Yula Rocha
Journalist / Communication and Project Manager
Country: UK
Cohort: CCL UK 2023
"Connecting with people willing to provoke change and fight against climate injustices."
About
With more than 20 years of experience as a journalist, Yula Rocha now manages communications at People’s Palace Projects and leads some of the Indigenous cultural exchange and climate emergency projects at the organisation. She has produced Indigenous Film Festivals at the ICA, podcasts, documentaries, performances, chaired talks and roundtables in London. She holds an MA in International Journalism, through the Chevening scholarship.
Project Highlights
ECHOES Indigenous Film Festival at the ICA, London, 19-21 May 2023.
Presented by People’s Palace Projects and curated by Brazilian filmmakers Takumã Kuikuro, Graci Guarani and Ziel Karapotó, this three-day programme reflects on the future of Indigenous peoples, their experiences, from ongoing struggles for land rights to the impact of the climate emergency on Indigenous cultural heritage, and what their arts represents. Find out more
Kamukuwaka VR- visiting a sacrade cave
People’s Palace Projects, associated artist Nathaniel Mann and the Indigenous Association Tulukai (AIT) worked collaboratively to develop an innovative virtual reality interface to the cave of Kamukuwaká.The first prototype offered old and new generations of indigenous people a chance to travel back to the sacred cave, which is considered to be their “book of learning”: an archaeological site that holds Wauja’s beliefs, customs and history.
In 2018, this ancient decorated cave – thought to be the most important historical and spiritual site for the Wauja and the other 15 indigenous peoples in the Xingu territory – was violently desecrated by an unknown assailant.
We are now seeking funding to develop a VR experience for museums and festivals. This is a global story of which the Wauja community wants to tell the world in a context of Indigenous rights, the destruction of the Amazon and the climate emergency. Find out more
Xingu Resistance
This is an ongoing work as a freelance journalist. In my latest publication for the magazine Where the Leaves Fall, I shared my experience visiting and working in the Xingu Indigenous Territory in Brazil. Read here.
Project Gallery
