July 26, 2022, 9:20 PM
July 26, 2022, 9:20 PM
In order to rescue the Central role of Afro-Bolivian women in the cultural and historical construction of Afro-Bolivianity in the Yungasthe anthropologists Varinia Oros Rodriguez Y Maria Soledad Fernandez undertook the investigation Maps of Life: Genealogies and stories of women from Tocaña-Coroico. This initiative aims to rescue the life stories of 50 women from the community of Tocaña, through workshops on the construction of genealogies of life.
The project will recover the experiences of adolescent, young, adult and older women who live in Tocaña, Coroico. The workshops will be carried out with a feminist approach; using body maps to carry out genealogies as a methodology to rescue the legacy of women, accounting for knowledge, collective discourses and the constitution of bodies. “The female stories are the ones we want to help unveil, due to their importance and transcendence in the family and community spheres of the region”, explains Varinia Oros.
At the end of the workshops, the researchers will design a temporary exhibition based on the photographic and audiovisual material produced during the meetings, with the purpose of emphasizing the importance and transcendence of the stories of women in the construction of the Identity of the people. This sample will be exhibited, first, at the Tocaña Afro Cultural Interpretation Center and, later, at the Coroico City Hall. “The exhibition will make visible the life and history of Afro-Bolivian women in favor of a life without discrimination and symbolic violence,” emphasizes Varinia Oros.
The exhibition will allow the different publics to know the importance of feminine knowledge in Afro-Bolivian history, positioning themselves against the construction of a culture of equality between women and men and questioning the patriarchal cultural patterns of Afro-Bolivian populations. “The project will also make visible the importance of non-urban female knowledge and position the historical Afro-Bolivian female presence in the national struggle for a culture of equality between men and women”, explains Soledad Fernández.
Around 300 families (1,500 people who comprise the family support networks such as partners, brothers, daughters, and community support networks such as neighbors) of the participating women will benefit. “The realization of this project will contribute to social cohesion and will provide the opportunity to question the logic of construction of history by placing women, their bodies and spaces in the foreground,” adds Soledad Fernández.
This research initiative has the support of the Swiss Fund for Support of Culture – 2022 competitive fund, and has as allies the Aguayo Foundation, the Tocaña Afro-Cultural Interpretation Center and the Coroico Mayor’s Office.
