Make it happen
Performing the Message
“I see theatre as a method, a way of making a payment, of giving back to the Earth, a payment for the change of mentality, of attitude, of spirit. Perhaps in this way we can reach an understanding that would lead more to the benefit of the Earth, to Mother Earth”
Jate Luntana (translated by José Manuel Sauna Mamatacan)
Gonawindúa, The Heart of the World is an ambitious and exciting stage piece showcasing the Kogi’s environmental knowledge through the powerful languages of theatre, dance and music. It was jointly created by award-winning Colombian theatre directors Nube Sandoval and Bernardo Rey, and Organización Gonawindua Tayrona, the representative body of the Kogi. This performance, the largest-scale artistic project yet to harness Kogi knowledge, produces an immersive and highly engaging experience bringing to life an Indigenous ecology of paramount environmental relevance. It features a cast of 12 young Kogi actors together with a Mamo and a Saga (spiritual elders). Due to the urgency of the climate catastrophe and from the trust that has been built during the creative process, the Kogi will be revealing much of their knowledge considered ‘secret’ and ‘sacred’. Never-before seen ancestral dances and songs of worship to the Earth as well as a replica of the recently returned masks will be showcased to transmit a profound and timely message, bridging the Indigenous and non-Indigenous worlds through art.
To me, these theatre workshops feel important because they are related to our own culture. I can see that in the theatre they use masks like our elders used masks. Dugunawi (spirit) also used the mask to connect and communicate with thunder, animals and understand the laws of animals, of Nature. In the same way, here in the theatre, we also use masks, we dance just like our ancestors danced. We do the same dances, and this is really important. It’s not about the outsider’s culture, it’s about our own. We are maintaining, preserving, conserving our culture and in so doing we are giving the world our message so that the younger brothers (non-Indigenous) can understand us. If we do not do this, the younger brothers won’t understand our history or culture. Why do we dance? We dance to connect or to communicate with the rain, with the water and with the plants so that they feel better. This is why I think doing these theatre workshops is so important.” Arregoces Conchacala
The performance is a rare and powerful opportunity for the audience to truly absorb the spiritual worldview of one of the world’s oldest peoples. It is a privileged invitation by the Indigenous themselves to witness how they revere Nature and experience the depth of their pre-Columbian paradigm. The medium of theatre allows this glimpse, without the message being lost in translation. It is the first time the Kogi have engaged with the performing arts on this scale. Several workshops in residency are underway which, crucially, have bolstered the recuperation of ancestral culture through the actors’ very own anthropological investigations in their communities. Spiritual authorities are present during the rehearsals, to guide the process of adaptation and train the actors in their ancestral dances and songs as well as to provide the ancestral knowledge from which the piece is devised.
The play is co-produced by Colombia’s Ministry of Culture. In charge of the play’s music production is Christian Castagno, three times Grammy award-winning music producer, who has recorded the Kogi elders for the first time in his music studio ‘Sonido Selva’ in the Sierra Nevada. The performance will debut in Teatro Cenit (Minca, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta) in October 2024, then taken to indigenous communities in Kogi territory.
“This is a play that has great power because it comes from the Indigenous elders who want an alternative way of expressing their thought system to the non-Indigenous. This makes it incredibly powerful, strong, important and it’s what we need in the West, to change our mindset.”
Juan Mayr, former Colombian Minister for the Environment
We are raising funds to continue rehearsals from January 2025, to be ready to take the show on a national and international tour of key theatres (starting in March 2025), shining a spotlight around the world on the environmental wisdom and knowledge of one of the world’s oldest living Indigenous groups, sparking crucial international dialogue around pre-Columbian environmental spirituality to challenge the mainstream extractivist paradigm.
DONATE TO HELP THE KOGI SHARE THEIR ENVIRONMENTAL MESSAGE THROUGH Teatro Cenit
If you would like to support the Kogi to perform their environmental message, you can do so via Paypal
directly to the group, using this email address: nubesandoval@gmail.com
* How to send money via Paypal ( an easy guide, 1 min video)*
Teatro Cenit, Nube Sandoval & Bernardo Rey, Email: teatrocenit@gmail.com
See more quotes from the performers and participants below
“For me art is important, because from many years ago we have been practicing dance and singing. From that we continue, and today movement is like singing. Here we do movement, all these movements are not from us but are from the animals, all living beings, all the biodiversity that exists in the world. And this is a message to communicate with animals and with humans. And that is why it is important for me to learn, to continue learning so that our culture is not lost because if we do not practise it, we will lose our culture. So for me art is important for that.”
