Nor Any a Drop To Drink

On January 28, 2022, about 6,300 barrels of oil spilled from the Heavy Crude Oil Pipeline (OCP) into Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest. This industrial disaster affected about 21,000 square meters of the Cayambe-Coca National park and polluted the Coca River. Indigenous communities such as the Kichwa people that live near the water bank have not been able to bathe, drink, or fish since the incident occurred. The only reason why I know this is because I saw a video of it on Twitter. How many incidents such as these do not receive nationwide attention? Since the discovery of oil reserves in the late 1960s, Ecuador has become a major oil exporter. Unfortunately, Ecuadorians suffered 28 years of oil contamination and exploitation from the Chevron-Texaco oil company. It was only recently that Chevron-Texaco was sentenced to “pay 9.5 million dollars for polluting the Amazon during its operations there between 1964 and 1992.” However, how can one repay the years of deforestation, burning toxic gasses, and devastation of Indigenous land with open oil wells that polluted their groundwater and air? During my research for this creative-critical work, it became clear that oil and water are inseparable. It has been inherent that we do not see the effects of oil pollution because it happens away from us. Yet, communities like Standing Rock have been fighting for their land to be protected from oil spills. These water warriors have seen that Profit has found a way to deny their human rights. We saw them fight for their tribal land to be respected, for their homes to not be poisoned, and most importantly for clean water. “Nor any a drop to drink” is a presentation of creative-critical work that responds to and considers the 2022 oil spill and the inextricable link between oil and water. In this performance, I\u27ll be sharing an image-text/comic art piece called The Calling of Piriá Piriá and other writing. I will need 15 minutes to share my work and access a computer, projector, and sound