CORPORACIÓN COLOMBIANA DE TEATRO – ESCUELA POPULAR DEL TEATRO LA MÁSCARA
On the stage of the People’s Theatre School: The Mask, the Úrsulas Polifónicas Mujeres Libres y Sabias (Polyphonic Ursulas, Free and Wise Women) have embarked on a journey of collective creation and discovered the traces that have enabled us to recognise the wisdom of our elders and the aspirations that drive younger women to gather the seeds bestowed upon them through the voices of these ancestors of the future.
This photo essay brings this transformation to life: the older women pave the way for generational renewal, strengthening women’s culture, identity, leadership, struggles and resistance.
THE BEGINNING OF MOTHER EARTH, of the drum, of plants, of words and of women’s fertile wombs—thus begins life itself and the People’s Theatre School: The Mask.
WOMEN’S HANDS. By joining women’s hands, by finding the inspiration and the voice of those who meet week after week at the Mask theatre, the exchange of knowledge, the legacy and the generational handover are laid down.
ANCESTRAL KNOWLEDGE, MEMORY AND ORAL TRADITION. The elder women of People’s Theatre School: The Mask, as bearers of knowledge, guide the younger women in their journey of learning and growth.
RE-EXISTENCE. The knowledge, legacy and words of Black women remind us of the power of sisterhood and the passing along of ancestral knowledge.
EARNING THE RIGHT OF PRIMOGENITURE. Although Lucy Gómez Mina is not yet of an age to be an elder, she embodies the power of community action and has a life story marked by struggles and leadership.
HEALING PLANTS. Recognising the powers of medicinal plants, older women and young people come together to weave and pass on knowledge.
ROOTS. Women who weave their stories together and share their words, recalling the indigenous roots that unite them.
AN ACTION… The value of a hug, of affection, and of supporting one another in living well.
THE VALUE OF WORDS. The youngest pupils at the school putting words into action and sharing their knowledge with all the other pupils.
THE POWER OF FELLOWSHIP AND A SMILE. Bearers of knowledge, experts, wise women – we all have something to teach and something to learn.