An Indigenous Mexican response to climate change at Manchester Museum

15 Oct 2021

From 21 October – 24 October, Manchester Museum will showcase an Indigenous Mexican response to climate change

TOTEM LATAMAT has travelled from Mexico to the UK by ship and is visiting a range of locations in the UK, including Manchester.

The Totem is due to arrive around 2pm on 21 October 2021 at University Place (directly opposite Manchester Museum). It will finally arrive in Glasgow for the final leg of its journey in time for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26).

This is a free public event, and University staff and students are warmly invited to come and see the Totem.

Commissioned by ORIGINS and carved by Indigenous Totonac artist Jun Tiburcio, TOTEM LATAMAT is a messenger sent by the Totonac people. "Latamat" means "life" in Tutunakú, and the totem is expressive of Totonac spiritual ideas as they relate to the environment.  It emphasises how deeply our existence is interwoven with nature, calls attention to the damage being done to the seas, the land and the air, and insists that we cannot ignore this destruction any longer.

TOTEM LATAMAT | Origins - Festival of First Nations (bordercrossings.org.uk)