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Wifi to the Gods: Indigenous Technologies for Planetary Futures

09 October 2024, 7:00 pm

Wifi to the Gods over distorted, elongated image of the American continents

A Multimedia Performance and Immersive Ritual with Guarani and Kaiowá Indigenous Elders from Brazil.

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All

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Bloomsbury Theatre
020 3108 1000

“This is our Mba’ekuaa. Our Technology. You have your Mba’ekuaa, and we have ours” - Nhanderu Tadeu, Guarani and Kaiowá Indigenous Shaman.

How can sound shape planetary futures? Indigenous communities in Brazil understand sound as Mba’ekuaa or technology, which can have powerful effects on the world. In the current global context of biodiversity crisis and ecological collapse, Guarani and Kaiowá indigenous shamans are using sound as a tool to dialogue with spirit entities and restore balance with nature. Their sacred instruments are described as their “wifi to the gods" where the sounds of the instruments are seen to open a portal between worlds.

Join us on Wednesday 9th of October at The Bloomsbury Theatre for a Multimedia Performance and Immersive Sound Ritual led by Guarani and Kaiowá shamans from Brazil. This groundbreaking multimedia show draws together indigenous communities, electronic musicians, cutting-edge video mapping and immersive sound artists, anthropologists, computer scientists and innovation researchers, bringing diverse forms of technical knowledge into dialogue.

Collaborating artists include: A Guy Called Gerald, Scott Hill, Kelvin Mbaretê, Matt Black, Blanca Regina, Guarani and Kaiowá Shamans Nhandesy Roseli, Nhandesy Fausta and Nhanderu Tadeu, Edward Griffiths, Vytautas Niedvaras, Georgina Brett, Andrea Esther Kerecsen and multimedia researchers Fabi Fernandes and Raffaella Fryer-Moreira. The event will also include participation from Sarah Bear Long, Fleur Pennington, Laura Wilcock and Chris Park, UK based druids who will welcome the Guarani and Kaiowá elders in a cross-cultural encounter of shamanic practice.

The work draws on a four-year partnership between the UCL Multimedia Anthropology Lab(UCL MAL), the State University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS) and Guarani and Kaiowá indigenous communities in Brazil, and has developed a participatory approach to preserving indigenous ancestral knowledge. By adopting a radically collaborative and experimental approach to emerging technological innovations in VR, 360 video, ambisonic sound, photogrammetry, interactive digital platforms, and remote sensing devices, these projects aim to counter the historical exclusion of indigenous voices from both the narration of their history and the imagination of collective planetary futures.

Wi-Fi to the Gods is the opening event of the Sounding Planetary Futures series, taking place across UCL this autumn. This multimodal festival is coordinated by the UCL Multimedia Anthropology Lab (UCL MAL) in a collaborative partnership with the Centre for the Anthropology of Sustainability (CAoS), the State University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS) and Amoenus. Through a dynamic programme of musical performances, panel discussions, workshops and immersive sound installations, these events invite London's diverse creative and research community to explore how Guarani and Kaiowá concepts of sound and technology can help rethink planetary futures.

The Sounding Planetary Futures events programme and the projects it showcases has been  supported by the British Museum's Endangered Material Knowledge Programme, UCL Knowledge Exchange and Innovation, UCL Research Institute of Collections, UCL Grand Challenges, UCL Global Engagement, UCL Institute of Advanced Studies Octagon Fund, IAS Music Futures, UCL Centre for Critical Heritage Studies and The Roddick Foundation.