Water - for all and no one

From the Aymara cosmovision, water “Uma” is a living being, a sacred being, therefore it is necessary to take care of it, nurture it, protect it and treat it with respect, generating more reciprocal and respectful relationships with the complex life of water.

In the Aymara culture, there are legends of warriors who climb to the top of the mountains and fight against lightning and hail, which often destroy their crops, from the Andean cosmovision it is considered that water feels, has strength, and reveals itself if it gets angry, therefore it is necessary to dialogue with it for a balanced life.

Since water is a sacred being for the Andean world, it is also thanked with offerings “Wajtas” in Aymara, for the Pachamama (Mother Earth), with which they thank her for the rain in times of drought and for not sending hail.

The search for subway treasures has led man to wear down the earth and prevent the free flow of water, contaminating it and preventing its return.

Water is life, but not only as a vital liquid element for consumption, for other living beings it means the space they inhabit, where life is created, and where a balance is generated.

Water keeps us in harmony and movement with the cosmos, it gives us visually the most beautiful of its creativity, it flows, nourishes and hydrates this living and natural body that we call Pachamama, -Mother Earth- in Aymara.

For the Andean cosmovision, water from the concept of “Living Being”, is also considered as a being of connection with other planes of this world called (The Andean Divine Trilogy) composed of three aspects or planes. In its representation of the cosmos “Hanan Pacha” or the (celestial or supraterrestrial world above) “Kay Pacha” or the world of here and now (men, animals and plants) “Uku Pacha” or the world below (dead, unborn and diseases). Water, in its different states, transits through all these planes and serves as a bridge of communication between them, these forms of linkage allow us to identify the different purposes and identities of water.

The lagoons located many times in ceremonial places in the city of La Paz are considered “Mama Qutas” -protective mothers- in Aymara, they are not only water reservoirs for the communities, they are also full of positive energy that represents the blood of nature and protects the territory, we have to become aware that we depend much more on water than it does on us and the only thing that water expects from us is that we help it to continue with life, changing the ways in which we conceive it and relate to it.

Water, presence and absence

What is water really for us, beyond a water resource that ensures life and food production? Do we have another kind of relationship with it or do we only see it as a vital liquid for consumption?
another kind of relationship with it or do we only see it as a vital liquid for consumption? In this project I try to open my senses to explore the vast symbolism that water has in our daily lives and the practices that shape our relationship with all the forms and states in which this vital element manifests, emanates, transforms and disappears.