Video etnográfico boliviano de la década del ochenta: (Otra) identidad, historia y territorio

Abstract

The problematization of the narratives of national identity, the “rediscovery” of the indigenous world, the territory and history, were issues that the new democratic agenda pushed to treat the bolivian young filmmakers. Indeed, the outcome of dictatorships, the growing political organization of the indigenous sectors, their prominence in federations and unions, and the cultural and ideological self-valorization manifested in practices and discourses, were contextual factors that catalyzed the interest of new filmmakers as Eduardo López Zavala and Néstor Agramont, who were building their own path within the local audiovisual scene, articulating themselves in a diverse way with the documentary field, historical and ethnographic research, popular education and anthropology.This work focuses on one of the production trends of the Bolivian video of the eighties, the ethnographic, circumscribing its attention in the videos that López Zavala and Agramont materialized within the framework of the QHANA Popular Education Center: Levantémonos todos (1987) – which shows forms of community-political organization and, associated with it, the defense of the reserves in natural resources of the Uyuni salar area –, and, El camino de las almas (1989) – which thematizes the theft and commercialization of traditional abb. After commenting the historical context of both materials; and examine some conceptual contributions about the notions of territory and landscape, we will analyze the videos taking into account the representations with which the other indigenousness was represented, the past and social conflicts, and the notion of rights.

Keywords

• history
• identity
• territory
• ethnographic video
• bolivia