Karla Gachet is an Ecuadorian visual storyteller, curator, and educator based in Los Angeles. For the past 20 years, she has documented Latin America and its diaspora. Her work focuses on stories connected to migration, gender, and Indigenous rights, as well as cultural expressions—such as music—and the relationships between body, territory, and belonging. Through her National Geographic Explorer grant, Gachet has led this project, which has taken shape through public space exhibitions across several countries in Latin America, activated with communities through workshops, zines, screenings, and gatherings, giving back to the people and territories that made this work possible.
Karla Gachet es una narradora visual, curadora y educadora ecuatoriana radicada en Los Ángeles. Desde hace veinte años documenta América Latina y su diáspora. Su trabajo se centra en historias vinculadas a la migración, el género y los derechos indígenas, así como en las expresiones culturales—como la música—y los vínculos entre cuerpo, territorio y pertenencia. A través de su beca de National Geographic Explorer, Gachet ha liderado este proyecto, que ha dado lugar a exposiciones en espacio público en varios países de América Latina, activadas junto a comunidades mediante talleres, fanzines, proyecciones y encuentros, devolviendo las historias a las personas y territorios que hicieron posible este trabajo.
A visual journey following cumbia across six countries, capturing the people, places and traditions that sustain the music as it evolves across borders and generations to remain a powerful expression of culture and identity.
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