Yarapa
A School of Art into the Rainforest of Peru
Franck Provvedi
2009 - 63 min - Mini DV - Couleur - Royaume-Uni

The Yarapa documentary is about a School of Art called NYI, created in 2004 by Agustin Guzman president of the NGO Communidad Tawantinsuyu. The vision of Agustin, shaman, was to use painting, sculpture, and theatre as a therapy to help the youth of the Cocama Indians community living at the Heart of the Amazonian Forest. Indeed kids and teenagers there are facing an identity crisis. They have freedom to choose between their ancestral culture made of agriculture, fishing, the spirits of the forest and the modern world represented by the exodus to the city, Lima.
This project is universal and could take place in the United States, in a big city, a rich neighborhood or a ghetto, it could occur anywhere in Europe or in Africa. But this is happening in a remote village called Puerto Miguel nearby the Yarapa river in Peru.
Will Agustin?s concept have a sustainable impact? Is Art another way to educate the next generations? Shall we give greater importance to Art in the schooling to face the new challenges of globalization?