Hilar del Inírida (Threads of the Inírida) considers how culture, environment, and memory remain connected when traditions are separated from the land that once sustained them. Developed in conversation with members of the Curripaco Indigenous community of Colombia’s Guainía region, the project approaches cultural change as something layered and ongoing rather than simply lost. Situated in relation to the Inírida River, it reflects on how relationships between water, territory, and practice shift over time.¹

The river functions here as both a source of daily life and a site shaped by historical intervention. While it has long informed Curripaco social and spiritual practices, it also became a route for missionary activity and external governance that altered local systems of knowledge. The work situates this history within broader contexts in which waterways have been used to structure movement, access, and authority.²

The piece takes the form of a woven work developed through dialogue with Curripaco makers, who shared techniques and the use of achiote seed dye through remote exchange. Digital communication operates as a means of maintaining connection while keeping knowledge grounded with those who hold it. Industrial yet sustainable materials are used so the work does not replicate traditional objects but instead acknowledges its position as a collaborative encounter.

Loose threads are intentionally left at the edges so the weaving remains open-ended. A container accompanying the textile allows the piece to be continued beyond its initial making, keeping the work in process. Hilar del Inírida approaches memory as something carried forward through relation, repetition, and care.