Samayuio, the Spirit of Quito’s River convened two groups of children from Quito, one from the urban area and the other from the Andean Chocó forest, for an artistic creation workshop during September and October 2023. The objective: to discover, from their own point of view, what the river represents for them.
The proposal of the art workshop for children from 6 to 12 years old was accompanied by the direct experience with the river of Quito. The objective was to bring together, in the same dynamic of artistic creation, two groups of children to observe what their perceptions of rivers are, appealing to their deep sensibility.
The conceptual approach involved a trip to the river that included an exchange of location. We took the children from the urban area to the Mashpi River, in the Pacto parish, northwest of the city, so that the group could have the experience of immersing themselves in its clean and lively waters. For the forest children, we took them to the first ancestral source of water in the city, the Quitu-Cara waterfall in the Rucu Pichincha páramo, so that they could have direct contact with the highlands and observe the state of the water that emerges from its soils. In addition, we take them through the streets that long ago ceased to be clean rivers in order to develop their feelings when looking at this reality.
The methodology of the workshop starts from this experience and then develops it creatively in three different and complementary disciplines. Botanical photography to become aware of their own view on the internal and external river, sound and development of musical perception to learn about how vibrations affect the health and condition of water, and the handmade weaving with recycled materials to imagine a future without garbage through the reuse and recycling of what society now considers as “waste”.
The results exceeded the team’s expectations due to the creative capacity of the participants and also, the involvement of their families in the workshop process. It was wonderful to have the synergy and empathy of the group of parents during the course of the classes and field trips in such a way that we were able to enter into the same resonance in favor of the conservation and restoration of Quito’s water.
For the development of the botanical photography works, therapeutic photography techniques were used to reach the psyche of each participant. The photographic creation was encouraged from the emotional link with the water sources visited to then deepen in the conscious reading of the images in full presence.
As a result, in the chlorotypes we observe the individual symbol of the river and the context from which the images are taken. Therefore, the work ceases to be didactic and we manage to dynamize the concepts that as a society keep regarding the river. Thus the river becomes a butterfly, a shark, bears, clouds, plants, villages and crosses multiple concepts that speak to us about a transforming, strong, mutable, communitarian, healthy river.
The works are on display until December 31, 2023 at Cumandá Urban Park, second floor. During the inauguration of the exhibition, the participants of both groups presented their sound product that promotes love and care for Quito’s rivers.
Watch the musical presentation here and videos from the show’s opening act in our YouTube channel. Videos held in Spanish.
To see photos and videos of the workshop process, please go to our Instagram profile @espirituderio.
Please visit this link if you want to see our participants “river symbols”
For more information about the conceptual axis of the project, please visit Samayuio, the Spirit of Quito’s River.
Conceptual and methodological proposal of the workshop owned by Mónica Aguilar Villamarín. Class methodology property of Samayuio’s pedagogical team: Mónica Aguilar: Botanical photography, Elena Montúfar: Sound, and Camola Valarezo: Handmade weaving with recycled materials. This publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part in any other mechanical or electronic medium without permission of the author. All rights reserved© saokma.com