MEDA; charts the movements of a two million year old woman. Our primal ancestor, the first human; at times known as the one who fell from the sky, the one who shakes forth life, the mud woman, the spider woman, the mariposa woman, the emerald woman in numerous Amerindian origin stories. Rivadeneira’s photographs stitch an atlas for her, for a self that has learned via wonder and touch through many incarnations. The images are an invitation to ponder how the primordial in us would encounter the earth now. Around which stone she would wrap her arms, in which manner she would uncover the star dust that still lingers in the deepest wet of caves.

The resulting effect is one of silence and awe. The separations between photographer, subject, setting and viewer disappear in Rivadeneira’s work. The gaze is turned inwards as well as outwards, nature is one with the model, the photographer participates in the ritual. There is fusion. A flow that is radical. It is pagan. Light is part of stone is part of woman. Night blue hair shell curled toes. Time too, is part and parcel of geography. Memories – personal and collective, current and ancient - can be accessed through tree bark, stone, cave. Ghosts arise, because this world is serpentine rather than linear.

Whilst we keep discussing the male gaze, the Orientalist gaze, the exotic gaze, could it be possible that the gaze itself can disappear all together in an art form that is based on looking? And if so what can it be replaced by? A return to a state Ursula Le Guin described as “unnaming,” perhaps. Where hierarchies can disappear because there are no names yet that imprison. Rivadeneira reaches for a perennial mirror that holds and reflects without judgement. A story that unfolds without a master. - Defne Cizakca

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Spider Woman embrace

       MEDA

Ka arimaja nu anakisu isija ati iya anika asinu

Ya veo las plumas del águila del paraíso esparcirse anchamente

I can see the feathers of the bird of paradise widening its spread

Paratu atika ikuamara

El viento se va dividiendo

The wind begins to split

Nishika titiaraja pita, tamasajicha, ishuira

Creando susurros, murmullos, llamados

Creating whispers, murmurs and roars

Nakinu ikinu inauja naku ta payatauja chaja aymara nuka amauta

Veo desde esta cueva la danza del Aymara y el Amauta

From this cave I see the dance of the Aymara and the Amauta

Nau suwaku iakiraja katsaka nashinu kawiriaja

El liviano movimiento que colorea todo

The agile act that colors everything

Kawiriaja taku ikicha murichaja ta naruka imininu kiraka

Todo viene de una misma agua brillante y inefable

Emerging from the same brilliant water

Amashaniki cha ti niata tai iki maja

Uno de mis pueblos salio de la concha

One of my offsprings arose from the shell

Nakati ikiwara tai cha ti niknaka cha ti nicha

Hicieron hogar en la oscuridad, y en lo pequeño

They made home out of the dark and small

  

Ka arimaja nu anakisu isija ati iya anika asinu

Ya veo las plumas del águila del paraíso esparcirse anchamente

I can see the feathers of the bird of paradise widening its spread

 

Paratu atika ikuamara

El viento se va dividiendo

The wind begins to split

 

Nishika titiaraja pita, tamasajicha, ishuira

Creando susurros, murmullos, llamados

Creating whispers, murmurs and roars

 

…Nakinu ikinu inauja naku ta payatauja chaja aymara nuka amauta

…Veo desde esta cueva la danza del Aymara y el Amauta

…From this cave I see the dance of the Aymara and the Amauta

 

Nau suwaku iakiraja katsaka nashinu kawiriaja

El liviano movimiento que colorea todo

The agile act that colors everything

 

Kawiriaja taku ikicha murichaja ta naruka imininu kiraka

Todo viene de una misma agua brillante y inefable

Emerging from the same brilliant water

 

Amashaniki cha ti niata tai iki maja

Uno de mis pueblos salio de la concha

One of my offsprings arose from the shell

 

Nakati ikiwara tai cha ti niknaka cha ti nicha

Hicieron hogar en la oscuridad, y en lo pequeño

They made home out of the dark and small

  

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Otta warmi calling                   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ikinaja cha makuinu

Vinimos a soñar

We came to dream, they say 

Sh.

Sh.

Shé.

Nau namija ikicha muricha nakitira anitira nukishi naricha

El ojo del agua un espejo hacia las estrellas

The pond, a mirror reflecting the stars

Narichaja katsaka nitsini aukunu ataka cha ti niakusinia

Estrellas q forman sus propios codices en el cielo

Stars that formed their own codex in the sky

Nukishi cha nanijanu uranu na umiacha

Y veo una lagrima convertirse en océano

…I see a tear becoming the ocean

 Ikiwara inakuakua naja mictlan

Tantas ceremonias para Mictlan

So many ceremonies for Mictlan

Uranuja cha tarajitaka

Cantos y llantos

Chanting and weeping

Tananuka nishimanu nau turunu aiuka nau rapaka neika

Para esparcir el polvo blanco en la tierra roja

To spread the bone powder on the red land

 

 

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Gathering Roots and Holding up the mirror

