Qutiy is a photographic and audio project focused on documenting, recording, and valuing the rites to Native American corn practiced by rural farmers in Peru and Mexico. In both countries, knowing how to grow corn has a cultural and scientific basis that over 8700 years has allowed them to create more than 50 native varieties.
Qutiy, is a Quechua word that means to return. And it is the name of a variety of native corn with healing properties. This knowledge has been transmitted since ancient times and today is linked to the preservation of the rarest cobs. But in today's world of industrialized lands and transgenic seeds, farmers no longer pass on to their children the knowledge of how to grow native varieties. As a result, many native species and their properties are in danger of extinction.
For this reason it is important to register and make visible the peasants and their rites that accompany the growth of corn. In order to transmit, raise awareness and help preserve native corn in the face of globalization. It is necessary to create an environment that calls for reflection on the cultural value of maize in order to make it visible and give a voice. From this documentary, a photo book will be published that will serve as a visual memory on the rites and uses of rare species of corn in Mexico and Peru.
2018 - ongoing
Florence Goupil
Freelance photographer and storyteller based in Peru. National Geographic Explorer.