Mama Coca, Nadège Mazars

Mama Coca reframes the narrative built around coca and examines its prohibition, a plant that has been part of the heritage of South American native communities for thousands of years. It highlights the hope of building a different future through Indigenous struggles in a region particularly affected by the violence of internal conflicts. The photobook brings together a series of photographs taken in the department of Cauca (Colombia) about the indigenous guard and the main rituals of the Nasa people, with texts and archives.

In Nasa communities, coca is still widely used and consumed, especially in ritual practices. It is key to spiritual connections. It is chewed during the harvesting of other plants, as coca helps identify them. It is still chewed during preparation and rituals. The leaves are also offered to the fire. Coca is essential for reaffirming Indigenous identity after the human, social, and cultural disasters caused by colonialism. It is considered intrinsically linked to communities. For this reason, Indigenous authorities affirm that consultation is a fundamental right regarding its use, particularly for industrial or scientific research purposes.

Indigenous guards, whose sticks are not weapons but rather a symbolic representation of the authority conferred upon them by the communities, organize the care of the territory and its inhabitants. They are on the front lines of a terrible fight against drug trafficking, which recruits many young people and minors from Indigenous communities through the armed groups operating in the area. 

The photobook presents two examples of plant appropriation: the case of Coca-Cola, which continues to use the banned plant in its secret formula while initiating legal proceedings against the Colombian indigenous company Coca Nasa for its use of the term "coca." And the case of drug trafficking and the violence that plunged indigenous communities and their social movement into mourning.

By dismantling the double language of prohibition and economic exploitation, the photobook denounces this expression of colonialism that seeks to appropriate Indigenous heritage. To contextualize and reposition the historical depth of the discourse produced around coca, the inclusion of financial documents, press clippings, found photographs, hacked emails, biochemical graphs, official documents from agencies such as the DEA and the NSA, among other visual materials, is essential. These elements generate a polyphonic dialogue with the photographs, reinforced and enriched by the voice of the Nasa community, whose presence permeates and gives life to the book. The texts, which include a prologue by a Nasa senator, an article by a precolonial historian, explanatory notes, quotes from spiritual authorities, and an artist's statement, deepen the debate by multiplying voices, amplifying collaborations, and challenging representations.

CONTENTS

• A series of photographs about the Indigenous Guard, their work protecting the territory, and their teachings aimed at the youth of the communities. 
• A photographic series built around the coca leaf and its use in the four main rituals of the Nasa people (Sek Buy, Saakhelu, Çxhapuc, Apagón del fuego). 
• Throughout the book, a series of files trace the use of the coca plant over the centuries: 32 black-and-white files with a paragraph of text punctuate the reflection on the prohibition and uses of coca. 
• Appendices focused on three themes, with a text corresponding to each: Coca-Cola's attack on the indigenous company Coca Nasa and Coca-Cola's hidden relationship with the coca leaf; cocaine money and its reinvestment in the global economy; and, finally, what science has to say about the coca leaf. 
• Quotes from members of Indigenous communities regarding the contemporary use of coca leaves. 
• Two texts: one by historian Damian Gonzales Escudero on coca as a focus of interest in the precolonial era; an artistic statement by Nadège Mazars. 
• The prologue by Aïda Quilcué, senator of the Nasa people.

DESIGN

The book is characterized by its specific materiality. First, the cover paper is made from coca leaves grown in a field belonging to the Coca Nasa indigenous company and crafted by Ana Trujillo at the Perro de Agua workshop in Manizales. Each cover is unique, thanks to the artisanal arrangement of the leaf waste. Second, in addition to the loose pages inserted into the Japanese-style binding, the book invites the reader to manipulate it and read the image sequences according to the arrangement of the two types of booklets, one with two double-sided pages and the other with five double-sided pages. When unfolded, the second booklet is inspired by the shape of a spiral, referring to the importance of this symbolic representation in the spirituality of the Nasa people. Third, four double-page spreads of vellum paper feature horizontal photographs that require specific handling of the double-page spread to fully view the horizontal image. A separate 60-page, 14 x 18.5 cm, black-and-white booklet provides photo captions and archives, and includes English translations of the Spanish texts included in the photo book. A QR code is included in the booklet for accessing the French translation.

Published by Raya Editorial
First Edition of 1000
Hardcover
306 pages
230 x 170 mm
ISBN 9786280195582