(By Elyzabeth Peredo) During the year which marked 500 years since the beginning of colonization in our continent (1992) Walter Solón surprised us with his beautiful exhibition made up extraordinary drawings about the resistance and the suffering of the indigenous peoples. The drawings were done on amate, a paper extracted from tree bark that was used by the Mayas.

His drawings formed part of the first video done by Fundación Solón: The never-ending conquest. This presented a critical look at the identity of the Latin-American peoples, reminding us once again that the conquest had not ended, that our people still struggle within the tension between domination and liberty, authoritarianism and self-determination.

In this way, Solón started the adventure of creating the Fundación with the aim of passing on his vision, his dreams, and making it possible for there to be a space for creativity and critical observation that could contribute towards the utopia of a different world based on justice and solidarity.

The Tuuki Onqoy is one of the amate works that is part of the exhibition "Human rights in the work of Walter Solón Romero" that was opened on the 4th of August.

This work, done with magical paper, is a reference to the taki onqos (known as people possessed by a “dancing disease”) that took place around 1560, in the regions of Huamanga, Cuzco, Ayacucho, Arequipa, La Paz and Chuquisaca.

According to historical sources, people started to dance, for no apparent reason as if they were ill, but this was a “disease” that called on the indigenous peoples to recover their roots and to dance their rhythms and music as a way of resisting the life imposed on them by the conquistadors.

According to Fernando Montes (1986), the movement was an indigenous response to the excessive taxes and the abuses of the encomienda (a system of enforced labour) imposed by the Spaniards. This rebellion shows us to what extent the strength of culture itself and the values in favor of life can be a form of protest and can exert influence over society. Solón portrays this profound emotion that allowed people to recover the right to rebel against oppression and imagine a different world.

This is the same spirit that accompanies us as we re-open Fundación Solón. We hope to be guided by the sense of urgency that never faltered with Walter Solon as we work with art, videos, research, promotion of human rights, the fight for women’s rights, the struggle against injustice, the fight for equity and the movement to change the system. We remain inspired by his words:

“There is a lot to say, too many injustices to condemn, countless abuses to fight. We cannot remain silent and defy adversity with our arms crossed in a world which  devours its own. We cannot wait to clarify our paradigms whilst thousands of men and women confront the advance of a model that leaves desolation in its wake.”

See also:
- Dead bones dancing (thesis by Sandra Lee Allen Henson, pdf)