Ayenan Quinchoa Juajibioy

On Plant Intelligence

Date: Friday, October 18th
Time: 18:00–20:00

HGK - D1.04 Aula

Suitable for all guests

In English

In this keynote, Ayênan Quinchoa Juajibioy interprets five words spoken in kamëntsá, his tribal language: ‘Bëng jouenan betiyëng yajuan jabuayenán’ means something like ‘Listen carefully to the plants that guide you’. This expression helps the Kamëntsá to understand how inner and outer interactions with the plants manifest themselves. They use it as a guide to maintain a balanced connection with other people and the universe. This guide also helps to develop communication strategies and digital content within its community. Various digital and technological tools contribute to the preservation of life in their ancestral territory.

Input

Keynote: • Paco Calvo
Input: Ayenan Quinchoa Juajibioy, leader Pan-Amazon Collective, Colombia

Followed by a discussion moderated by Rasa Smite.

Biography

Ayenan Quinchoa Juajibioy was born in Tabanok Bëngbe Uáman Luar Tabanok (English: Our sacred place of origin). He is a member of the Kamëntšá and Inga people, located in the department of PUTUMAYO SUR DE COLOMBIA. He is a student of Materials Engineering at the University of Antioquia, and computer programming technician at CENSA (Antioquia Systems Center). He is an empirical videographer and has collaborated in the documentary films «Rio Arriba» and «AYENAN» made by Felipe Castelblanco and Lydia Zimmermann with Ñambi Rimai Media Collective. He currently works as multimedia content creator for the educational platform of the U de Colombia (University Corporation) in Medellín. Throughout his life Ayenan has been a protector of his territory and the legacy of his ancestors and parents. For millennia the Kamëntšá and Inga cultures have had an intimate contact with the magical plants of their environment, and this connection and sensitive knowledge have motivated Ayenan to shine a light on a collective process of territorial defense because the memory of his culture is being physically and culturally exterminated due to the transformations brought to them by globalization. Ayenan Quinchoa Juajibioy is the current leader of the Pan-Amazon Collective and research partner of the SNSF project “Plants_Intelligence. Learning Like a Plant”.

Ayenan Quinchoa

Chaired by Plants_Intelligence. Learning Like A Plant (Yvonne Volkart, Felipe Castelblanco, Julia Mensch, Rasa Smite).

Funded by SNSF and hosted by Institute Art Gender Nature HGK Basel FHNW.