Cool wind in a burning world
Ainārs Ērglis
A conversation with Anna Bariyani, leader, vocalist and songwriter of the Curawaka quintet
Curawaka is a musical project officially born in Brazil in 2013. Rooted in the harmonic sounds of First Nations, the rhythms of Latin American peoples and Scandinavian folklore motifs, the music of the quintet made up of Anna Bariyani, Tavo Vazquez, Alberto Arroyo, Ramiro Scalzi and Dario Santamaria Romero is like a sound painting. The musicians have spent many years with indigenous tribes around the world, enriching their compositions with nuances from their art and close relationship with nature.
The quintet’s debut album Call Of The Wild was released by Nixi Music in 2019, exposing them to a wide range of listeners. Their hits Noku Mana, Cuñaq, Te Nande and He Yama Yo not only reached the hearts of underground music lovers around the world, but also caught the interest of folk music enthusiasts. In 2021 alone, Call Of The Wild was played more than 13 million times on the popular sites Spotify and YouTube!
The band’s long-awaited second album Dreamtime is released on 13 October this year. It tells the story of souls’ journey from earth, through the heavens and beyond. Dreamtime is like a prayer, drawing on the wisdom of the indigenous ancestors of Greenland, Norway, Mexico, Colombia and Brazil, inviting everyone to listen and draw strength from their knowledge to overcome the challenges of our time. Songs in English, Spanish, Norwegian, Inuit and Shavandava seem to fly across the boundaries of different cultures and call for spiritual unity.
On 11 October, Curawaka will give a one-night concert in Riga, at the Great Guild Hall.
Here is a conversation with the band’s leader, vocalist and songwriter Anna Bariyani.
I first discovered you online in 2020 when I came across ‘Canta Com Amor’ during the pandemic. I’ve always known that music is a form of medicine, but the experience was truly amazing. Our conversation today will revolve around the idea of music as medicine, the importance of silence, how to find it, and how to listen to yourself—the path to making this world a better place.
I know you are in the middle of a tour. In France, in Colmar. Can you start by sharing your feelings about where we are as humanity? It is not for nothing that so much is said that the time is now. What is this time and how do you feel in this relative transition?
Yes, we are in the middle of our Dreamtime tour and I am really looking forward to arriving in Riga, Latvia, on 11 October. And yes, the time is now! It’s a bit like a mantra... The time is always now in a way, isn’t it? But this period in which we live is truly unique, I think we all feel that. It is said to be a prophetic time, and in most, if not all, ancient cultures there is a story or a prophecy that speaks of a time of unification: the coming together of tribes, the coming together of people, nations and different communities. This is indeed a time to build bridges and alliances so that we can begin to defend sacred life on Earth.
And this is a very crucial moment in history on many levels. I don’t think there will be many who will disagree. It really is a paradigm shift for everyone, whether they are monks, hermits, scientists, bankers or students. I think we all feel that. And I suppose what we all have in common is this beautiful world that we live in and the powerful changes that are taking place in the natural world are directly relevant to all of us who share this world – as its inhabitants and its children.
Whatever it may mean for us, the paradigm shift is relevant for all of us. And I think that for us – for people who feel this connection with nature as something sacred, who feel nature as our mother and this planet as a sacred garden where we have been blessed to live our lives for many thousands of years – we are perhaps entrusted with the task of stewarding this Earth. I feel that, and I think that many people feel the same responsibility in these times. Especially given the challenges of today’s world, which comes with a completely different agenda and motives than simply being caretakers, taking care of what we have been given.
At one point, humanity somehow lost its way. I don’t know how, where or when... I think we all feel that we have lost our way in some way and are now facing the consequences. At the same time, we have the opportunity to treat these challenges as a task to be overcome; as something that will ultimately unite us.
The Industrial Revolution is not more than 200 years old. Of course, there are much older stories that could have led us to this detachment from nature, which is closely linked to other priorities... At the same time, the history of humanity on Earth is very long, all the clues are in us: in our bones, in our brains, in our blood, in our DNA. And we are surrounded by guardian angels who care for us and help us and want to clear the way for us. At the same time, we are the ones who are alive in this moment. We are the ones who have the responsibility to wake up to our maturity, because, as we know, in many ways humanity behaves like babies on this planet. It is as if no one is looking at us, as if we are home alone, which is absolutely wrong.
We are the ones who have the responsibility to wake up to our maturity, because, as we know, in many ways humanity behaves like babies on this planet. It is as if no one is looking at us, as if we are home alone, which is absolutely wrong.