Ronaldo Gil Zarabata
“My duty is to take care of them, to protect them, I will be attentive to them, I will always be directing things. Through the Mother, there are bad things, good things, so there has to be direction and we are the primary guides.”
Saga Francisca de Tunguexa
“It is time to spread our message further so that people understand reality, what is happening in the Sierra, in nature and in the world in general. They (the actors) are learning. (The project) is directed theatrically by Nube and Bernardo and I direct it spiritually. I must be present, the actors are young people who do not have knowledge, the knowledge that I have but I think that with all that they consult me on, ask me, I will be responding to them so that they will be strengthened, so that they have the opportunity to present their performance. I will be there performing because I am crucial in explaining how the situation has been handled in the Sierra, in nature, in the lower part of the Sierra and in the Western world. I live here but I know what happens in the world in general.”
Mama Luntana de Tunguexa
“When I wasn’t in the theatre, I did not know the words of the elders, of the Mamo who explains what water is, how the earth is, how it was born, how they built it, the Mamo’s stories. Then, when I arrived here, Mamo would tell us of the water, of everything that came before, and then I began to think… Before I used to think that water existed to give life only to us, but that isn’t so! Water is for everything that exists in this world. This way I learned more, little by little I am learning more from Mamo too. I want to continue talking to the Mamos also in my village or wherever I am, I want to learn more about my culture. For me it is important what we are doing right now, to do what the Mamo teaches us, so that other people can see what we do and what we do not do. For example, if we do the dance of the waters, this is to protect and take care of them.”
Juan David Zarabata Gil
“When I go to sing like Jaba, I want to sound like her. I need to practise that sound. I need to practise the dance more too.”
Yuliet
“Sometimes people do not understand with words, instead we have to show them in a different way so that they understand, understand a little more about the issue of affectations, the territory’s importance to us. With Nube and Bernardo we have been learning, they have made us research ourselves. About certain things I did not know, but thanks to this, the activities and homework they task us with (for example, research our lineage, about who Sukwukwi was, about the creation of the world). This way one learns about oneself when you ask yourself questions: ‘Who was Dugunawi? What was his story? How were their creations? Why are they important?’… Before entering Teatro Cenit the truth is that I didn’t know, but as they tasked us with investigating, I asked my grandfather, my dad about these topics… having so much history/ information, a rich history in your own home but if you do not ask, then obviously you will not know. I asked and there they told me a little about the stories, about the whole topics we are doing, of the nine scenes. It is very important because one learns from one’s own knowledge as an indigenous Kogi and also knows about oneself.”
Esteban Nuevita
“I see theatre as a method, a way of making a payment, of giving back to the Earth, a payment for the change of mentality, of attitude, of spirit. Perhaps in this way we can reach an understanding that would lead more to the benefit of the Earth, to Mother Earth”
Jate Luntana (translated by José Manuel Sauna Mamatacan)
“The play is a message of necessary environmental care from the Kogi way of thinking. We (Bernardo Rey and Nube Sandoval) are like bridges between the Kogi and Western society to transmit a message of care for Nature.”
Bernardo Rey
“It is very important to learn from your own culture, from within yourself, because if you don't ask or learn, then obviously you will forget everything that is yours.”
Aura
“Para mí el arte es importante, porque desde hace muchos años venimos practicando la danza y el canto. De ahí seguimos, y hoy el movimiento es como el canto. Aquí hacemos movimiento, todos estos movimientos no son de nosotros sino de los animales, de todos los seres vivos, de toda la biodiversidad que existe en el mundo. Y este es un mensaje para comunicarnos con los animales y con los humanos. Y por eso para mí es importante aprender, seguir aprendiendo para que nuestra cultura no se pierda porque si no la practicamos, perderemos nuestra cultura. Entonces para mí el arte es importante para eso.”
Ronaldo Gil Zarabata
“Mi deber es cuidarlos a ellos, protegerlos, para esto estaré pendiente, estaré siempre dirigiendo las cosas. A través de la Madre, hay cosas malas, cosas buenas, entonces hay que dirigir las cosas, somos guiadores primordiales.”
