Territorio que late

This print is about memory, resistance and territory. In the image I depict Mapalé: a dance that was born in black communities in the Caribbean coast of Colombia to endure and feel liberated in the midst of abuse in colonial times. The couple dancing in the water and the foam of the ocean is reminiscent of the mapalé fish, after which the dance is named because it moves with strength when taken out of the water. For me, the fish, as well as the dance, symbolizes the will to hold on to life and resist. The backdrop landscape is the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, a unique mountain range that sits right next to the Caribbean Sea and rises up to more than 5000 meters high. These mountains next to the sea speak to us of origin and strength: a vast territory that safeguards stories from its millenary peoples and keeps their cultures alive.