Patricia Gualinga (left), from the Sarayaku community, during the international symposium “Rights of Nature: 10 years after its recognition in the Constitution of Ecuador”, Quito, September 2018. Image: Hugo Pavon/Universidad Andina
The final image is an image of the present: while representatives of indigenous peoples from different parts of the world celebrated the closing of the international symposium on the Rights of Nature (Quito, September 27-28, 2018) singing their traditional songs, the rest of the public, mostly mestizos and whites, were taking pictures and filming.
The message was clear: after two days of long, drawn-out talks, discussions and statements at the Universidad Andina in Quito, we, the industrialized ones, need a keepsake of those who are still in contact with nature.
