Water, for everyone, and for nobody.

Water, for everybody and nobody

The Bolivian Andean cosmovision recognizes water as a "LIVING BEING" and one of the most important, the connection they have with water is so deep that they not only see it as a space where other living beings live, nor as a liquid for consumption and irrigation, but also identifies that water feels, has names, has different ways of acting, gets angry and is a being with whom we must dialogue, make offerings and generate a bond of respect so that we can live in balance.

Water is the blood that gives life to Mother Earth, protects us, and is a being that manages to link us with the 3 planes of the Andean world, this world called (The Andean Divine Trilogy) is composed of three aspects or planes. In its representation of the cosmos "Hanan Pacha" or the (celestial or superterrestrial world above) "Kay Pacha" or the world of here and now (men, animals, and plants) "Uku Pacha" or the world below (dead, unborn and diseases). Water, in its different states, transits through all these planes and serves as a bridge of communication between them.

In these times where the main impact of climate change and pollution is water with this project, I try to open my senses to explore the vast symbolism that water has in our daily lives, becoming aware of its presence and the space it inhabits in our bodies, in our history, in our beliefs, and thus create a relationship of reciprocity with it, from all its forms and states in which this living being manifests, emanates, transforms and disappears.

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© Sara Aliaga - Image from the Water, for everyone, and for nobody. photography project
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We are aware of their presence, but we seem to prefer not to be aware of his absence, thus denying our own disappearance as well.

© Sara Aliaga - Image from the Water, for everyone, and for nobody. photography project
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The connection with the memory of water is not to perpetuate its form but to appreciate the ephemerality of its presence and to revalue every form of its existence more than the uses we give it.

© Sara Aliaga - Image from the Water, for everyone, and for nobody. photography project
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As water is a living being, since it has a life process, it also gives a space for life and reproduction, like other living beings, because we do not have the same empathy and reciprocity, because we do not want or we cannot see our own reflection in it.

© Sara Aliaga - Image from the Water, for everyone, and for nobody. photography project
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In the Aymara culture, there are legends of warriors who fight against lightning and hail, which often destroy their crops, from the Andean cosmovision it´s considered that water in all its manifestations are living beings that have strength, which are revealed if they are angry and with whom we must dialogue for a life in balance.

© Sara Aliaga - Image from the Water, for everyone, and for nobody. photography project
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Pollution has become part of the natural landscape, but it is not natural, the natural, health and social consequences and impacts that we suffer because of this, water belongs to everyone, but it does not belong to anyone, water belongs to life itself.

© Sara Aliaga - Image from the Water, for everyone, and for nobody. photography project
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From the Aymara cosmovision, water "Uma" is a living being, a sacred being that goes through the 3 planes of the divine Andean trilogy, that connects the sky with the earth and with what is below it, therefore we have to take care of it, nurture it, protect it and treat it with respect.

© Sara Aliaga - Image from the Water, for everyone, and for nobody. photography project
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Water is a collective good, which accompanies us in our existence and subsistence, but in reality it does not belong to us in essence, water flows freely and has lent itself to give life to many living beings, water seeks the way to make its presence known, even helping to form a rainbow, but do we really appreciate its presence in an empathetic way?

© Sara Aliaga - Image from the Water, for everyone, and for nobody. photography project
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the search for subway treasures has led man to wear down the earth and prevent the free flow of water, polluting it and preventing it from returning.

© Sara Aliaga - Image from the Water, for everyone, and for nobody. photography project
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Water keeps us in harmony and movement with the cosmos, it flows, nourishes and hydrates this living and natural body that we call Pachamama, -Mother Earth in Aymara-.

© Sara Aliaga - Image from the Water, for everyone, and for nobody. photography project
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Water being a sacred being for the Andean world is also thanked with offerings "Wajtas" -offerings-commonly called in Aymara, for the Pachamama (Mother Earth), with which they thank her for the rain in times of drought and for not sending hail.

© Sara Aliaga - Image from the Water, for everyone, and for nobody. photography project
i

From the Aymara cosmovision, the water "Uma" is a living being a sacred being therefore we have to take care of it, nurture it, protect it and treat it with respect.

© Sara Aliaga - Image from the Water, for everyone, and for nobody. photography project
i

The lagoons located in ceremonial places in the city of La Paz are considered -protective mothers- "Mama Qutas" in Aymara, they are full of positive energy that represents the blood of nature and protects the territory.

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