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Taikuama pakinu, ku aki rikuanu nau niakawiria, aki iki nakuwa

Todo poder es redondo todo viene de lo redondo, la vida es redonda

All power is round, all comes from this roundness, round life

 

Witsaja iki

Un ciclo sagrado

A sacred cycle

 

Nau katiaka chanimaja ani sauka cha ti muricha imatiña nijicha

Los que vienen del ombligo y de las aguas del tigre gris

The ones that emerge from the sweet waters of the gray tiger

 

Ta rapaka nakati tausi nau akamenos, raymis y colcas, turijia ki nau chaski kawiriaja coyas

Su tierra esta llena de apus, raymis y colcas, medicinas para el chaski y todas las Coyas

Their land is filled with Apus [mountains], raymis [festivities], medicine for the runners and the priestesses

 

Ku imanu ta anaka pakatetaka

Su alimento hace a la mente brillar

Their nourishment makes the mind shine

 

Pakatetaka nau aitunu nau muricha katsaka yakawiria. Tuximuyo

Reflejando así las enseñanzas del rio que esta arriba. Tuximuyo.

Reflecting this way the teachings of the river that is above. Tuximuyo.

 

 

 

Taikuama pakinu, ku aki rikuanu nau niakawiria, aki iki nakuwa

Todo poder es redondo todo viene de lo redondo, la vida es redonda

All power is round, all comes from this roundness, round life

Witsaja iki

Un ciclo sagrado

A sacred cycle

Nau katiaka chanimaja ani sauka cha ti muricha imatiña nijicha

Los que vienen del ombligo y de las aguas del tigre gris

The ones that emerge from the sweet waters of the gray tiger

Ta rapaka nakati tausi nau akamenos, raymis y colcas, turijia ki nau chaski kawiriaja coyas

Su tierra esta llena de apus, raymis y colcas, medicinas para el chaski y todas las Coyas

Their land is filled with Apus [mountains], raymis [festivities], medicine for the runners and the priestesses

Ku imanu ta anaka pakatetaka

Su alimento hace a la mente brillar

Their nourishment makes the mind shine

 Pakatetaka nau aitunu nau muricha katsaka yakawiria. Tuximuyo

Reflejando así las enseñanzas del rio que esta arriba. Tuximuyo.

Reflecting this way the teachings of the river that is above. Tuximuyo.

 

 

 

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Sisa Warmi, woman of the flores

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Daughters of Ix B'alam

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Star dust woman

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Genesis, Oju-Oba

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Nuka yakawiria nau nukati mukushinia

Muy arriba en la corteza de los arboles,

Very high in the canopy of some trees,

Nau wikaja akanuja aka aki mapa tsawanu

Las hojas entrecruzadas crean un mapa en su sombra

The branches that traverse create a map in their shadow

Nau rapaka ikicha ikiumu 

La tierra esta humeda

The land is moist

Kika esmeralda, Kika iyauna

Verde esmeralda, verde wayusa,

Green Esmerald, green bitter leaf

 Naruka kuyajaka

Piedras huacas guardianes

Guardian stones

Chatim nakuna ati nau irishipijaunu

Cada planta/ser tiene su historia

Each plant/being has their story

Omeede

Ta richunu nau ninakari

Se espera la noche

They wait for the night

Iya katsaka kawiria nau katsaka ikicha iwana yanukua

Dejando que todo lo que esta bajo el sol

Letting everything that is under the sun

 

Ataunjuka

Descanse

Rest


Niatu nau Jumandi

Hija de Jumandi

Daugther of Jumandi

Nau paratu atinu, nau mukushi Piatsaw nakuna atinu

El viento le habla, el palo santo prendido le habla

The wind speaks, the heartwood ignited, speaks

Pakatetaka tsamarujinia

Prende al alma dice

Ignite the soul, it says

Charatu ta tsamaraw

Tomadora de espíritu

Imbiber of the soul

Nau naku ta ku ikicha, nuka katsaka nau nashini ta

La selva te llama, para que la cuides

The forest calls, to care for her 

Ikicha kuiñu pirinu

Estos hermanos menores

These younger brothers

Saninu ta iki nukiriu

Confundidos en su espejo

Confused in their reflection

Taikua aniki nukisha

No saben ver

They do not know how to see

Nau imatiña ta ikinu

El jaguar le pregunta:

The jaguar asks:

Nau pajinu ikicha  ku tsamaraw

A donde esta tu alma?

Where is your soul?

Tsururuku irishipiukanu

Contando historias,

Telling stories

Ataujuka anaka icha nau aramaja

Haciéndonos recordar a través de la piel.

Reminding us through her skin

Katsaka tausi nujinia anaka, ta,

Que somos hechos de memorias,

That we are made of memories,

Ta muricha, nukiti, rapaka, naka ta anamishuka.

De agua, aceite, tierra, sangre y sal.

Of water, oil, mud, blood and salt.

 

-Excerpt from Old Memory Woman Chants,

Amaraka the eternal tales

 

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Obsidian pipe song

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