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
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
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
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.
Sisa Warmi, woman of the flores
Star dust woman
Genesis, Oju-Oba
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
Obsidian pipe song
