The End of The World
UNVEILING-PRESERVING-REMEMBERING
All over the world, there are over 476 million indigenous people, belonging to more than 5,000 different ethnic groups, who speak over 4,000 dialects. Over the years, numerous languages have been lost and some indigenous groups have become extinct due to forced exile from their lands through colonization.
This is the story of the Selk’nam community from South America, a vibrant culture no longer existent after the arrival of European settlers to the territory.
The End of the World focuses on digitising history in order to look at the past as a way to think about the future. Behind the forceful conquest of the land and settlement, there is a story that deserves to be told and has not been silenced.
The end of the world seeks to capture the beauty and richness of the Selk’nam culture as a voice that narrates the importance of preserving the cultures that make up our world. We seek to show the story behind the story, to not let the brutal ending be the distinct end of such important storytelling.
By bringing this history back to life through poetry, imagery, illustrations and visuals, we understand the importance of preservation.
Resisting hatred, discrimination and forgetting.
Resistiendo al odio, discriminación y olvido.
The Selk´nam Community
The Story Behind the Story
The Creation of the Zine
By creating an experimental, non-linear zine, we will be giving life to a story by using abstract and compelling imagery. Included in this zine will be 2D AR pieces. Our main aim is to go beyond the written word and truly bring across to the audience the vibrant and complex essence of the Selknam people. Through this digital technology, we want to take audiences beyond the page to get the full breath of the story.
Decolonizing Information
The Danger of the Single Story
Research and contact with historians and members of indigenous communities was essential for the creation of our project to ensure that we are telling the story in the right and honest way. A process of decolonising the information gathered led to the conclusion that the best way to portray this narrative was through the recreation of illustrations. In addition to an artistic visual approach, this decision was supported by teachers, historians and indigenous artists, who emphasised the importance of indigenous craftsmanship and the relevance of art as a medium for storytelling.
Moreover, in the process of assembling these illustrations, a kind of ritual is experienced where each stroke carries with it a voice that deserves to be heard. This process was undoubtedly more important than the final result. Furthermore we worked on transferring these illustrations to augmented reality to create an interactive experience for the audience. In this case, the audience will have the opportunity to unveil the Selknam culture and learn about its richness. To enhance this experience, we worked on creating sound that creates an immersive environment for the viewer. The voices of the interviewees were considered with their permission and different auditive elements that portray atmospheric sounds of that time and space.
Sellnam were taken to France and Germany. A ship cargo manifest can show how many Selk´nam where transportated to be shown in human zoo´s.
Pictures registered by Martin Gusinde during his research explorations through South America between 1918 and 1924.
His work is relevant and essential for history preservation because his pictures are the only that documented rituals and costumes before the community would go extinct.
Tickets depicts the access at the time to human zoos where some of the kidnapped Selk'nam would be exhibited.
Sergio Marihuan, 88
Indigenous
"Forces are moved, orders are placed and respect is shown.
It is important for us to make our culture known, and fundamentally, in education, because one of the things I found the most difficult was history... who wrote it?
We are from a community very close to the inside. The families didn´t want to talk, it was forbidden at that time. They put you in prision.
Here I am, communicating everything I learned along the way. We as indigenous people presented ourselves to society and asked for the opportunity and respect to be able to relate with our own culture, our own idiosyncracy. This should be discussed within the Provincial, National and Municipal State. So that happened... in 1994, the constitution was reformed and the Argentine State recognized the pre-existence of the Native Nations. From that moment on, we have status of a Nation.
I have been recovering identity since I came here, and along the way. At that time I began to visit indigenous, to work with brothers. To see and experience the situations of the communities, and that is when I was able to define in depth what identity means. That´s where my identity and path was defined.
This is still valid today. It is alive, It is present. Of course with the natural changes that are taking place as human evolution goes on... but our original culture is intact, it continues to sustain itself.
It seems fear, sometimes becomes folkloric, and it shouldn’t be. These are the native cultures and what’s original is the essence of each group. Where was it born, how was it forged, its spirituality, everything that the culture of a community means.
That is wealth for humanity.
It is a disgrace that the ´white man´ did not understand or comprehend this. And that is why he continues to discriminate and push aside the indigenous peoples. Because he doesn’t take the time to understand
or to listen..."