Sometimes I feel that all the other living creatures are waiting for us – for us to grow up and do what we are meant to do in this life. So this is a very good time to grow up and take on this responsibility, to really stand up for this mission and this sacred function of taking care of something as sacred as this Garden of Eden.
We have all the gifts and talents we need to do this. There is so much power in our hearts, in our imagination, everything is within us! We just have to dare and step forward, in our full power, because the only thing stopping us is, in a sense, ourselves.
I truly believe that this is a moment when we can touch something truly beautiful and blessed, a kind of new time, but at the same time it is only a rebirth of something ancient.
You’re absolutely right about growing up. Sometimes, it seems like there are children around, and they avoid talking to each other, not even attempting to connect. Yet, at the same time, we truly have everything we need for life and for fulfilling our roles on this planet. In the layers of our existence, we have also forgotten that we are all one.
Could you tell us more about the process of transformation and how we can remember how to undergo it? What are the key aspects and priorities in this profound journey?
I don’t know if one of them excludes the other. Perhaps one can always find arguments to say that what is happening now is a transformation of society... I think change is undeniably a transformative process, but at its deepest core it is about remembering. It’s not that we are turning into something new. It’s about really connecting with something old that we let go and give space to; that we just start to cherish and nurture, and it starts to germinate, grow and blossom within us. We give it a place in our lives and perhaps we give it an altar.
I do not see remembering as the opposite of transformation. I think the two elements are linked, it is more a question of which word speaks to whom. It’s very individual, but in both cases it’s the movement that unites them.
There is a mysterious wind flowing through us and we all feel it. It is beautiful that in these times so many really feel the call of their purpose and really feel, “OK, I am ready. Whatever has happened in my story, I am ready to shed my skin. I’m ready to move on to the next stage or the next phase.”
And, yes... In our own lifetime, it could certainly feel like a transformation, although in the longevity of our species, it’s only a minor hitch. But there is something unique about us coming together and doing it now.
I don’t know if it has ever happened before that all the tribes have to form an alliance to really overcome these obstacles. I do not see any other way than us coming together in unity. And whatever happens, I certainly feel that it is something beautiful and sacred and important and, in a way, epic, and it is certainly not easy. Nor is it always certain how it will unfold and reveal itself. But I am really pleased that so many people, when given the opportunity, really want to seize the moment and make the best of it. And I really see that goodness flourishes where it can and where it is allowed. And that gives me so much hope and so much faith in the sanctity of life or its holy plan as some elders say. And yes, believe in nature, believe in the great mystery!
I totally agree. The notion of remembrance is indeed crucial. We are all creators, stemming from the same source, with a shared Earthly Father and Mother. It’s this recollection that’s pivotal. Simultaneously, each of us is a unique entity, and what resonates with one may not necessarily resonate with another. Words can often be a source of misunderstanding. Perhaps the most effective way to transmit knowledge is through silence, although it may not be universally accessible, as not everyone can maintain silence for extended periods.
And then there is music. I would like you to tell me how you feel about music, how strong is its energy/frequency? I mean, if 3000 people are online or at a concert at the same time, is it possible to stay immune, to not get caught in that frequency wave?
To be honest, I don’t know, but there is definitely something special that happens when a big heart field is opened.
It is something very powerful because whatever the context, I think we are connected; on a fundamental level that is beyond words or language. It’s to do with emotions, with a certain frequency, perhaps in ways that we don’t even know about. I am convinced that when large numbers of people open their hearts and feel something transcendental or sacred, something that exists beyond words, it is difficult to be just present and not be moved. Not to feel it.
It is the same with teachers. They have been very important in my life. But on the other hand, anyone or anything can become a teacher. Sometimes my best teachers have been the ones who just appear at the right moment. Sometimes it can be just a bird that flies away while you are sitting in the garden. The best teacher can also be something difficult that has happened to you, say you had to climb a mountain – both metaphorically and actually. Usually the best teachers are the things, circumstances or people that challenge us.
I think that knowledge is something that we integrate as wisdom. You said that there is nothing that can fit everyone. For example, for me, the natural world and my environment is a great source of knowledge. Sometimes the best teachers are the elements. I think sometimes it’s worth just listening to the wind, to the silence, to the fire, to the water, and connecting with them as sources of knowledge. Because whoever your teacher is, you can be sure that at some point they too had a teacher who also sat by the fire and learned from it. Or sat by the water and learned from that great pool of knowledge.
Anyone or anything can become a teacher. Sometimes my best teachers have been the ones who just appear at the right moment. Sometimes it can be just a bird that flies away while you are sitting in the garden.
