The CLACS Quechua Program presents, Singing, Dreaming and Resistance Among the Water Guardian of Cajamarca Peru, a short video directed by Christopher Santiago. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with Christopher Santiago (CUNY - Staten Island) and Lynda Sullivan. Moderated by Odi Gonzales, (CLACS NYU).
Co-Sponsored by the Native Studies Forum.
Event Description:
This video presentation is based on Santiago's fieldwork with the peasants of Cajamarca (2012-2014) and their struggle against the Conga gold mining mega-project. The presentation focuses on dreaming and singing as native arts of resistance that proved crucial in the fight for water and life, focused on the dreams and songs of Señora Máxima Acuña Atalaya de Chaupe and Señora Santos, and reflects on the power of cultural resistance.
About the Participants:
Christopher Santiago, is a professor in the Anthropology & Sociology department at College of Staten Island (CUNY - Staten Island). He earned his Ph.D. at Columbia University. Santiago's dissertation "¡Conga No Va Carajo!" concerns peasant resistance to transnational mega-gold mines in Cajamarca, Peru, where he argues that "experience itself is an act of revolt". He is interested in theory and praxis of cultural resistance in the form of songs, stories, jokes and dreams, as well as direct political actions in the face of state-corporate repression and environmental end-times.
Lynda Sullivan is a writer and activist. She previously worked for human rights organisations in Ireland before spending 5 years in Peru, mainly Cajamarca, accompanying Andean communities in their resistance against mega extractive projects. She is currently working on the issues of climate justice and extractivism with Friends of the Earth NI.
Moderator, Odi Gonzales, is a native Quechua speaker, researcher, translator, and poet. He has published several scholarly books in the field of Latin American Literature, and many multilingual collections of poetry. He has led the Quechua language program at New York University's Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies since 2008.
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