Panellists (left to right): CEO of Impact One, Mikolaj Sekutowicz; Founder and CEO of Cogni, Archie Ravishankar; Co-Founder of Meta4 Capital, Nabyl Charania; Scorpios founder Thomas Heyne; Chairwoman of the Board of Impact One, Roksana Ciurysek-Gedir; entrepreneur Richard Caring; Executive Producer of Refik Anadol Studio, Efsun Erkilic; Yawanawá Chief Nixiwaka Yawanawá; Indigenous activist Mariana Maia; Yawanawá Chief Isku Kua Yawanawá; and new media artist Refik Anadol. Photo courtesy of Impact One.
On 13 July 2023, we united with Yawanawá Chiefs Nixiwaka and Isku Kua, and media artist Refik Anadol at Scorpios Mykonos, to unveil Winds of Yawanawa: the first outcome of our collaboration with the Yawanawá communities of Aldeia Sagrada and Nova Esperança.
Winds of Yawanawa was commissioned by Impact One as a first-of-itskind co-created artwork by the Yawanawá people and media artist Refik Anadol. We unveiled Winds of Yawanawa as the sun set on the Greek island of Mykonos. In attendance were Chiefs Nixiwaka and Isku Kua Yawanawa, with their family members Ninunihu and Ykashahu Yawanawa, Refik Anadol and his partner Efsun Erkiliç, alongside the teams and our Scorpios partners, who made the artwork series drop and launch possible.
To accompany and explain the historic moment that is the creation of Winds of Yawanawa, CEO of Impact One Mikolaj Sekutowicz hosted a panel discussion, to discuss the significance of the cross-industry collaboration from which the artwork emerged, and how Web3 can be used an additional driver of global stewardship of natural ecosystems.
- Founder and CEO of Cogni, Archie Ravishankar
- Co-Founder of Meta4 Capital, Nabyl Charania
- Scorpios founder Thomas Heyne
- Chairwoman of the Board of Impact One, Roksana Ciurysek-Gedir
- Entrepreneur Richard Caring
- Executive Producer of Refik Anadol Studio, Efsun Erkilic
- Yawanawá Chief Nixiwaka Yawanawá
- Indigenous activist Mariana Maia
- Visionary young Yawanawá Leader Isku Kua Yawanawá
- New media artist Refik Anadol
“I am a part of the new generation that has
witnessed the new technologies arriving within
our territories. We understood the need to
adapt to these new instruments that you bring
in order to adapt to this new reality. I don’t need
to fight with my bow and arrows anymore. I only
need to speak the same language as you. Who
would have thought that indigenous people
from the middle of the forest living in such a
traditional way would today be launching an
artwork with this artificial intelligence and all
the technology it involves. It doesn’t make me
and my people less Yawanawá or less indigenous. When I return back home I will be walking
barefoot on the ground. I will continue to play in
the river with my children and lighting my fire
under the starry sky. But when I want to speak
to you or to my brothers, I will take my phone
and speak to whoever I want and continue
protecting my forests in the same way. But now
speaking the same language as you.”
– Yawanawá Chief Isku Kua
“Today, I am witnessing the first dialogue of our
civilisation. Because here I stand, not just as a
Yawanawá Indigenous man from the Amazon,
but I speak for nature itself. We are not the lungs
of the world. We are the heart of the world.”
– Yawanawá Chief Nixiwaka Yawanawa
“This movement where [the Yawanawá] are
now living is the time of culture and the time of
spirituality, where they are able to share with
the world, and be empowered. And this is very
much through these alliances. So the people,
the Yawanawá people, are people that have
always been open to alliances. They have, even
in their stories, prophecies about this. So it’s
also due to these alliances that they are living in
the abundance they are living today and that we
are able to be spearheading such innovation
with the outside world between the
indigenous.”
– Indigenous activist Mariana Maia
“When we think about what the Yawanawá do,
they are the preserver of ancient wisdom,
ancient technology and since we are working
with technology, it was so interesting and
mind-opening to see how they initially connect
with each other, especially in the sense of AI.”
– Efsun Erkilic, Executive Producer of Refik
Anadol Studio
To complete the launch programme, Yawanawá chiefs Nixiwaka and Isku Kua led prayers and musical performances of traditional songs together with Nixiwaka’s daughter Ykashahu and Ninunihu, granddaughter of the great medicine man Yawarani.
Launch of Winds of Yawanawa
Winds Of Yawanawa by Refik Anadol and the Yawanawá Launches in Mykonos
On 13 July 2023, we united with Yawanawa Chiefs Nixiwaka and Isku Kua, and media artist Refik Anadol at Scorpios Mykonos, to unveil Winds of Yawanawa: the first outcome of our collaboration with the Yawanawá communities of Aldeia Sagrada and Nova Esperança.
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