So perhaps a good way to practice at this time is to listen to the elements themselves and try to train your ears to hear the invisible world, its voices. The often silent, invisible voices of nature that have so much to teach us. And I truly believe that they want us all to be united enough to take on our mission and responsibility. To unite, as true allies, with the elements, the mountains, the fire, the animals, with all those who surround us and share this world with us. It seems that we are the newcomers here. So choose as the best teachers those who have been here longer. As the Aborigines say, we have two ears and one mouth, so develop an understanding that it is good to listen at least twice as much as we speak.
Through your music and everything you do, you are also discovering your Northern roots. In the concert/ceremony I mentioned at the beginning of our conversation, you said that we Nordic people seem to go downhill in winter. In fact, we die in winter. Metaphorically. And how important these roots are for us. I have the feeling that many of us, who have been all over the world, are now looking for ways to go back to them. In our songs, traditions, rituals.
Curawaka, with members from Argentina and Mexico, brings a unique perspective to this Northern unity. How do you feel it?
I think that’s the most important thing these days – no matter where we were born, we have to connect in some way to our roots, to where we come from. I, too, have spent a lot of time in the jungle and was isolated in the Amazon for a long time. And at one point the message was really clear: “We don’t need you here anymore. You need to go home. We have enough Indians here. You have to go home and be an Indian at home.” Metaphorically, you have to open the portals and be present for the portals that are being opened in the North.
Our ancestral traditions have been very strong and our ancestors in our lands have always taken care of this dialogue with nature. However, for some reason, this is no longer practised as often. In a way, this is a call – we need to keep our rituals alive. We need the stability of fire. We need to renew our skills to communicate with our spirits. Our land needs sacrifice. It needs presence. All the forces that dwell within it need presence. That is why I think that, whoever and wherever we are, it is of the utmost importance that we really get to the roots of the earth that has shaped us. And it is a blessing to have a teacher in our own environment who can teach us about wildlife, about the winds, about the stars, about everything – about food, about the life cycle in our own backyard, so to speak, in our own climate. And for some reason it is not so, we just have to try to get to the source and find our way – through dreams, through sacrifices, through prayers.
Find the herbs in your backyard, try to find the food that our ancestors ate, just try to stimulate and really nourish those ancestral parts of us that are perhaps asleep and waiting for this moment to awaken in us again.
And, you know, there are these four directions – red, black, yellow and white. And, of course, white, whatever it represents, it is very important that it takes its place in the medicine wheel. Perhaps some feel ashamed of what some white ancestors did in the past, some feel arrogant... Whatever is felt, it is as if there is no time for it – we just have to connect with the earth and find out what its spirit is asking of us right now. And in a way we have to trust it – who we are, the horizon, ourselves, the breath we have been given, conscience, nature, dreams, something bigger than our senses can grasp. Instincts, intuition. This is what we have not developed so much. Our prefrontal cortex has been very stimulated, our intuition not so much.
So how do we find the balance, how do we access those intuitive depths within ourselves so that we really get close to our power, our talents, our ability to connect with the invisible world, with the spirits, with the earth, with nature, with the great spirit? And what is our way of serving our community in the great tapestry of the world? For example, what do we as peoples of the North have to offer from our relationship with ice, cold, darkness? What lessons come from this landscape?
This is something that I feel very strongly. Yes, I spent a lot of time in the tropics and, to be honest, it gave me so many gifts and so many blessings. But perhaps the greatest blessing that it planted in me was homesickness. So what is my song? What is my mountain song? How does the wind in my homeland really sing? And how do I connect with the stars, from the perspective of my homeland and home? And this is something very deep, very sacred.
My sister Luna once said that the cold of the North is like a cool wind in a burning world. This coolness does not carry such a hot temper as you know, and it is very nourishing, affirming and calming. Because in a nervous, slightly hyperactive, passionate, dramatic and fiery world that is getting hotter and hotter, that kind of coolness and connection with the darkness, connection with the dreamtime, is something very precious.
I spent a lot of time in the tropics and, to be honest, it gave me so many gifts and so many blessings. But perhaps the greatest blessing that it planted in me was homesickness. So what is my song?
This is also the concept of the second album, which comes out on 13 October. It’s called Dreamtime, and we’ve created it to celebrate this state when nature sleeps in the North. How powerful it is, how beautiful is this reservoir of infinite potential that you connect to when Mother Earth dreams. And how beautifully it dreams again the whole cycle of creation. How she passes on all this information, every little secret that she passes on to every seed that lies under the snow, just waiting for the moment when the love of a father or a son hits the right place to really come to fruition. Then again, the whole sacred project is passed on to each little seed and on through the generations.
