SAYING BY DOING

Documental

60 min.

In down town Riobamba, a predominantly indigenous city in the central Ecuadorian highlands, the remnants of an almost forgotten historical memory persist. The city's museum and cultural center are simultaneously filled with objects and devoid of people. An urban artwork proposes to inhabit one of the exterior walls of the museum in an iconic building for the city, and from its inception, it questions its relevance, its status as an object, and the possibility (or lack thereof) of being imbued with consciousness.

The research and execution of the artwork take us on a journey to the heart of an ancient culture that watches as its language and identity fade away in the whirlwind of the modern world.

"Saying by Doing" is a documentary essay that questions the raison d'être of art and the spaces that art/memory objects inhabit, presenting a debate between the artwork, what it re-presents, and the space that hosts it.

A taita yachak names his power plants and the teaching that comes from each of them. A grandmother expresses that she does not know the story due to her lack of formal education as she knowledgeably creates a beautiful sash with her hands that she now passes on to her young granddaughter. A leader affirms “shimika parlakun makika rurakun” and tells us sweetly and firmly how the wawas in the communities are taught with words linked to action. The interest in understanding these teachings together with the voices of the beings portrayed here, are the elements that guided the work whose title can be interpreted in Spanish as "saying, doing."

Shimika parlakun makika rurakun (Saying by doing) proposes to reflect on the word and identity based on what we inherit and the silences of official history, proposing the need to activate public space through this cultural fabric. The mural seeks to open a dialogue in the public space and the documentary aims to expand this dialogue to new audiences. In this sense, the collaboration between plastic art and documentary generates an exchange between artistic practices that can be read separately, but that when joined complement each other to search for meaning between the stories of history.

The mural has 7 moments: 4 dedicated to the Raymis or celebrations of the solar calendar interwoven with 3 portraits of women belonging to different generations of the Cacha community, Chimborazo province, connected through the weaving of Puruwá sashes, an element that connects these portraits and that acts as an object of transmission of knowledge and a symbol of the transfer of language.

2.- Vicenta Morocho Lema

Weaver of the Cacha Guajshi community, Chimborazo, is the first portrait of the mural and is the real example of the knowledge of the grandparents that is being transmitted to the new generations. Mama Vicenta is portrayed in the act of producing wool thread, which is an emblem in the culture of the Puruwá people.

1.- Pawkar Raymi - Flowering Season

The sun accompanied by a Punín skull (240 years BC) exhibited at the Riobamba Museum and Cultural Center, re-imagined as a symbol of the knowledge of the ancestors, surrounded by chukirawa flowers and tobacco from which threads emerge with representative colors of the town of Cacha, woven by expert hands.

3.- Inti Raymi - Festival of the Sun

He is represented by Taita Yachak Pedro Lema from the San Jacinto de Cuyuctus community, Colta-Chimborazo, who is surrounded by the flora, fauna and minerals of the paramo. The Yachak blows tobacco to bless the tupo, a female brooch used in the Cacha people belonging to the Puruwá Nation. This space is also dedicated to corn and a speaker who portrays the community strength in the historical uprisings.

4.- Ing. Carmen Tuipul

Vice President of COMICH-Confederation of the Indigenous Movement of Chimborazo is the central figure of the mural. Carmen is portrayed in front of the Pucará Tambo de Cacha cultural center, holding the tupo blessed by the Taita tobacco, while with another hand she performs the act of sowing a seed as a metaphor for sowing knowledge in the new generations.

5.- Kulla Raymi - Moon Festival

It contains everything that refers to planting, with a shoot that illustrates the care for the new generations growing in a nocturnal urban landscape, where in the distance part of the Taita Chimborazo can be seen peeking through the clouds.

6.- Jakelin Aulla Cayambe

Weaver of the Cacha Guajshi community, Chimborazo, granddaughter of Mama Vicenta, is part of the new generations that maintain the culture, consciously and intentionally. Jacqueline is a clear example of how culture endures and continues to manifest itself in the present and the future.

