Shekuita or the bad thunder: performative documentary, ontological conflicts and decolonization of the real
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Jul 4, 2021
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Abstract
This paper analyzes the ontological implications and the performative nature of the documentary Shekuita o el mal trueno, released in 2017 by a Wiwa indigenous audiovisual production group in Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. The do- cumentary explores the causes, doubts and consequences of a sad incident that happened three years earlier: a lightning strike on a Wiwas ceremonial building, which killed nearly a dozen leaders. Based on the contrast between the scientific explanations of the tragedy and those that the spiritual authorities of the community have investigated according to their relational ontologies and based on a quasi-eth- nographic fieldwork during the filming process, we seek to account for a specific case of decolonization of reality and of the efforts of an indigenous community for free expression and autonomous representation. We find that this documentary opens doors to other worlds in an artistic way, told in an unsubmissive way by an indigenous community that challenges us. We conclude that the Wiwa perform a reality that is not necessarily the one they lived through, but one that strategically allows them to reach the reality they want to recover more easily. The paper attempts to contribute to the visibility of other ontologies other than the naturalistic one, to show selfcriticism of it and to show how the audiovisual is a propitious space to decolonize reality.
Keywords
documentary, ontologies, nature, natives, Wiwasdocumental, ontologias, natureza, indígenas, wiwasdocumental, indígenas, ontologías, naturaleza, wiwas
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Davies, Caleb. 2020. “Cómo la ciencia está desentrañando el misterio de los rayos y las tormentas eléctricas”. El País, 3 de noviembre. Acceso el 17 de abril de 2021. https://elpais.com/ciencia/2020-11-02/ como-la-ciencia-esta-desentranando-el-misterio-de-los-rayos-y-las- tormentas-electricas.html.
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Dwyer, Joseph. 2008. “Do Cosmic Rays Cause Lightning?”. Scientific American, 24 de enero. Acceso el 17 de abril de 2021. https://www. scientificamerican.com/article/experts-do-cosmic-rays-cause-lightning/.
Dwyer, Joseph y Martin Uman. 2014. “The Physics of Lightning”. Physics Reports, n.o 534: 147-241.
Escobar, Arturo. 2012. “Cultura y diferencia: La ontología política del campo de cultura y desarrollo”. Wale’keru: Revista de Investigación en Cultura y Desarrollo, n.o 2: 1-10.
Hustis, Harriett. 2017. “‘The Only Survival, The Only Meaning’: The Structural Integrity of Thornton Wilder’s Bridge in John Hersey’s Hiroshima”. Assay: A Journal of Nonfiction Studies 4, n.o 1: 1-22.
Kitchin, Rob y Tracey Lauriault. 2014. “Towards Critical Data Studies: Charting and Unpacking Data Assemblages and Their Work”. En Thinking Big Data in Geography New Regimes, New Research, editado por Jim Thatcher, Andrew Shears y Josef Eckert, 3-20. Nebraska University Press.
Kofman, Ava. 2018. “Bruno Latour, the Post-Truth Philosopher, Mounts a Defense of Science”. New York Times, 25 de octubre. Acceso el 17 de abril de 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/magazine/ bruno latour-post-truth-philosopher-science.html.
Latour, Bruno y Steve Woolgar. 1986. Laboratory Life: The Construction of Scientific Facts. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Le Roy, Frederik y Robrecht Vanderbeeken. 2018. “The Documentary Real: Thinking Documentary Aesthetics”. Foundations of Science 23, n.o 2: 197-205.
Manrique, Carlos Eduardo. 2014. “Luto en la Sierra Nevada”. El Espectador, 7 de octubre. Acceso el 17 de abril de 2021. https://www.elespectador. com/noticias/nacional/luto-en-la-sierra-nevada/.
Mojica, Rafael. Shekuita o el mal trueno; 2017. Bunkuaneimun.
Mora Calderón, Pablo. 2018. Máquinas de visión y espíritu de indios: Seis ensayos de antropología visual. Bogotá: Idartes.
Romps, David, Jacob Seely, David Vollaro y John Molinari. 2014. “Projected Increase in Lightning Strikes in the United States Due to Global Warming”. Science 346, n.o 6211: 851-854.
Stengers, Isabelle. 2005. “Introductory Notes on an Ecology of Practices”. Cultural Studies Review 1, n.o 1: 183-196.
Ulloa, Astrid. 2016. “Justicia climática y mujeres indígenas en América Latina”. LASA Forum 47, n.o 4: 12-16.
Viveiros de Castro, Eduardo. 2013. La mirada del jaguar: Introducción al perspectivismo amerindio. Buenos Aires: Tinta Limón.
Wilder, Thornton. (2004). El puente de San Luis Rey. Barcelona: Edhasa
How to Cite
Valencia Rincón, J. C., & Restrepo Hoyos, P. A. (2021). Shekuita or the bad thunder: performative documentary, ontological conflicts and decolonization of the real. Cuadernos De Música, Artes Visuales Y Artes Escénicas, 16(2), 118–131. https://doi.org/10.11144/javeriana.mavae16-2.smtd (Original work published July 1, 2021)
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