Listen to the voices of Mamo Camilo Izquierdo and Jaison Pérez Villafaña (Arhuaco elders) as you participate in a guided exercise of deep thinking and reflection related to the concepts and works presented in this exhibition. (4 minutes)

 

LACMA · The Portable Universe - Meditation (EN)

Audio Transcript (EN)

Sometimes, one finds oneself speaking about something without having been authorized, without permission. And one violates many spaces. Unconsciously. So what we are going to do here is, in order for me to have that permission to speak on the matter, I have to cleanse myself first.

Where I was born, where I live, what I think … I let go of everything, all negative energy that may be around me. 

What energy do I remove?  I often think negative thoughts or act negatively, and all these negative energies accumulate in my body, my spirit, and in my thoughts. So how do I remove this negative energy, so that all functions well? 

We say that we are alive, that we are breathing. But where does the oxygen we breathe come from? There is someone who represents it and takes care of it: the trees. They allow us to breathe every day. That is why our thoughts flow and travel so much, because trees and their oxygen exist. If not, we ourselves wouldn’t exist. Therefore we have to take care of the trees and cleanse all species, from the smallest to the largest.

Another energy we need to care for, is one that carries us and brings us. It is the wind, the air. The wind is oxygen. We breathe that. If it didn’t exist, we wouldn’t be alive. 

Representations of these ideas, their original conception, are found in the materials that you store. So what should we do?
We cleanse the wind. And the wind cleanses what is ours, safeguarded over there, at the museum. 

By way of the wind and our thoughts, we visit everything that you have there in the museum.

The wind also provides guidance. It carries us, it brings us. It is good oxygen, good energy, helping communication to flow. And it begins to connect different sectors, different people, and different cultures for a common good.

Everyone has been given a mission.  And everyone is fulfilling that, here in the universe. 

We as a people (Arahuaco) have been charged  to  take care of everything, protect it, and make a living out of this mission. For example, the sun is one of the stars that was given the most energy, so that it could take care and lead the rest of us; but, we as a people are here to take care of her energy so that she, the sun,  doesn’t lose too much heat, or gets too hot. 

If our own mistakes and transgressions begin to multiply, then she will be affected, the heat will go up. So, what we do so that it remains in balance is, in this case, take away all negative energies. Because of her, we have the day, thanks to that original energy.  

Thanks to this work, she lives – and we depend on it. Our family depends on it. So how do I cleanse, heal … everything surrounding me, my path, I clean all of it.  By doing this work, you begin to be part of her, in the best possible way.