This moving image work was originally shown at a celebratory event hosted by Radar on the Loughborough campus in May 2026 as part of a series of workshops to celebrate the Parhangua project: a collaboration between artists from Loughborough University, members of Futuros Indígenas and Cherán’s community in Mexico. This event also featured spoken word performances by contributors to the project, discussions and live music. It was the culmination of the rich exchange between artists Helem Andrade, Betel Cucué, Rosa Marina Flores Cruz, Dorine van Meel, Felipe Viveros, members of Futuros Indígenas and Cherán’s community in Mexico, and participants at Loughborough University: Neda Abbasimaleki, Jenny Amann, Carina Brand, Saurav Roy, Alma Solarte-Tobon, John Tobin and Zoha Khaniki.
Dorine Van Meel, who led the project, held workshops alongside Felipe Viveros with members of the Loughborough University community earlier in the year, which helped inform the finished moving image work. The workshops explored the roles of colonialism, capitalism, systems, society, ancestors and individuals on the growing climate emergency.
In the workshops, participants reconsidered the presentation of humans as Homo sapiens (‘wise humans’), instead referring to our species as Homo narrans (‘storytelling human’). Felipe proposed that thinking of humankind in these terms prioritises storytelling over other forms of intelligence, such as logic and reasoning, and proposed that a change in popular narratives among people can lead to changes in wider systems. The workshop participants responded by considering two questions:
- What narratives have impacted our lives and beliefs?
- Which of these narratives would we like to change?
You can read more about the project and the exhibition on the Radar website.