In the Hands of Time

In the Hands of Time, is a collection of three other projects carried out during many years in the Brazilian Amazon. The cauldron of the Forest - I Extraction of wood coal in Paragominas, northern Brazil. These families work there in a semi slavery situation, they don’t have any working conditions or any kind of infrastructure. They stay for years in these smoke filled cauldrons under unimaginable heat ( in the middle of a plundered forest plus hundreds of huge ovens) , with no (safety) equipment. Each day has its toll of accidents, diseases, especially for the children (lung problems). At the same time there’s is the devastation of the Amazon forest. In the middle of the world - II The village Curiaú, northern Brazil, this project is about African slaves descendants that came here around 1760’s. These men and women managed to escape slavery and kept preserving until this day their ancient habits; they make their own manioc flour, mass is still sung and said in Latin together with the sound of their drums, called batuque, a rhythm that they created on the ships that brought them here some 500 years ago. Blood sprinkled earth - III The struggle and fight to conquer a piece of land in the South of Pará, northern Brazil by the MST (Movement of those without Land), often marked by violence and a constant demand of justice of the land reform. The struggle against poverty, the need of a little piece of land so that they can settle down, in this gigantic state of the Amazon.