Statement and cleansing ritual by Manari Ushigua (still)

This artwork is part of the River Voices project which includes several rivers and bodies of water as participants in the 23rd Biennale of Sydney. Members of the communities associated with them, custodians, and people involved in their protection speak on their behalf, in short videos addressing climate issues and rights of protection. Visitors are greeted by one of these voices at each of the exhibition venues.

In 2008, the Political Constitution of Ecuador recognised ‘Nature or Pacha Mama, where life is reproduced and carried out, has the right to have its existence and the maintenance and regeneration of its vital cycles, structure, functions and evolutionary processes fully respected.’ Manari Ushigua, traditional healer from the Zápara community of the Pastaza region leads a campaign to protect the Cuencas Sagradas (Sacred Basins) the Ecuadorean Amazon from exploitation.