«Yadico – The Dance of Unity»

Initiated in 2017, with the Encounter of Elders of Predio Putumayo, «Yadico – The Dance of Unity» provides intergenerational dialogues to create new ethnic narratives through an artistic and cultural perspective. In order to potentially collaborate in strengthening and renewing communities in the Colombian Amazon, the artists Diano Rico and Richard Décaillet joined efforts in the research of Aimena Urue to trace the path of Yadico, an important ritual instrument used in the dances of the Murui Nation. 

Used as a guide for The Dance of Unity, an important Murui ritual, the 20 meter long percussion instrument was taken to Switzerland in 1975 by anthropologist J. Gashé after a research trip in the Colombian Amazon. The investigation of its route to Europe forms the basis for the metaphorical set of works that dialogue with the ethno-musical culture of a region in a gradual process of identity loss because of mineral extraction, agricultural industry, industrial fishing, extensive agriculture and land appropriation.

With the support of Pro Helvetia, the Basel Museum of Culture, the Culture Scapes Festival and Theater de Vidy, the research trips seek to obtain the necessary information to recreate this lost episode, that involves the loss of an important ritual object for the Murui culture. Between September 2019 and October 2021, the duo of artists dialogue with the inhabitants of the village in order to collect memories related to the instrument and its dances and, using different technological resources, they will create installations, virtual reality experiences, a series of films and a theatrical adaptation of the Yadico myth.