Bridging Worlds Through Art and Indigenous Wisdom

[Judi Lynn]

Photograph courtesy of LA SEMILLA

08.31.2023
WORDS BY MOLLY LIPSON

The Kogi people have been stewarding the land of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northern Colombia for millennia. Molly Lipson speaks with one Kogi family about how a forthcoming art auction can help them build a necessary piece of infrastructure.

The land of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northern Colombia is stewarded by four Indigenous tribes: Arhuaco, Wiwa, Kankuamo and Kogi. Earlier this month, three Kogis—Mamo Juan Conchacala Dingula, his wife Java Teresa, and their son Marco—left their territory for the first time to travel to Europe. It was a significant moment for them, but also for those they met along the way. Steeped in traditional wisdom about the natural world, they had come here with a warning.

The Kogis began to notice that the land and water around them in the Colombian mountains was changing many decades ago as a result of mining, construction, deforestation, and other harmful practices. They knew that this was disrupting the Earth’s careful balance, and that doing so would lead to catastrophe after catastrophe. Over time, in the West, we have gained knowledge about climate change through scientific study, through data about the Earth’s temperature, the sea’s acidity, the air’s pollution levels, but the Kogis intuit these changes through their active relationship with the world around them. They have long been telling us what a dangerous path we are pursuing—and yet we continually ignore them.

On a sunny afternoon in mid-August, Mamo Juan Conchacala Dingula, Java Teresa, and Marco sat on low chairs in a bright, airy room of the Hayward Gallery on London’s Southbank in front of one of the displays of Dear Earth, an exhibition about the interdependence of ecologies and ecosystems. Though these particular works were not for sale, some artist friends of the Kogis have collected a number of art pieces that are available to buy as part of the Jàka Project, an auction that will raise funds to build a crucial piece of infrastructure for the Kogis: a bridge over the Rio Ancho.



Art by Ackroyd & Harvey, courtesy of Hayward Gallery



Art by Cornelia Parker, courtesy of Hayward Gallery

Artists Gene Closuit and Pascal Rousson first met the Kogis during a trip to Colombia after they were introduced to fellow artist and longtime friend of the Kogis, Jaime Correa. They came to learn about the perils the Kogis faced when trying to cross the river, which cuts through their territory. They need this bridge to travel between the 11 villages that make up the Kogi community, and to transport their animals and produce.

Some twenty years ago, the construction of a bridge began, but fighting between the paramilitary and the guerrilla group FARC put an end to the works. Now, Closuit and Rousson, along with many of the Kogis’ friends and fellow artists like Correa and Maria Elvira Dieppa, hope to raise enough money to build the bridge that will allow the Kogis to continue their way of life safely. The auction includes art donated by the likes of Ackroyd & Harvey, Cornelia Parker, and Nicole Frobusch among many others, and is set to take place online between September 21 and October 1.

More:
https://atmos.earth/the-kogi-people-sharing-indigenous-wisdom-through-art/