I think it is a beautiful moment for all of us who were born in places with four seasons. You said that you die every winter. I totally resonate with that. It’s like hibernation, a time of death and coming to terms with death and rebirth, and building good relationships with the knowledge that life is cyclical and has these phases where we grow and fall. We breathe out, we breathe in. It is a kind of turning of time. Like the serpent of life, it winds its way through existence and it is important for us to simply learn to dance with it and flow with its waves rather than resist it. I think the best we can do is to follow its twists and turns and allow ourselves, if our time to fall has come and there is a period of hibernation, a kind of death, then... OK! And we come back stronger in the spring. If all that is not there, we become a bit like ants, because they never sleep. In order to become fully alive, to live up to our potential and to become who we are meant to be, we definitely need our hibernation time, our recovery time, our quiet time, our dark time, and the understanding that resetting is absolutely fundamental, whatever we want to do.
We breathe out, we breathe in. It is a kind of turning of time. Like the serpent of life, it winds its way through existence and it is important for us to simply learn to dance with it and flow with its waves rather than resist it.
I fully agree. You mentioned the journey back home from the jungle, and we Latvians have a fairy tale about a boy who sets out to travel around the world in search of his happy land. When he eventually arrives there, he realizes that it’s his home.
These bodies are given to us for a relatively very short period of time; in Western society we have been trying to avoid death for a long time. Forget about its meaning and pretend that it will not happen to us. We are also afraid of silence. And we have often had this desire to escape winter. I have done it too. To India, Asia, Bali.
Your new album, Dreamtime, only emphasizes further how crucial it is for us to have this time for ourselves—a time to dream. What is your own ‘dreamtime’?"
It has a lot to do with nourishment, for example nourishing the soul, nourishing the spirit. And for the soul to be nourished, peace is necessary. As you said, many of us resist winter. So we go to India or Spain or Bali or Mexico or wherever, just to keep expanding, and to keep that kind of stimulus when we are outside our “cage”.
And I just know that if I do that too often, without retreat, I burn out. I feel my energy being burned or heated up, and I don’t feel a sense of groundedness. It can be a wonderful experience, but afterwards I often feel that I am more prone to illness. I ‘catch’ little bugs or infections or things like that.
I really feel that being born in a climate with four seasons gives you a kind of recipe for how you are adapted to life, how your energy moves and what you need at certain times, when to eat, when to sleep, when to go to the toilet... It’s like a first level manual on how to live, how to be human.
But it’s about understanding our energy rhythms and our cycles. Closer to the equator, their cycle is probably a bit more aligned around the moon and within it. But in the North I feel that this cycle really takes up the whole year, the whole solar return. And the time of darkness is very, very important.
I have spent several years in the very north, in the Arctic, where winters last for three, four months, in total darkness, with no sun. And the level of nourishment you get from that deep rest is absolutely magical. You come out in the spring and everything is so clean. The earth is so pure because the snow, the frost, kills everything that is not the sacred life within the seed. There are no parasites. There is nothing... And in the spring everything wakes up just like the first time. And that is something I appreciate so much living in the North. I love all the parts of the Earth I have been to. I love them for different reasons, but obviously there is something very special about the place where you were born.
I feel very blessed to have grown up in a world that is so rich in clean air, clean water, clean forests and so much nature, with so many eagles, moose, roe deer, reindeer, wolves, bears, salmon... The wild is truly primeval. At the same time, we are one big garden and it is very important that everyone has a level of water purity so that everyone can drink from the tap, so that everyone can drink from the rivers.
And that, I think, is certainly something that we should all focus on. As my brother Hugo said, we are the ancestors of tomorrow. And that is true. We are the ancestors of all that is to come. And how to be good ancestors? What is our focus? What are we going to focus on in a world that is shouting at us and trying to get our attention every moment? How, for example, to get out of it all and get well again? This is very important. And I really believe that it needs silence. It takes a kind of stepping back from all the stimuli and just finding it... Whether it’s the darkness or whatever. What is this stillness in your world? Is it a meadow? It doesn’t always have to be snow. For people in other climates it might as well be a desert. Or a forest. It could also be sitting in a meadow or being on top of a mountain. Just to feel the solitude from society and that connection to the larger planetary community. Being in nature and feeling the truth that comes from silence.
We are the ancestors of all that is to come. And how to be good ancestors? What is our focus? What are we going to focus on in a world that is shouting at us and trying to get our attention every moment?
