The Falling Sky

The project explores indigenous worldviews, environmental and humanitarian crises in the Peruvian Amazon.

After years of research and interest in subjects revolving around indigenous worldviews, environmental and humanitarian crisis, I finally decided to travel to the Peruvian Amazon and work with local activists and grassroots organisations dedicated to the protection of land rights, biodiversity, culture and language of the indigenous peoples in the rainforest. For over a month I studied and documented various initiatives and projects, conducted numerous interviews with native leaders and visited local communities in both urban and rural settings.

What I have previously known only from reading books, suddenly revealed itself right in front of my eyes as a day to day reality: the land and its peoples being subjected to the same system of colonial exploitation, no different than 500 years ago.

In the past, conquistadors subjugated local populations into slavery, confiscated their lands and plundered natural resources, all the while annihilating native belief systems and cultures throughout the centuries of fervent missionary crusades.

Today, this imperialist formula remains very similar- neocolonial corporate policies hidden behind the rhetoric about economic development, employment opportunities, technological progress, social welfare and the overcoming of civilisational backwardness are preached by transnational corporations and corrupt governments. Countless communities are subjected to military violence, forced assimilation, displacement, and land grabbing imposed by state authorities and extractivists who carry out multimillion mining operations with near total impunity.

The disappearance of traditional cultures previously fuelled by the establishment of missionary boarding schools and forced assimilation programs is now sustained by the western consumerist ideal diffused through mass media, the internet, satellite television and international commerce.

This collaborative work is an attempt to capture the intersection between nature and culture, mysticism and commerce, tradition and modernity, destruction and regeneration.