Kuyllur Saywa Escola
Raymi Guatemal
Ramiro Aguilar Villamarín
‘Taki’, the Kichwa word that means ‘music’.
This is a visual representation of the transmission of knowledge of the Kichwa Karanki people of Ecuador. This was a collaborative work done by Kuyllur Saywa Escola, Raymi Guatemal, both Kichwa Karankis cultural promoters, and myself.
This narrative is not based on a myth, and it doesn’t propose to be read as such. In this photo essay, music represents the key component of the Kichwa Karanki worldview. Within the Kichwa musical manifestations, it is possible to distinguish this culture’s way of living and their resistance.
The elements that make up each image have a deep and dense background. Each scene presents a narrative about the relationship that music has with their culture, their knowledge and with the way-of-life of the Karanki.
The methodology used was based on the proposals of the visual anthropology and interculturality fields. This project was built between the three of us (Saywa, Raymi and me) from conversations, negotiations, and in interviews and photo-elucidations on its final stage. As well, the collaboration of Saywa, Raymi, his mother Zoila and his son Charik, was crucial at the time of production. Saywa played the role of producer, while I played the role of director of photography and editor.
This project was designed both as a bridge of intercultural dialogue, both for Kichwa members and for the rest of the public. In addition, it was nourished by the experience that Saywa Escola had with its project ‘Kipuku of musical knowledge of the Kichwa Karanki people’ which was awarded with the Nuevo Mariano Aguilera in 2017 in the Artistic Pedagogies category.