Decolonising Local Knowledge – Arhuaco Filmmaking as a Form of Cultural Opposition

Abstract

Can filmmaking as a form of intercultural communication serve as an apparatus for selfidentification and cultural opposition to established North/West knowledge pro- duction hubs? Based on extensive fieldwork in the Sierra Nevada and detailed analysis of the Arhucao films and their production and distribution strategies, this article explores the possibility of utilising film and audio-visual communication as a way to decolonise local knowledge. Following decades of persecutions, hostility, illtreatment and cultural violence, the work of Zhigoneshi (and, later, Yosokwi) communication col- lectives not only helped to nourish the cultural identity of the indigenous communities of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, but it also turned them into proud ambassadors of indigenous values on the international level. Prolific in their internal and external com- munication practices, they regained agency as full participants of intercultural dialogue, which focuses on the importance of the inclusion, diversity and dewesternisation of local knowledge. While acknowledging its own limitations and the author’s inevitable positionality, this article also reflects on further steps that the European and Western collaborators and institutions need to take to accomplish the vision of decolonisation. It concludes with acknowledging the work of the Arhuaco filmmakers and their allies in providing an invaluable contribution to strengthen this discussion and enable the shift towards a more all-embracing pattern of knowledge production and dissemina- tion based on quality and importance and less so on stereotypical preconceptions and geographical location.