Sometimes I say: “If you want to break the silence, make sure you break it with something as true and beautiful as silence.” And I really believe that this is good practice, because we tend to become a bit like parrots. I am talking a lot at the moment, so I am not always a good example, but if we tried to move away from that chat a little bit, that would be valuable. Just because a lake is deep, it also has a surface. Sometimes, in order to arrive at really great answers and just to make sure that we are in a good position, that we are going in the right direction and that we are doing what we need to do, we really need to find that compass in the depths of our heart. We will only hear it if we go to these quiet places, because the heart does not shout at us, it is softer, it is wiser, it is humbler... And to hear it well, we need to seek silence and solitude.
Is light separable from darkness, or are light and darkness one? It’s the eternal dance of life.
I really feel that light and darkness are complementary, if not the same force. There is simply no one without the other. So without darkness there is no light, without light there is no darkness.
And maybe this dichotomy is what allows life to be as we see it. This dance of duality is evident in everything. There are these opposing forces that create change and create something that moves. And movement doesn’t happen with just one pole, you need opposing forces for there to be progress, for there to be this movement at all. And this movement is connected to our consciousness, otherwise we would not experience anything.
It has to do with growth. It is linked to time and cycles. I think that the way we experience that something is moving forward is that we have opposing forces. Whether it is light and dark, or masculine and feminine, or fire and water, or night and day, or wet and dry, everything has its opposite.
You know, in Mexico they have this sacred duality, which is the principle that the creator is ‘creador, creadora’ – that is, not necessarily referring to deities as such, but referring to some kind of creative forces that only together make sense. And the understanding that they are never opposed to each other in terms of will or belonging, that their belonging is always in the whole. They form something full and fruitful. Like the creation of life between a man and a woman. And in the same way it is between the sun and the rain that creates the rainbow.
And it is our failing that we do not respect these unions and simply look at their differences. And I think we make a mistake when we start focusing on competition and things like that, because in fact everything has its place.
And if we are all here together, it is because we have our place as part of a bigger whole, as with the constructive forces and the deconstructive forces. There are some forces in nature that destroy things, destructive in a way, but I don’t think they are bad forces. Just like in autumn, when things die, there are these destructive forces that allow the leaves to turn into soil, and that creates the soil again for new life. So it also cleanses and helps to tear down that which has had its time and is already gone.
So even destruction has its sacred part, its sacred role. Everything has its sacred place, but of course we have to retreat in some way, because when humanity retreats, the perfect order will restore the balance on its own. Nature, with her intelligence and wisdom, will rearrange what is necessary.
I think that when we take responsibility, we simply have to step back. We saw this during the pandemic, did we not? When it first broke out in April, we all suddenly had to be in isolation, and we saw how amazing it was when nature started to recover. How nature just took over the space, and how beautiful it was. I think we will do much better if, as a whole, we just let nature do its job, without interfering, just let it be, and everything will be fine.
Talking about your group, Curawaka, what do you call yourselves – a tribe or a family? Coming from different parts of the world, you are currently in Norway. How do all of you feel there?
I feel very good, of course. As for the others... Alberto is my partner. He feels very good. He likes the cold in Norway. He likes the nature, the pristineness... Yes, I think he likes it very much. We live in the south of Norway, in the forest, on a beautiful farm, far away from people, in the middle of the forest. In a wonderful place called ‘Casa Aurora’, and also Tavo lives there with his wife and daughter.
That’s why we feel like a family. And this is truly a place to rejuvenate, to be with family, to nurture our connection to mother earth, to water. We are blessed with our own water source, our own well, so this place is like a sanctuary for us. It is a place where we feel like we are in a nest. To be together in this way is really beautiful. And, of course, we also go on trips. To visit other parts of the world to share our music and to connect with other people who are doing similar missions. Many of us hold this prayer in our hearts. We express it through music, but I also see so many brothers and sisters expressing it in many different ways, whether they are teachers or bakers, whatever they are doing in their lives. I think it is very important that when we start to look at indigenous ways, it does not necessarily mean that in these tribes, everyone’s job is to become a shaman.
Everyone has to become a shaman in their own way, in their own community, in their own work, with the gifts that they have, because we need people with these abilities in all places. With that kind of connection and that kind of priority, and we as a family feel that we want to prioritise the health of our planet and the health of our community. That’s why we must forge alliances, build bridges, and construct this ship of unity together. We need to transcend borders and reach a point where we recognize, support, encourage, and uplift one another.
We need to transcend borders and reach a point where we recognize, support, encourage, and uplift one another.
