The Voices of the Amazon – Waylla Nuna | Matías García

My project tells the story of an indigenous community that lives between two rivers: the Ilikulin and the Jatunyacu. Located in Ecuador’s Amazon region, this area has suffered from mining, deforestation and poor touristic practises that have endangered not only water, flora and fauna but also the communities that inhabit it.

I wanted to tell the story of the Kichwa community of Serena, whose women have taken leadership of economic and societal activities, deconstructing their patriarchal system and creating a female-led hierarchy. These women provide for their families and protect their environment, while reinventing the way in which indigenous communities interact and function within the industrialised world. With the help of international organisations and local entities, the Serena community has developed a preservation-based culture that educates the younger generations, influences foreign mentalities and, most importantly, takes a stand for its home, its philosophies and its worldview. We need to raise the voices of such communities, and acknowledge their understanding of natural interconnection and our dependence on nature. They are the voices of the future.