“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration” Nikola Tesla

WARNING: THE TEXT HERE BELOW CORRESPONDS TO THE VERSION OF THE PROJECT THAT WAS SUBMITTED FOR THE SCRIPT PHASE. 

SELVA is a VR (Virtual Reality) experimental documentary that combines 360° film footage images with 3D generative abstract animations. The project is based on Amazonian songs and the possibilities of visualising and experiencing their sound frequencies.

SELVA explores how Amazonian Indigenous Peoples connect with the spiritual beings that populate the invisible worlds through ancestral songs. Ancestral songs are bridges that enable relationships between different beings that do not share the same vital condition or inhabit the same time-space. Amazonian ancestral songs are supposed to come from the heart, enlightened by the knowledge of the spirits themselves. For the Amazonian Nations, the heart is the seat of thoughts. Through the chanted word (the word of mythical times), thoughts go out into the world and are heard by the spirits. More than the words in the songs, the thoughts they contain and the intentions with which they are sung allow communication with the beings that populate the worlds, visible and invisible.

SELVA immerses the viewer into the visions in which Indigenous peoples of the Amazons relate to the world. The project starts with a question: How can we initiate an exchange between two cultures that have developed completely different systems of connecting to the planet?

The objective is to dialogue with diverse indigenous Amazonian ethnic groups. The exchange occurs in the encounter of two sciences, indigenous and western. Western science is objective and quantitative as opposed to traditional knowledge, which is mainly subjective and qualitative. Western science is based on an academic and literate transmission, while traditional knowledge is often passed on orally from one generation to the next by the elders¹.

Worldwide, everyone has a view that satisfies the need for orientation and positioning in reality. Conceptualising the cosmos and its relationship to human beings is a socially learned cultural product. Each culture considers why things are the way they are, pointing out the legitimate bases of the social order. Scientific and cultural forms of perceiving, interpreting, and explaining the world distinguish one society from another and involves temporal and spatial dimensions. It also incorporates classificatory systems.

According to Amazonian thought, the universe has vitality and is animated. Every material or physical entity has its spiritual counterpart, which usually has a human form, although generally, human beings perceive only the apparent manifestations of material reality.

Amazonian Indigenous Peoples often believe in the universality of language, where linguistic faculties belong to all living beings without discriminating between humans and non-humans. Traditional histories say that all beings (animals, plants, stars and spirits) shared the same language in the time of the beginning. Sacred chants can reactivate that mythical time and that shared language. The strength of each singer's heart, the power of his thoughts, and the links she/he has established with beings of the unseen worlds will determine whether the chants will affect the world of dense matter.

Latin-American Indigenous traditions are commonly organised around the mediation of the figure of the Shaman, the Master (jaibaná for the Embera, mamo for the Arhuacos, Taita for the Ingas, grandfather among the Uitotos). This person is the holder of ancestral wisdom. The meaning of forms and symbolism is passed down through the generations.

The songs of the visionary masters are not poetic descriptions of feelings but are magical instruments that seek to affect the concrete reality of the visible world. The power of the word, which regains its mythical power, transforms the world. The songs, then, have in them the power of the good words that the master pronounces, and this power is almost material, for it is capable of being swallowed as if it were water. When a powerful visionary master chants, his words weave a luminous pathway down which the spirits descend. In turn, the master ascends that same bridge of light and goes to wander the astral territories where those same spirits dwell. The songs are an expression of the path that connects humans with spirits.

With this VR piece, we want to propose an experience that allows the participants an approach to the Amazon Rainforest from the people that for centuries have inhabited the environment. The documentary is a journey to this amazing yet endangered ecosystem. The VR experience explores the relationship between the people of the forest and the natural and extra-natural world. Introducing the protagonists and ritual scenes that allow the exploration of sound frequencies and vibrations that bridge the film footage with computer-generated animations.

SELVA is a VR performative documentary where indigenous ethnic groups and viewers perform. The experience proposed in this VR piece aims to introduce the viewer to Amazonian Indigenous culture and knowledge to understand other possibilities of conceiving nature and our relationship with it.

1 Mazzocchi F. Western science and traditional knowledge. Despite their variations, different forms of knowledge can learn from each other. EMBO Rep. 2006 May;7(5):463-6. doi: 10.1038/sj.embor.7400693. PMID: 16670675; PMCID: PMC1479546.  
2 Llamando a los espíritus: Cantos sagrados de la Amazonía. Pedro Favaron. Université de Montréal, 2011