AN indigenous artwork is making its way to Glasgow for the COP26 climate conference in a 9000km journey from Mexico.
Totem Latamat is a message from the Totonac people to communities and world leaders conveying how deeply interwoven our existence is with nature and stressing the need for immediate action to disrupt the damage done by climate change.
It is due to arrive at the Indigenous Elders COP26 camp around the Sacred Fire at Glasgow’s Hidden Garden next week before being ceremonially returned to the Earth in Dumfries, emphasising the cyclical and transient nature of life and art.
Though colonisation has historically obscured Indigenous voices, COP26 will highlight the crucial role of indigenous peoples and local communities in mitigating and adapting to the climate emergency.
The totem, carved from a single cedar tree by Totonac artist Jun Tiburcio, is 4.5m tall, and has made its way to the UK as part of Border Crossings’ ORIGINS Festival – a multidisciplinary celebration of indigenous arts and culture from around the world.
Its 2021-22 festival offers an unprecedented and evolving year-long programme, transforming digital and physical spaces into vibrant sites of creative enquiry, intervention and performance by leading indigenous artists and thinkers.
The festival offers an opportunity to engage with the work of such artists and activists and ORIGINS’ themes of climate, covid and colonialism.
Tiburcio said: “For the Totonac people, birds are our messengers. In the totem, they tell us that we must take care of all life.
“At the top of the totem are hummingbirds, representing the aspiration for a new consciousness: they are messengers of peace between humans and nature.
“The face on the reverse represents the state of emergency in the world. We are so close to reaching the peak of this crisis and the raised arms of the Totonac culture represent the balance that we must find in the mind and the heart.
“We need to act quickly to care for the world through prayers, thoughts, connections, and laws.
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