Saga Francisca de Tunguexa
“Toca difundir mas allá para que la gente comprenda la realidad, lo que está ocurriendo en la Sierra, en la naturaleza y en el mundo en general. Ellos (los actores) están aprendiendo. (El proyecto) es dirigido en la parte del teatro por ellos (Nube y Bernardo) y yo lo dirijo en la parte espiritual. Yo tengo que estar presente, ellos son jóvenes no tienen conocimiento, no tienen el conocimiento que tengo yo pero creo que con todo lo que me consulten, me pregunten, estaré respondiéndole a ellos para que sean fortalecidos y tengan esa oportunidad de presentarse y estaré yo ahí presentando porque yo soy como la parte primordial para explicar como se ha manejado la situación en la Sierra, en la naturaleza en la parte de abajo y el mundo occidental. Vivo aquí pero sé lo que ocurre en el mundo en general”
Mama Luntana de Tunguexa
“Antes cuando yo no estaba aquí en el Teatro, yo no sabía las palabras de los mayores, de los Mamo que decían qué es el agua, cómo es la tierra, cómo nació, cómo construyeron, las historias como dicen los Mamos. Después, cuando yo llegué aquí, Mamo nos decía: así fue el agua, de todo lo que había antes, y después me puse a pensar… antes yo decía que el agua era para dar la vida solamente a nosotros, ¡pero no era así! Sino que es para todo lo que existe en este mundo. Entonces así fue que yo aprendí mas, poco a poco estoy aprendiendo más del Mamo también. Quiero seguir hablando con los Mamos también en mi pueblo o donde sea que yo esté, yo quiero aprender más de mi cultura. Para mí es importante lo que estamos haciendo en este momento, hacer lo que el Mamo nos enseñe, para que la gente también vea lo que hacemos y lo que no hacemos. Por ejemplo, si hacemos un baile de las aguas, esto es para proteger y cuidar.”
Juan David Zarabata Gil
“Cuando yo voy a cantar así, como Jaba, yo también quiero cantar como ella. Este sonido tengo que practicarlo. El baile también tengo que practicarlo mas.”
Yuliet
“A veces las personas no entienden con palabras, sino que hay que mostrar de una manera diferente para que ellos entiendan, comprendan digamos un poco más sobre el tema de las afectaciones, la importancia para nosotros del territorio. Pues con Nube y Bernardo hemos ido aprendiendo, ellos como nosotros, nos han puesto a hacer investigaciones a nosotros mismos. En ciertas cosas no sabia, pero gracias a esto, las actividades y las tareas que a veces nos ponían (por ejemplo hacer las investigaciones sobre nuestro linaje, sobre quien fue Sukwukwi, cómo fue la creación del mundo). Uno mismo aquí va aprendiendo. Cuando uno mismo va a hacer preguntas ‘¿quién fue Dougounawi?, ¿cuál fue su historia?, ¿cómo fueron las creaciones de ellos? ¿por qué son importantes?’… Antes de entrar aquí la verdad es que yo no sabía, pero como nos pusieron esa tarea de investigar, yo pregunté a mi abuelo, a mi papá sobre todo este tema… Uno teniendo una información muy grande, una historia muy grande en su propia casa si no preguntas pues obviamente que no vas a saber. Yo pregunté y ahí me contaron un poco sobre el tema de las historias, de todo el tema que estamos haciendo, de las nueve escenas. Es muy importante también porque uno aprende de su propio conocimiento como indígena como Kogi y conoce también de si mismo”
Esteban Nuevita
“El teatro lo veo como un método, una forma como si uno hiciera pagamento, retribuirle a la Tierra, pero entonces pagamento para el cambio de la mentalidad, de la actitud, del espíritu, tal vez así podamos llegar a un entendimiento que llevaría más a favor a la Tierra, a favor de la Madre Tierra”
Jate Luntana (traducido por José Manuel Sauna Mamatacan)
“Un mensaje de la necesidad del cuidado desde el pensamiento Kogi. Nosotros somos como puentes entre los Kogi y la sociedad occidental para transmitir un mensaje de cuidado para la Naturaleza”
Bernardo Rey
“Es muy importante también aprender de lo suyo, desde uno mismo porque si uno no pregunta o aprende pues obviamente que se le van a ir olvidando todo lo que es de uno mismo”
Aura