Wifi to the Gods: Indigenous Technologies for Planetary Futures

“This is our Mba’ekuaa. Our Technology. You have your Mba’ekuaa, and we have ours” - Nhanderu Tadeu, Guarani and Kaiowá Indigenous Shaman. 

How can sound shape planetary futures? Indigenous communities in Brazil understand sound as Mba’ekuaa or technology, which can have powerful effects on the world. In the current global context of biodiversity crisis and ecological collapse, Guarani and Kaiowá indigenous shamans are using sound as a tool to dialogue with spirit entities and restore balance with nature. Their sacred instruments are described as their “wifi to the gods” or “phone line to the spirits”, where the sounds of the instruments themselves are seen to open a portal between worlds. 

Join us for a multimedia performance and immersive ritual led by Guarani and Kaiowá shamans from Brazil. This groundbreaking multimedia show draws together indigenous communities with electronic musicians, cutting-edge video mapping and immersive sound artists, anthropologists, computer scientists and innovation researchers, bringing diverse forms of technical knowledge into dialogue.

The work draws on a four-year partnership between the UCL Multimedia Anthropology Lab (UCL MAL) and indigenous communities in Brazil, developed through a series of collaborative multimedia experiments. By adopting a radically collaborative approach to preserving indigenous ancestral knowledge and exploring the latest technological innovations, these projects aim to counter the historical exclusion of indigenous voices from both the narration of their history and the imagination of collective planetary futures.

Wifi to the Gods is the opening event in UCL MAL's Sounding Planetary Futures autumn events series taking place across the UCL campus. Through a dynamic programme of musical performances, panel discussions, practical workshops and immersive sound installations, these events invite London's diverse creative research community to explore how Guarani and Kaiowá concepts of sound and technology can help rethink sustainable planetary futures.