombiana con la idea de reunirse con el mandatario Colombiano, Ivan Duque. En coloridos y llamativos buses cerca de siete mil indígenas empacaron comida y víveres para un extenso viaje de cuatro días y aproximadamente setecientos kilómetros desde su territorio hasta la ciudad de Bogotá. Algo realmente admirable e increíble, un río de color, alegría, contagiado por una fuerza que aun lo logro describir. Hombres, mujeres y niños atados y enaltecidos por la colectividad, poblaciones azotadas por la violencia, algunas amedrantadas por grupos armados, pero todas con la cabeza en alto, unidas para gritar con fuerza: ‘Por mi tierra, por mi raza’.
En ese sentido encuentro interesante el desplazamiento, la causa y su efecto, pero prefiero centrarme de lleno en el movimiento. Entendiendo las causas y el porqué se efectúa esta Minga Indígena me dejo contagiar por el color de los buses y las multitudinarias masas que transportan, por su Colombianidad que me jala e identifica también por ser Colombiano y haber nacido en el campo. Recordé entonces el proyecto ‘Carpoolers’, de Alejandro Cartagena, el cual definitivamente me marco la mirada y me cuestionó sobre que tipo de fotografía estoy haciendo y las diversas posibilidades de ver y observar el mundo, me hizo pensar en como la fotografía puede generar en el espectador diversas sensaciones solamente cambiando el punto de vista en el que vemos diariamente. Opte entonces por abordar el proyecto de manera distinta, así como el proyecto ‘Carpoolers’ de Alejandro Cartagena, esta serie opera como una tipología, las comunidades indígenas despojadas de su individualidad y unidas en la colectividad, una gigantesca Minga que se transporta, aproximadamente siete mil indígenas viajando en mas o menos cien buses coloridos, algo que sobre pasa en algunas ocasiones la imaginación de muchos.
Minga, es una serie de dípticos, dos imágenes unidas en colectividad para formar una sola, una descripción de como acontece un instante, un movimiento y un rostro que enaltece el carácter, la tenacidad, la nobleza y la fuerza de las comunidades indígenas que resisten en todo Latinoamérica desde los tiempos de la conquista, dejando un legado no solo a los jóvenes indígenas sino a todos los que presenciamos su increíble movimiento.
PUBLICATIONS:
FujiLove Magazine:
https://fujilove.com/minga/
Thinking about collectivity transports me to the distant lands of our colonizers and their literature, because more or less a century and a half ago, the three musketeers solemnly shouted, in loyalty to the young D`Artagnan, 'All for one and one for all', and in Holland The Dutch motto 'Unity is strength' encouraged the people to unite in very old writings and it is worth mentioning the moral of Aesop's fable, The Old Man and His Sons, 'All power is weak, unless it stands united'. Those references must have come from those developed countries to our ears at the time of the conquest, our indigenous ancestors somehow learned how susceptible and vulnerable we are individually.
La Minga, a very old term derived from the Quechua language "minka" means, communal work, an agreement between neighbors to do something, a collective act in favor of building or claiming something, in this case, for the territory, for peace and for life The Indigenous Minga, then, was formed and united to move to the Colombian capital with the idea of meeting with the Colombian president, Ivan Duque. In colorful and striking buses, nearly seven thousand indigenous people packed food and supplies for an extensive four-day trip and approximately seven hundred kilometers from their territory to the city of Bogotá. Something truly admirable and incredible, a river of color, joy, infected by a force that I still manage to describe. Men, women and children tied up and exalted by the community, populations plagued by violence, some intimidated by armed groups, but all with their heads held high, united to shout loudly: 'For my land, for my race'.
In that sense, I find displacement, cause and its effect interesting, but I prefer to focus squarely on movement. Understanding the causes and why this Indigenous Minga is carried out, I let myself be infected by the color of the buses and the massive masses they transport, by their Colombianness that pulls me in and also identifies me for being Colombian and having been born in the countryside. Then I remembered the project 'Carpoolers', by Alejandro Cartagena, which definitely set my eyes and questioned me about what kind of photography I am doing and the various possibilities of seeing and observing the world, it made me think about how photography can generate the spectator different sensations only by changing the point of view in which we see daily. Then choose to approach the project in a different way, just like Alejandro Cartagena's 'Carpoolers' project, this series operates as a typology, the indigenous communities stripped of their individuality and united in the collective, a gigantic Minga that is transported, approximately seven a thousand indigenous people traveling in more or less a hundred colorful buses, something that sometimes exceeds the imagination of many.
Minga, is a series of diptychs, two images united collectively to form one, a description of how an instant happens, a movement and a face that exalts the character, tenacity, nobility and strength of the indigenous communities that resist throughout Latin America since the time of the conquest, leaving a legacy not only to indigenous youth but to all of us who witnessed their incredible movement.
PUBLICATIONS:
FujiLove Magazine:
https://fujilove.com/minga/
La Minga, a very old term derived from the Quechua language "minka" means, communal work, an agreement between neighbors to do something, a collective act in favor of building or claiming something, in this case, for the territory, for peace and for life The Indigenous Minga, then, was formed and united to move to the Colombian capital with the idea of meeting with the Colombian president, Ivan Duque. In colorful and striking buses, nearly seven thousand indigenous people packed food and supplies for an extensive four-day trip and approximately seven hundred kilometers from their territory to the city of Bogotá. Something truly admirable and incredible, a river of color, joy, infected by a force that I still manage to describe. Men, women and children tied up and exalted by the community, populations plagued by violence, some intimidated by armed groups, but all with their heads held high, united to shout loudly: 'For my land, for my race'.
In that sense, I find displacement, cause and its effect interesting, but I prefer to focus squarely on movement. Understanding the causes and why this Indigenous Minga is carried out, I let myself be infected by the color of the buses and the massive masses they transport, by their Colombianness that pulls me in and also identifies me for being Colombian and having been born in the countryside. Then I remembered the project 'Carpoolers', by Alejandro Cartagena, which definitely set my eyes and questioned me about what kind of photography I am doing and the various possibilities of seeing and observing the world, it made me think about how photography can generate the spectator different sensations only by changing the point of view in which we see daily. Then choose to approach the project in a different way, just like Alejandro Cartagena's 'Carpoolers' project, this series operates as a typology, the indigenous communities stripped of their individuality and united in the collective, a gigantic Minga that is transported, approximately seven a thousand indigenous people traveling in more or less a hundred colorful buses, something that sometimes exceeds the imagination of many.
Minga, is a series of diptychs, two images united collectively to form one, a description of how an instant happens, a movement and a face that exalts the character, tenacity, nobility and strength of the indigenous communities that resist throughout Latin America since the time of the conquest, leaving a legacy not only to indigenous youth but to all of us who witnessed their incredible movement.
PUBLICATIONS:
FujiLove Magazine:
https://fujilove.com/minga/
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