7.- Kapak Raymi - Winter Solstice

It is dedicated to education and revaluation of culture, as well as social struggles, resistance and resilience of peoples and nationalities. The memory of indigenous leaders Manuela León, Lorenza Abimañay and Delia Caguana is honored. The youth are holding modern tupos, designed by the Riobambeño artist Oscar “Azpeger” Medina, who protect the community in the new struggles. The moon in opposition to the sun closes the image of the mural.

*** The project "La Memoria Sovereign", beneficiary of the Public Call for the Promotion of Urban Art and Culture of Peace 2020, promoted by the Ministry of Culture and Heritage of Ecuador through the Institute for the Promotion of Creativity and Innovation.

Credits:

With the special participation of:

Ing. Carmen Tiupul, Vice President of COMICH.
Rosa María Cayambe Morocho, Vicenta Morocho Lema and Jakelin Aulla Cayambe, weavers from the Cacha Huajshi community, Chimborazo.
Taita Yachak Pedro Lema, San Jacinto de Cuyuctus community, Colta-Chimborazo.

Team:

Muralist: Raúl Ayala
Cultural Management and Production: Isabel Rodas
Documentalists: Gabriel Páez and Isabel Rodas / Filmarte Ecuador
Research and texts: Fernanda Espinosa
Communication: Victoria Castro and Carolina Rhodes
Tupus Design: Oscar “Azpeger” Medina
Carpenter: Luis Guerrero
Translation: Atik Paway Tinkunakuy NJ
Drone: Philip Castro
Timelapse Edition: Diego Del Corral
Direct Sound Opening: Jonathan Carrasco

Thanks to the support of:

Maria Rosa Ashqui Janeta and Baltazar Howls Hiccup. Weavers from the Cacha Guajshi community, Chimborazo. Ing. Napoleón Cadena Oleas, Mayor of Riobamba. Arch. Patricio Zárate and Lic. Pablo Luis Narváez, Riobamba Municipal GAD. Colonel Ángel Alberto Astudillo Vinueza and Lt. Juan Villacis from the General Directorate of Mobility, Transit and Transportation Management of the Riobamba Municipal GAD. Mgs. Juan Pablo Cruz Carrillo Prefect of Chimborazo. attorney Alfonso Rodrigo Martínez Guerrero, Provincial GAD of Chimborazo. Ing. Irma Velasquez Bravo, Francisco Suárez, Adrián Chiquiguanga, Alberto Rengifo from the Institute for the Promotion of Creativity and Innovation IFCI of the Ministry of Culture and Heritage. Lic. Patricio Cárdenas, Mgs. Mayra Melo Paredes, Lic. Marilyn Guevara Chiluiza from the Riobamba Museum and Cultural Center. Piedad Zurita, Kunturñawi Film Festival. Diego Coral López, Paúl Narváez, Fabián Ceferino, National Cinematheque. Lilia Lemos, Short Film Lorenza Abimañay and the Uprising of 1803. Chap. Orlando Vallejo and Ing. Victor Salgado from the Riobamba Fire Department. Sergio Gomez, Jorge Pillajo, Edwin Campaña, David Ayala, Alicia León, Marlene Mosquera from the Parish Gad of Perucho of the Quito Metropolitan District. Emilia León and David Contero, National University of Chimborazo. Colonel Ángel Alberto Astudillo Vinueza and Lt. Juan Villacis from the General Directorate of Mobility, Transit and Transportation Management of the Riobamba Municipal GAD. Marcia Masaquiza, National Coordinator of Indigenous Health. Verónica Tene Guapi Delegate for the Chimborazo Ombudsman. Alberto Gana and Luz Leon, Tourist and Cultural Center "Pucara Tambo". Ayala Bedoya Family, Kay Ayala Family, Castro León Family, María Elena León, Citlalli Andrango and Joshi Espinosa.

Promotion of urban art and culture of peace 2020:

A production: